John Powell

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For other people named John Powell, see John Powell (disambiguation).
John Powell
Born (1963-09-18) 18 September 1963
Origin London, England
Genres Film scores
Occupations Composer, conductor, producer
Instruments Piano, violin
Years active 1990–present

John Powell (born 18 September 1963) is an English composer and conductor, best known for his scores to motion pictures. After studying at London's Trinity College of Music, Powell rose to fame in the late 1990s and 2000s, scoring numerous animated films, in addition to his live-action collaborations with directors Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass. He has been based in Los Angeles since 1997 and has composed the scores to over fifty feature films. His 2010 score for the film How to Train Your Dragon earned him his first Academy Award nomination at the 83rd Academy Awards. He was a member of Hans Zimmer's music studio, Remote Control Productions, and collaborated frequently with other composers from the studio, including Harry Gregson-Williams and Zimmer himself.

Life and career

Powell was born in London. He originally trained as a violinist as a child, before studying at London's Trinity College of Music. He later ventured into jazz and rock music, playing in a soul band the Faboulistics. On leaving 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.

In 1995, he 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 film score was for the 1990 film 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 the two collaborated again to compose the score to Chicken Run, and again the following year on Shrek, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. 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.

In 2006, he scored Greengrass' United 93. He also composed music for Ice Age: The Meltdown, following 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 collaborated with composer Hans Zimmer to score Kung Fu Panda, and also wrote music that year for Jumper, 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.

Discography

John Powell discography
Releases
↙Soundtracks 53

Filmography

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 N/A
1998 With Friends Like These... Philip Frank Messina Miramax Films N/A
Antz Eric Darnell
Tim Johnson		 DreamWorks Pictures
DreamWorks Animation		 with Harry Gregson-Williams
1999 Endurance Leslie Woodhead
Bud Greenspan		 Walt Disney Pictures N/A
Forces of Nature Bronwen Hughes DreamWorks Pictures N/A
Chill Factor Hugh Johnson Warner Bros. Pictures with Hans Zimmer

2000s

Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes
2000 The Road to El Dorado Don Paul
Bibo Bergeron		 DreamWorks Pictures
DreamWorks Animation		 with Hans Zimmer
Chicken Run Peter Lord
Nick Park		 DreamWorks Pictures
DreamWorks Animation		 with Harry Gregson-Williams
2001 Just Visiting Jean-Marie Poiré Hollywood Pictures N/A
Shrek Andrew Adamson
Vicky Jenson		 DreamWorks Pictures
DreamWorks Animation		 with Harry Gregson-Williams
Evolution Ivan Reitman DreamWorks Pictures N/A
Rat Race Jerry Zucker Paramount Pictures N/A
I Am Sam Jessie Nelson New Line Cinema N/A
2002 D-Tox Jim Gillespie Universal Pictures N/A
The Bourne Identity Doug Liman Universal Pictures N/A
Drumline Charles Stone III 20th Century Fox N/A
The Adventures of Pluto Nash Ron Underwood Warner Bros. Pictures N/A
Two Weeks Notice Marc Lawrence Warner Bros. Pictures N/A
2003 Stealing Sinatra Ron Underwood Showtime Networks Television film
Agent Cody Banks Harald Zwart Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer N/A
The Italian Job F. Gary Gray Paramount Pictures N/A
Gigli Martin Brest Columbia Pictures N/A
Paycheck John Woo Paramount Pictures N/A
2004 The Bourne Supremacy Paul Greengrass Universal Pictures N/A
Mr. 3000 Charles Stone III Touchstone Pictures N/A
Alfie Charles Shyer Paramount Pictures N/A
2005 Be Cool F. Gary Gray Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer N/A
Robots Chris Wedge 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios		 N/A
Mr. & Mrs. Smith Doug Liman 20th Century Fox N/A
2006 Ice Age: The Meltdown Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios		 N/A
United 93 Paul Greengrass Universal Pictures N/A
X-Men: The Last Stand Brett Ratner 20th Century Fox N/A
Happy Feet George Miller Warner Bros. Pictures
Animal Logic		 N/A
2007 The Bourne Ultimatum Paul Greengrass Universal Pictures N/A
PS, I Love You Richard LaGravenese Warner Bros. Pictures N/A
2008 Jumper Doug Liman 20th Century Fox N/A
Horton Hears a Who! Jimmy Hayward
Steve Martino		 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios		 N/A
Stop-Loss Kimberly Peirce Paramount Pictures
MTV Films		 N/A
Kung Fu Panda John Stevenson
Mark Osborne		 Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks Animation		 with Hans Zimmer
Hancock Peter Berg Columbia Pictures N/A
Bolt Chris Williams
Byron Howard		 Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Animation Studios		 N/A
2009 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios		 N/A

2010s

Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes
2010 Green Zone Paul Greengrass Universal Pictures N/A
How to Train Your Dragon Chris Sanders
Dean DeBlois		 Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks Animation		 nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Score
Fair Game Doug Liman Summit Entertainment N/A
Knight and Day James Mangold 20th Century Fox N/A
2011 Mars Needs Moms Simon Wells Walt Disney Pictures
ImageMovers Digital		 N/A
Rio Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios		 N/A
Kung Fu Panda 2 Jennifer Yuh Nelson Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks Animation		 with Hans Zimmer
Happy Feet Two George Miller Warner Bros. Pictures
Animal Logic		 N/A
2012 Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Chris Renaud Universal Pictures
Illumination Entertainment		 N/A
Ice Age: Continental Drift Steve Martino
Mike Thurmeier		 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios		 N/A
2014 Rio 2 Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox
Blue Sky Studios		 N/A
How to Train Your Dragon 2[1] Dean DeBlois 20th Century Fox
DreamWorks Animation		 N/A
2016 How to Train Your Dragon 3 Dean DeBlois 20th Century Fox
DreamWorks Animation		 N/A

Awards and nominations

Awards

Nominations

References

  1. ↑ V., Erin (2 April 2012). "Interview: Dean DeBlois, director of ‘How To Train Your Dragon’". One Movie, Five Views. Retrieved 12 May 2012. 

External links

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