Alan Lazar is a South African-born composer and novelist. He has written music for more than 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 for the majority of his career in music. He started as a keyboard player, producer and composer for Mango Groove in the late 1980s, playing at a number of notable concerts and events over the next decade. This included the 1994 inauguration of Nelson Mandela and also played at 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. His work has led him to work 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. He also scored 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.
He 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. Lazar continued at STX as Senior Director, Catalog Music.
His debut novel received positive reviews after its release, after finishing runner up at the Los Angeles Book Festival.