The Journey to Now...
Mario Daniel Rodriguez is a 25 year old musician and media composer based in Tampa, FL. Born and raised in Miami, Mario is a classically trained pianist since the age of four. Influenced by the works of Hans Zimmer, John Williams, and Steve Jablonsky, he began writing incidental music as early as 9 years old. In 2018, while graduating from Miami Coral Park Senior High School, Mario offered to write music for the theatre department's production of "Korczak's Children".
Mario then attended Miami-Dade College where he enrolled in several classes with Professor Dr. Leo Walz including the MDC Orchestra where he refined his skills on the violin. After obtaining an Associate in Arts, Mario auditioned and got accepted into Berklee College of Music in 2020. In his letter of recommendation to Berklee, Walz stated that Rodriguez can "paraphrase and improvise large, complex scores by ear" and that he "possesses a remarkable understanding for musical constructs, as well as a passion to gain knowledge in all aspects of music."
In 2021, with the help of Walz, Mario connected with composer Nicolas Repetto who then introduced him to the community of industry media composers. From here, he was able to attend a weeks long mentorship with acclaimed composer Trevor Morris, and he would also meet several other composers including Nikhil Koparkar and eventually Robert Bruckmayer.
In 2022, Mario connected with writer/director Christopher Cox. He scored the horror short film "Abi's Monster" soon after, to which the music was very well received. He also officially met Christopher at the Hollywood Bowl during Ramin Djawadi's performance of "Game of Thrones - The Live Experience" in 2023.
In 2024, Mario returned to score "The Noise Next Door", the subsequent horror film by Christopher Cox and would also graduate that same year from Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition for Film, TV, and Games.
In 2025, he collaborated with Robert Bruckmayer to write the music for Filip Kulisev's EARTH project. Mario is currently working on an upcoming feature film as well as an upcoming short film both scheduled for release in 2026.
