Gregory Polzak, a film composer born in Chicago and currently residing in Maplewood, has worked on musical projects for multiple award-winning and nominated films such as “Emancipation” (2022), “Ray Donovan: The Movie” (2022), “Flamin’ Hot” (2023), “The Equalizer 3” (2023) — and now “KPop Demon Hunters” (2025).
On January 31, Maplewood Memorial Library celebrated Polzak’s star turn by hosting an event titled “KPop Demon Hunters: Behind-The-Scenes Presentation, Q&A, and Sing-Along”. Polzak was featured alongside Julie Reiber Bennett, a West Orange resident and actress, singer, and activist, who also worked on the Grammy-award winning soundtrack as a background singer. An energized crowd of children attended this lively and successful event in show-themed costumes and bright spirits.
Photo by Mason Levinson, courtesy of Maplewood Memorial Library.
As a film scorer, Polzak creates the underscore of a film, which is the background music used to convey a certain tone, emotion, or mood during a scene. It is often subtle, and has the purpose of giving a scene the necessary impact and emotionally guiding the audience.
This is exactly what Polzak did for “KPop Demon Hunters.” He worked alongside his partner, Marcelo Zarvos, who is a Brazilian pianist and film composer and has also worked with Polzak on the films previously mentioned. Together, they composed the music that plays behind many memorable action-packed and emotional scenes in KPop Demon Hunters such as “Rumi’s Signs”, “You’re A Demon”, and “Bathhouse Fight”.
Maplewood Memorial Library, January 31, 2026. Photo by Mason Levinson, courtesy of Maplewood Memorial Library.
In an interview with Village Green, Polzak revealed the origin of his music career. “I was tinkering with rock and roll and heavy metal at 13,” he said, adding that his sophomore year of high school was when this hobby truly soared, with Polzak composing classical guitar music.
“I always knew I wanted to apply writing music for film and television. I was always interested in film from early on,” Polzak said when asked if composing music had always been an interest of his.
Photo by Mason Levinson, courtesy of Maplewood Memorial Library.
Asked about the success of KPop Demon Hunters, which is now officially the most-watched original title in Netflix history, and whether he expected it to become as big as it did, Polzak responded that when he and the producers of the film reviewed it upon completion, “everybody knew they had a hit on their hands.” But, he said, nobody expected it to become as popular and well-known as it is, using the word “mind-blowing” to describe his reaction.
Polzak has a daughter of his own, who, at just 3 years old, is as obsessed with KPop Demon Hunters as other kids around the world — making Polzak a local hero as well as a global phenomenon.
Khadijah Lane is a 12th grader at Columbia High School, working as paid student freelancer with Village Green through a grant from the NJ Civic Information Consortium.
Photo by Mason Levinson, courtesy of Maplewood Memorial Library.
