Back on Track – Trailer
Original Score | Amazon Prime Video Documentary
📖 Approximate reading time: 5 minutes
The Project
Client: Amazon Prime Video
Production: Juventus FC / Amazon Studios Italia
Director: Juventus Creator LAB
Type: Feature Documentary (80 minutes) + Trailer Campaign
Year: 2023
Role: Original Score Composer
The Brief
When Juventus Football Club and Amazon Prime Video asked me to score the trailer for Federico Chiesa’s documentary “Back on Track,” the brief was deceptively simple: “Show the fight.”
But this wasn’t about goals or victories.
The real story? A champion’s psychological battle after a career-threatening injury. The constant tension between the player who dominated Serie A and the man facing an uncertain future.
The musical challenge: 90 seconds of music that had to hold both triumph and doubt without resolving too early.
The Approach
Finding the Emotional Core
I spent hours with the director and the executive producer talking about the raw footage. The insight that changed everything came early: Chiesa’s greatest pain wasn’t physical. It was identity. “If I can’t play football, who am I?”
That question became the emotional anchor for the entire score.
The Executive Producer:
“This isn’t a motivational sports film. It’s about a man facing the void. Score the void, not the victory.”
Musical Architecture
The Opening: Dissonance and Uncertainty (0:00-0:47)
I opened with unresolved dissonances that say “something’s wrong, something doesn’t fit”. Underneath, a deep pulse almost like a heartbeat. Federico is alive, but struggling and under pressure.
The Turning Point: Chiesa’s Theme Emerges (0:47)
The turning point comes at 0:47: Chiesa’s theme emerges for the first time. This became his musical identity throughout the entire film, shifted and reinterpreted depending on the narrative moment. Fragile here. Determined there. Triumphant later.
In the trailer, at 0:47, the theme isn’t triumphant yet. It’s just… clear. A decision. Not victory. Just the choice to fight.
The Climax (0:47-1:47)
The climax is controlled because Chiesa’s comeback isn’t a fairy tale; it’s hard-won, uncertain, real.
The Collaboration
Few revision rounds not to change direction, but to refine. Together with the executive producer and the director we worked in the edit suite, making real-time adjustments based on his visceral reactions.
This project taught me that the best sports soundtracks aren’t about sports. They’re about human beings who use sports to define themselves and what happens when that definition is stripped away. This is what I love about this work: it’s not “sports music.” It’s human story.
The Result
- 1st place on Amazon Prime most viewed sports documentaries Italy (Amazon Prime, 2023)
- Continued collaboration: Juventus commissioned additional projects
What I Learned
The best sports scores don’t talk about sport. They talk about human beings using sport to define themselves and what happens when that definition is threatened.
This project taught me that the most powerful musical moments often come from restraint. Knowing when NOT to play is as important as knowing when to play.