Jae Shim – “Opus Cope”
Filmmaker Jae Shim strives to tell the truth no matter how challenging, uncomfortable, or unpopular it is to do so. As part of Recomposing America, ACF will host public screenings and community conversations around Jae’s film “Opus Cope” prior to its release on PBS in Fall 2026.
Jae attributes his first encounter with the groundbreaking work of composer David Cope to a Radiolab episode titled “Musical DNA.” Jae immediately resonated with Cope’s defiant spirit, challenging longstanding conventions of what classical music should look or sound like. Convinced there was more to the story, he made repeated trips with his camera to the Santa Cruz-based composer. The resulting documentary takes viewers on a musical exploration of creativity according to Cope, drawing from a lifetime at the intersection of art and technology.
About the Film
David Cope was commissioned to write an opera in the 1980s when he suffered a major composer’s block, sparking interest in a computing partner named EMI, Experiments in Musical Intelligence, that could generate compelling works in the style of classical music composers. The subject of great controversy, EMI could compose Bach chorales, Mozart sonatas, and Chopin mazurkas at the stroke of a key, challenging audiences to reimagine what it means to be creative. Featuring excerpts from the completed opera, the documentary focuses on the algorithmic composer as he shares his lifelong findings on the nature of creativity.
Opus Cope Screening
Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026
Time and location TBA
About Jae Shim
Filmmaker Jae Shim strives to tell the truth no matter how challenging, uncomfortable, or unpopular it is to do so. He is a Warner Bros. Emerging Film Directors Workshop finalist, an Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Mentorship Program participant, and a CultureHub Experiments in Digital Storytelling fellow. His work outside of directing extends into camera and editing departments for documentaries and feature films, including THIS TIME directed by Sebastian Tobler, and PAPER MARRIAGE directed by Jeff Man and executive produced by the Duplass Brothers.
American Composers Forum’s ACF | connect program is made possible with the outstanding generosity of the following individuals: Jane Anfinson, Thomas Arneson, Suzanne Asher, Carol Barnett, Pearl and Bob Bergad, Margee and Will Bracken, Karen Brooks, Richard Cisek and Kay Fredericks, Dee Ann and Kent Crossley, Julia W. Dayton, C. Lee Essrig, Rosemary & David Good Family Foundation, Katherine Goodale, Jeff and Hyun Mee Graves, Carol Heen, Steve Heitzeg and Gwen Pappas, Kathleen Henschel and John Dewes, Linda and Jack Hoeschler, Leaetta Hough and Bob Muschewske, Sam Hsu and Sally Cheng, Hella Mears Hueg Estate Gift, Thelma Hunter Estate Gift, John and Ruth Huss, George Frederick Jewett Foundation East, Art and Martha Kaemmer, Jon Lewis and Lisa Merklin, Mike and Kay McCarthy, Greg McNeely, Alfred and Ann Moore, Louis and Gloria Nuechterlein, John Nuechterlein and Dan Monson, John and Debbie Orenstein, I.A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation in memory of Thelma Hunter, David and Judy Ranheim, Denice Rippentrop, Vanessa Rose, Bill and Susan Sands, Gale Sharpe, Doug and Kathy Skor, Dan and Ellie Thomas, Stephen and Jayne Usery, Kathleen van Bergen, Janika Vandervelde, Jim Wafler, and Margaret and Angus Wurtele.