HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Los Angeles native David Newman comes from a musical family that includes father Alfred, brother Thomas, and Uncle Randy, all highly accomplished in the world of film music scoring.

Over the last several years, David Newman has become a regular conductor at The Hollywood Bowl.

“The Hollywood Bowl was a big summer venue here from the beginning. I'm a native of California,” said Newman during a break from a rehearsal of Jurassic Park. “We would go every Tuesday and Thursday night and get a bench seat and get as close as we could.”

Every summer, The Hollywood Bowl screens movies accompanied by the LA Philharmonic Orchestra. Newman points out that for many people the first time they hear the sound of a full orchestra is in the movies.

“If you're not familiar with Beethoven symphonies, or Mahler’s symphonies, or Brahms, they're kind of difficult just to hear without hearing them before,” Newman said. “With film music, they've already heard the music because they've heard it in the in the movie. There's a certain familiarity, so, I think it's a nice way to introduce people into this sort of symphonic world.”

John Williams, who wrote the Jurassic Park score, normally conducts his own work, but at 87-years-old, and with a new Star Wars score to write, he asked for help. Williams asked Newman, who is a long-time friend and colleagues, to step in to conduct the Jurassic Park concerts as well the upcoming Williams tribute concerts.

“It takes a lot out of you to do these concerts. I'm honored that he would even ask me to do maybe the first half and he would do the second half,” said Newman. “I think this year, I'm going to do the first half and a bit of the second half.”

Hollywood is a movie town so naturally these film music concerts are hugely popular and bring fans from all over the world to hear these classic scores performed live.

“These movies were intended to be seen in a movie theater with an audience. So, we add the live orchestra and it adds a level of kind of danger and uncertainty. Are they going to be able to play it? Is it going to be in sync? There's a kind of fun aspect to it and you're seeing these movies you love with other people,” Newman said.

Beside his Hollywood Bowl conducting duties, Newman himself is a busy composer and is currently working on Steven Spielberg's adaptation of West Side Story which is due out in 2020.