John Powell (film composer)

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John Powell
Powell in 2008
Powell in 2008
Background information
Born (1963-09-18) 18 September 1963 (age 57)
London, England, United Kingdom
OriginEast Sussex, England, United Kingdom
GenresFilm scores
Occupation(s)Composer, conductor, producer
InstrumentsPiano, percussion
Years active1990–present

John Powell (born 18 September 1963) is an English composer, best known for his scores in motion pictures. He has been based in Los Angeles since 1997 and has composed the scores to over fifty feature films. Powell is best known for composing and/or co-composing scores for animated films, such as Antz (1998), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Chicken Run (2000), Shrek (2001), Robots (2005), the second and third Ice Age films (2006–2012), the Happy Feet films (2006–2011), Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008), the first two Kung Fu Panda films (2008–2011), Bolt (2008), the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy (2010–2019), the Rio films (2011–2014), Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (2012), and Ferdinand (2017).

His work on Happy Feet, Ferdinand and Solo: A Star Wars Story has earned him 3 Grammy nominations. He was nominated for an Academy Award for How to Train Your Dragon.[1]

Powell was a member of Hans Zimmer's music studio, Remote Control Productions, and has collaborated frequently with other composers from the studio, including Harry Gregson-Williams on Antz, Chicken Run and Shrek and Zimmer himself on Chill Factor, The Road to El Dorado, and the first two Kung Fu Panda films.

Early life and education[]

John Powell was born on September 18, 1963 in London, United Kingdom. As a child, John Powell played the violin and viola. Powell's skill in the violin allowed him to study at the Trinity College of Music in London. Powell played for "Faboulistics", an amateur rock and roll band.[2] After finishing college, he composed music for commercials, which led to a job as an assistant to the composer Patrick Doyle on several film productions, including Much Ado About Nothing.[citation needed]

Powell is an atheist.[3]

Career[]

In 1995, Powell co-founded the London-based commercial music house Independently Thinking Music, which produced scores for more than 100 British and French commercials and independent films.

Powell's first score was for the Season 4 of the TV series Stay Lucky. He moved to Los Angeles in 1997 and scored his first major film, Face/Off. This was followed by Antz in 1998, the first film produced by DreamWorks Animation which he co-scored with fellow British composer Harry Gregson-Williams. Two years later, he collaborated with composer Hans Zimmer to compose the score for The Road to El Dorado, later that same year, he collaborated with Gregson-Williams again to compose the score to Chicken Run, the two would collaborate again the following year on Shrek. All subsequent Shrek films however, have been scored solely by Gregson-Williams. During 2001 he also scored Evolution, I Am Sam, Just Visiting, and Rat Race.

In 2002 Powell was hired to score The Bourne Identity, after Carter Burwell left the project, and has gone on to score all of director Doug Liman's subsequent films. He also returned to score the other two films in the series, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, which were both directed by British director Paul Greengrass.

Following the Bourne films, Powell collaborated with Liman again to score the 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith. That year, he also scored Robots, going on to score all but one of subsequent films by Blue Sky Studios.

In 2006, he scored Greengrass' United 93. He also composed music for Ice Age: The Meltdown, replacing David Newman, who scored the first Ice Age film, as well as X-Men: The Last Stand, and Happy Feet, for which he won a Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for an Animated Feature Film. The following year he scored The Bourne Ultimatum. In 2008 he reunited with Hans Zimmer and returned to DreamWorks Animation to score Kung Fu Panda, and also wrote music that year for Jumper, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, Hancock, and Bolt. In 2009 he scored the third film of Ice Age series; Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

In 2010, Powell composed the score to How to Train Your Dragon. This was his sixth score for a DreamWorks Animation film, although the first where he composed the whole score himself. It also became his first work to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. That year, he has also scored Greengrass's Green Zone, and Knight and Day.

In 2013, he took a sabbatical year from film scoring. In April 2014, following the completion of his scores to sequels Rio 2 and How to Train Your Dragon 2, he announced his decision to take another break to compose concert music, including a 45-minute oratorio to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of World War I. The piece, named "A Prussian Requiem", premiered on 6 March 2016 at The Royal Festival Hall, London with José Serebrier conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra and a libretto by Michael Petry.[4]

John Powell worked with John Williams to compose the score for Solo: A Star Wars Story, released in May 2018.[5]

Powell also composed How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which released in theatres February 22, 2019 in the United States.

Discography[]

John Powell discography
Studio albums7
Soundtrack albums61

Television[]

Year Title Notes
1989–1993 Stay Lucky
1996–1997 High Incident

Film[]

1990s[]

Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes
1997 Face/Off John Woo Paramount Pictures (North America)
Touchstone Pictures (International)
N/A
1998 With Friends Like These... Philip Frank Messina Miramax Films N/A
Endurance Leslie Woodhead
Bud Greenspan
Walt Disney Pictures N/A
Antz Eric Darnell
Tim Johnson
Pacific Data Images
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Pictures
Co-composed with Harry Gregson-Williams
1999 Forces of Nature Bronwen Hughes DreamWorks Pictures N/A
Chill Factor Hugh Johnson Morgan Creek Productions
Warner Bros. Pictures
Co-composed with Hans Zimmer

2000s[]

Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes
2000 The Road to El Dorado Don Paul
Bibo Bergeron
DreamWorks Pictures
DreamWorks Animation
Co-composed with Hans Zimmer
Chicken Run Peter Lord
Nick Park
Aardman
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Pictures (International)
Pathé (Europe)
Co-composed with Harry Gregson-Williams
2001 Just Visiting Jean-Marie Poiré Gaumont
Hollywood Pictures
N/A
Shrek Andrew Adamson
Vicky Jenson
DreamWorks Pictures
DreamWorks Animation
Pacific Data Images
Co-composed with Harry Gregson-Williams
Evolution Ivan Reitman The Montecito Picture Company
DreamWorks Pictures (North America)
Columbia Pictures (International)
N/A
Rat Race Jerry Zucker Fireworks Entertainment
Paramount Pictures
N/A
I Am Sam Jessie Nelson Bedford Falls Productions
New Line Cinema
Additional music by Heitor Pereira
2002 D-Tox Jim Gillespie DEJ Productions (North America)
United International Pictures (International)
N/A
The Bourne Identity Doug Liman The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Universal Pictures
N/A
Drumline Charles Stone III 20th Century Fox N/A
The Adventures of Pluto Nash Ron Underwood Castle Rock Entertainment
Village Roadshow Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures
N/A
Two Weeks Notice Marc Lawrence Castle Rock Entertainment
Village Roadshow Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures
N/A
2003 Stealing Sinatra Ron Underwood Showtime Networks Television film
Agent Cody Banks Harald Zwart Maverick Films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
N/A
The Italian Job F. Gary Gray Paramount Pictures N/A
Gigli Martin Brest Casey Silver
Revolution Studios
Columbia Pictures
N/A
Paycheck John Woo Davis Entertainment
Paramount Pictures (North America)
DreamWorks Pictures (International)
N/A
2004 The Bourne Supremacy Paul Greengrass The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Universal Pictures
N/A
Mr. 3000 Charles Stone III The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Spyglass Entertainment
Dimension Films
Touchstone Pictures
N/A
Alfie Charles Shyer Paramount Pictures N/A
2005 Be Cool F. Gary Gray Jersey Films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
N/A
Robots Chris Wedge 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios
N/A
Mr. & Mrs. Smith Doug Liman Weed Road Pictures
Regency Enterprises
Summit Entertainment
20th Century Fox
N/A
2006 Ice Age: The Meltdown Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios
Replaced David Newman
United 93 Paul Greengrass Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
Working Title Films
Studiocanal
Universal Pictures
N/A
X-Men: The Last Stand Brett Ratner Marvel Entertainment
20th Century Fox
N/A
Happy Feet George Miller Animal Logic
Kennedy Miller
Village Roadshow Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures
Nominated for a Grammy award for "Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Media"
2007 The Bourne Ultimatum Paul Greengrass The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Universal Pictures
N/A
P.S. I Love You Richard LaGravenese Alcon Entertainment
Warner Bros. Pictures (North America)
Momentum Pictures (International)
N/A
2008 Jumper Doug Liman Regency Enterprises
20th Century Fox
N/A
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! Jimmy Hayward
Steve Martino
20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios
Additional music by James McKee Smith, John Ashton Thomas, and Paul Mounsey.
Stop-Loss Kimberly Peirce MTV Films
Paramount Pictures
N/A
Kung Fu Panda John Stevenson
Mark Osborne
Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks Animation
Co-composed with Hans Zimmer
Hancock Peter Berg Overbrook Entertainment
Relativity Media
Columbia Pictures
N/A
Bolt Chris Williams
Byron Howard
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Additional Music by Paul Mounsey
2009 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios
Additional Music by Paul Mounsey

2010s[]

Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes
2010 Green Zone Paul Greengrass Working Title Films
Universal Pictures
Additional Music by Paul Mounsey
How to Train Your Dragon Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois
Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks Animation
Nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Score

Additional Music by Paul Mounsey

Fair Game Doug Liman River Road Entertainment
Summit Entertainment
Additional Music by Paul Mounsey
Knight and Day James Mangold Media Rights Capital
Dune Entertainment
Regency Enterprises
20th Century Fox
Additional Music by Paul Mounsey
2011 Mars Needs Moms Simon Wells Walt Disney Pictures
ImageMovers Digital
Additional Music by Paul Mounsey
Rio Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios
Additional Music by Paul Mounsey
Kung Fu Panda 2 Jennifer Yuh Nelson Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks Animation
Co-composed with Hans Zimmer

Additional Music by Paul Mounsey

Happy Feet Two George Miller Village Roadshow Pictures
Kennedy Miller Mitchell
Warner Bros. Pictures
Additional Music by Paul Mounsey
2012 Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Chris Renaud Universal Pictures
Illumination Entertainment
Composed songs with lyrics by Cinco Paul

Additional Music by Paul Mounsey

Ice Age: Continental Drift Steve Martino
Mike Thurmeier
20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios
Additional Music by Paul Mounsey
2014 Rio 2 Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios
Additional Music by Anthony Willis & Paul Mounsey
How to Train Your Dragon 2[6] Dean DeBlois 20th Century Fox
DreamWorks Animation
Additional Music by Anthony Willis & Paul Mounsey
2015 Pan Joe Wright RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Warner Bros. Pictures
Additional Music by Anthony Willis, Batu Sener & Paul Mounsey
2016 Jason Bourne Paul Greengrass Perfect World Pictures
Captivate Entertainment
Pearl Street Films
The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Universal Pictures
Co-composed with David Buckley

Additional Music by Batu Sener

2017 Ferdinand Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios
Nominated for a Grammy award for "Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella"

Additional Music by Batu Sener, Anthony Willis & Paul Mounsey

Last collaboration with Blue Sky Studios

2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story[7] Ron Howard Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Lucasfilm Ltd.
Nominated for a Grammy award for "Best Instrumental Composition"

Han Solo Theme & Original Star Wars Music by John Williams.

Additional Music by Batu Sener, Anthony Willis & Paul Mounsey.

2019 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World[8] Dean DeBlois Universal Pictures
DreamWorks Animation
Additional Music by Batu Sener, Anthony Willis & Paul Mounsey

2020s[]

Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes
2020 The Call of the Wild[9] Chris Sanders 20th Century Studios
3 Arts Entertainment
Additional Music by Batu Sener & Paul Mounsey
2021 Locked Down[10] Doug Liman AGC Studios
Storyteller Productions
Warner Bros. Pictures
HBO Max

Studio albums[]

Year Title Category Notes Label Catalogue Number
2018 Hubris: Choral Works by John Powell[11] Classical First release on John Powell’s own label, 5 Cats Studios.

Performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

5 Cat Studios FCS001
2020 Piano Solos from "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World"[12] Solo Piano With as pianist. FCS005
Piano Solos from "The Call of the Wild" FCS007
Forces of Nature (Music from the Motion Picture) Score Released on Audio CD.

Limited 1000 copies. Co-composed with

The first awaiting official score album since the 1999 film debut.

Includes 2 bonus tracks/demos.

5 Cat Studios, La-La Land Records
How to Train Your Dragon (The Deluxe Edition) Deluxe Edition of the 2010 film score.

Includes alternate versions and demos.

5 Cat Studios, Varèse Sarabande
Solo: A Star Wars Story (Deluxe Edition) Deluxe Edition of the 2018 film score.

Includes over 2 hours of original/unedited music as written for the film, and an end credits suite.

Han Solo Theme & Original Star Wars Music by John Williams.

Additional Music by Batu Sener, Anthony Willis & Paul Mounsey.

5 Cat Studios, Walt Disney Records
Film Suites Vol. 1 Classical Performed with Jose Serebrier, Philharmonia Orchestra, and The Philharmonia Voices. 5 Cat Studios FCS010
2021 Paycheck: The Deluxe Edition (Music From The Motion Picture)[13] Score Deluxe Edition of the 2003 film score.

This Deluxe Edition greatly expands the playing time to over 95 minutes.[13]

5 Cat Studios, Varèse Sarabande

Awards and nominations[]

Awards[]

  • 1998 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – Face/Off
  • 1999 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – Antz (with Harry Gregson-Williams)
  • 2001 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – Chicken Run (with Harry Gregson-Williams)
  • 2001 Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music Score an Animated Feature Production – Shrek (with Harry Gregson-Williams)
  • 2002 Ivor Novello for Best Original Film Score – Shrek (with Harry Gregson-Williams)
  • 2002 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – Shrek (with Harry Gregson-Williams)
  • 2003 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – The Bourne Identity
  • 2004 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – The Italian Job
  • 2005 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – The Bourne Supremacy
  • 2006 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – Mr. & Mrs. Smith
  • 2006 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – Robots
  • 2007 Ivor Novello for Best Original Film Score – Ice Age: The Meltdown
  • 2009 Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production – Kung Fu Panda (with Hans Zimmer)
  • 2009 Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Television Production or Short Form – Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five (with Henry Jackman and Hans Zimmer)
  • 2010 Ivor Novello for Best Original Film Score – Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
  • 2011 Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production – How To Train Your Dragon
  • 2011 Ivor Novello for Best Original Film Score – How To Train Your Dragon
  • 2011 IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for an Animated Feature – How To Train Your Dragon
  • 2011 IFMCA Award for Film Score of the Year – How To Train Your Dragon
  • 2015 Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production – How To Train Your Dragon 2
  • 2015 IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for an Animated Feature – How To Train Your Dragon 2
  • 2015 IFMCA Award for Film Music Composition of the Year – for "Flying With Mother" from How to Train Your Dragon 2
  • 2016 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – Jason Bourne
  • 2017 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – Ferdinand
  • 2018 ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films – Solo: A Star Wars Story
  • 2018 IFMCA Award for Film Score of the Year – Solo: A Star Wars Story
  • 2018 ASCAP Award for Film Score of the Year – Solo: A Star Wars Story
  • 2018 ASCAP Award – Henry Mancini Award
  • 2018 IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film – Solo: A Star Wars Story
  • 2019 World Soundtrack Awards - Public Choice - How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
  • 2019 Hollywood Music in Media Awards - Original Score - Animated Film - How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
  • 2020 IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for an Animated Feature – How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Nominations[]

References[]

  1. ^ "From Gigli to Oscar: Composer John Powell Reacts to His Nomination". Movieline. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  2. ^ "John Powell - Composer Biography, Facts and Music Compositions". FAMOUS COMPOSERS. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  3. ^ Thomson, Paul. "John Powell - Exclusive Q & A". Spitfire Audio. Spitfire Audio. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  4. ^ "John Powell's 'A Prussian Requiem' to be performed live in London". SoundtracksAndTrailerMusic.com. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  5. ^ "John Powell On Scoring The "Completely Absorbing World" of Solo: A Star Wars Story". StarWars.com. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  6. ^ V., Erin (2 April 2012). "Interview: Dean DeBlois, director of 'How To Train Your Dragon'". One Movie, Five Views. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  7. ^ "John Powell to Score Untitled Han Solo Movie". StarWars.com. Lucasfilm. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  8. ^ "How to Train Your Dragon 3 Pushed Back to 2017". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  9. ^ "Soundtrack.net".
  10. ^ "John Powell Scoring Doug Liman's 'Locked Down' | Film Music Reporter". Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Hubris: Choral Works by John Powell (192kHz / 24-bit) « John Powell". John Powell. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Film Music Reporter".
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "Paycheck: The Deluxe Edition (Music From The Motion Picture) (2-CD)". Varèse Sarabande. Retrieved 11 June 2021.

External links[]

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