Taura Stinson

Taura Stinson is a Los Angeles-based Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy nominated singer/songwriter/composer who has become one of the most in-demand songwriters in Hollywood. Taura’s most recent project is Netflix’s animated feature, THELMA THE UNICORN, which includes three original songs co-written by Taura, featuring collaborations with Alabama Shakes frontwoman, Brittany Howard. Her recent work also includes the theme song, “Moon Girl Magic,” written with Raphael Saadiq for Marvel’s MOON GIRL & DEVIL DINOSAUR and “Slip Away,” written with Oscar-nominated composer and frequent collaborator Nicholas Britell, for Sony Pictures Classics’ CARMEN. Additional collaborations with Nicholas Britell include the Oscar shortlisted song “Just Look Up,” co-written with Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi for Netflix’s DON’T LOOK UP, and “Call Me Cruella” from CRUELLA.


Taura earned her first Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe nomination for the song “Mighty River” for the Netflix film, MUDBOUND, which she co-wrote with Mary J. Blige and Raphael Saadiq. Together with composers Heather McIntosh & Allyson Newman, they were nominated for a Primetime Emmy for the song, “All About Me,” written for Showtime’s THE L-WORD: GENERATION Q. She has also written with Pharrell Williams for his comedy series HARLEM on Amazon Prime, and with Ali Shaheed-Muhammed and Adrian Younge for the ABC series, REASONABLE DOUBT. Other works include original songs for Disney’s BETTER NATE THAN EVER and CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, featuring Brandy and her daughter Sy’rai. Furthermore, Taura has also contributed to Ryan Reynolds/Maximum Effort’s viral Match.com advertisement, “Get Back to Love”, which she co-wrote with Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Shane McAnally. Taura wrote and produced several songs for season 2 of Apple TV’s CENTRAL PARK. Moreover, Taura was the lead songwriter for animated films RIO 2, starring Jamie Foxx and Anne Hathaway and EPIC, starring Beyonce and Steven Tyler.


Taura has also provided her A&R expertise to several projects, most notably for Music World/BET for the Gospel Music Competition BET’s SUNDAY BEST. Her projects included chart topping albums for artists including Elder Goldwire, Amber Bullock, Joshua Rodgers and Brian Courtney Wilson. Her first project resulted in a GRAMMY win for gospel recording artist LeAndria Johnson’s single “Jesus”. Soon after, Taura wrote and arranged various songs for the TV show, THE UNDERGROUND, which included new arrangements of negro spirituals, as well as modern spirituals with a similar motif, including “Heaven’s Door” performed by Alice Smith. Taura co-wrote and produced various songs for the Fox Searchlight film, BLACK NATIVITY, including “Rise Up Shepard” featuring Mary J. Blige and Nas, “Fix Me Jesus” by Jennifer Hudson and “He Loves Me Still” by Jennifer Hudson & Angela Bassett. She also served as associate producer on the film starring Forest Whitaker, Tyrese and Angela Bassett. She continued to write original songs for films, including the Critic’s Choice Award winning song “Jump,” (performed by Cynthia Erivo) for the documentary feature-film STEP.Taura and Raphael’s collaborations also include the GRAMMY nominated songs “Good Man”, performed by Raphael Saadiq and “Show Me the Way” by the legendary band, Earth Wind & Fire.


Advocacy is equally important to Taura. Over the years, she has mentored for SPARK, ACADEMY GOLD & She Is the Music, among others. She is also an independent author whose first book “100 Things Every Black Girl Should Know” was awarded the In the Margins Award, an award given by an association of librarians to at-risk youth.