Alan Lazar

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Alan Lazar (born on December 15, 1967) is a South African-born composer and novelist. He has written music for 50+ films and TV shows, including a string of Netflix movies. He was a member of the South African band Mango Groove and is the author of the book ROAM. He became a US citizen in 2010.

Lazar has worked in music for the majority of his career. He started as a keyboard player, producer, and composer for Mango Groove in the late 1980s, playing at concerts and events over the next decade including the 1994 inauguration of Nelson Mandela and The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, which was held in London. He wrote the classic South African song "African Dream", originally performed by Vicky Sampson, and in 2019 selected by America's Got Talent finalist Ndlovu Youth Choir for their debut on the show. Following his career with Mango Groove, Lazar moved to California as a Fulbright scholar, where he became involved in music production for film and television. He worked on numerous scores including An American Crime and Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema. His assistance in production for National Geographic's Swamp of the Baboons led to the show being nominated for a production Emmy award. He has scored a number of US TV shows including Sex and the City, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Real Housewives of Orange County. In 2016, he scored "Most Hated Woman In America" for Netflix, starring Melissa Leo. His second movie for Netflix was Holiday In The Wild, starring Rob Lowe and Kristin Davis, directed by Ernie Barbarash. Lazar also scored The Princess Switch: Switched Again for Netflix, starring Vanessa Hudgens and directed by Mike Rohl. Other ventures have included directing the film Purpose in 2001, which starred Mia Farrow and Paul Reiser.

Lazar is also the founder of Lalela Music, a production music library. The catalog has been used in thousands of productions globally and in 2017 was sold to STX Entertainment.

In 2021, Lazar co-founded the Luminary Scores catalog with BMG Rights Management, producing and composing for the catalog.

His debut novel received positive reviews on its release, after finishing as runner-up at the Los Angeles Book Festival.