---
name: "Carlos Rafael Rivera"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/carlos-rafael-rivera"
fi1m_id: "carlos-rafael-rivera"
imdb_id: "nm2292589"
tmdb_id: 1392836
wikidata_id: "Q5751457"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "18 August 1970"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 6
average_fi1m_score: 72
average_over: 6
updated: "2026-10-25T10:09:37.819877+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Carlos Rafael Rivera

## Identity

Carlos Rafael Rivera

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/carlos-rafael-rivera
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** carlos-rafael-rivera
- **IMDb ID:** nm2292589
- **TMDB ID:** 1392836
- **Wikidata ID:** Q5751457
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Rafael_Rivera, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5751457, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2292589/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1392836

Composer. Born 18 August 1970 in Washington, D.C., USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 18 August 1970, Washington, D.C., USA
- **Active:** 2017–present
- **Frequently works with:** [Scott Frank](https://film.one/person/scott-frank.md), [Chloe Pirrie](https://film.one/person/chloe-pirrie.md)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 74 (1), 2020s 72 (5)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 72 to 71 across 6 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 5 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Comedy 2, Action 1, Crime 1, Horror 1, Mystery 1
- **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $19m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Rafael_Rivera, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5751457, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2292589/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1392836

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*Dept. Q*](https://film.one/tv/dept-q.md) (74), [*The Queen's Gambit*](https://film.one/tv/the-queens-gambit.md) (74), [*Godless*](https://film.one/tv/godless.md) (74)
- **HBO Max:** [*Hacks*](https://film.one/tv/hacks.md) (83), [*They Will Kill You*](https://film.one/film/they-will-kill-you.md) (65)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Lessons in Chemistry*](https://film.one/tv/lessons-in-chemistry.md) (63)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Carlos Rafael Rivera (born 18 August 1970) is an American composer. Born in Washington, D.C., he attended Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and studied guitar and composition at Florida International University, later earning a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California.

Rivera is known for his scores for the Netflix series *The Queen's Gambit* (2020) and *Godless* (2017), as well as *Hacks* (2021–), *Lessons in Chemistry* (2023) and *Dept. Q* (2025). His work on *The Queen's Gambit* earned him a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media and an Emmy Award; he has also received Emmy Awards for *Godless* and *Lessons in Chemistry*. He serves as Professor and Chair of the Media Scoring and Production Department at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, carlosrafaelrivera.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (6)

- *They Will Kill You* (2026), Fi1m 65, Music, Original Music Composer — [page](https://film.one/film/they-will-kill-you.md)
- *Dept. Q* (2025), Fi1m 74, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/tv/dept-q.md)
- *Lessons in Chemistry* (2023), Fi1m 63, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/tv/lessons-in-chemistry.md)
- *Hacks* (2021), Fi1m 83, Music — [page](https://film.one/tv/hacks.md)
- *The Queen's Gambit* (2020), Fi1m 74, Music, Main Title Theme Composer, Original Music Composer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-queens-gambit.md)
- *Godless* (2017), Fi1m 74, Music, Original Music Composer — [page](https://film.one/tv/godless.md)

## Complete filmography (11)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *They Will Kill You* (2026), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/they-will-kill-you.md)
- *Dept. Q* (2025), series, Original Music Composer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/dept-q.md)
- *Ezra* (2024), Original Music Composer
- *Griselda* (2024), series, Original Music Composer
- *Monsieur Spade* (2024), series, Original Music Composer, Musician
- *Lessons in Chemistry* (2023), series, Original Music Composer — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/tv/lessons-in-chemistry.md)
- *The King of All the World* (2021), Original Music Composer
- *Hacks* (2021), series, Original Music Composer — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/hacks.md)
- *The Queen's Gambit* (2020), series, Original Music Composer, Main Title Theme Composer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-queens-gambit.md)
- *Godless* (2017), series, Original Music Composer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/godless.md)
- *A Walk Among the Tombstones* (2014), Original Music Composer

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/carlos-rafael-rivera