Pınar Toprak
| Pınar Toprak | |
|---|---|
| Genres | Film scores |
| Occupations | Composer |
| Website | pinartoprak.com |
Award winning composer Pinar Toprak has written music for an impressive number of diverse movies and distinguished filmmakers with over 30 feature film credits to date. Among her latest scores include the Michael Clarke Duncan's last film The Challenger, SONY film The River Murders starring Ray Liotta and Christian Slater, the period drama The Lightkeepers (Richard Dreyfuss, Blythe Danner and Bruce Dern) as well as the 33rd America's Cup documentary The Wind Gods produced by David Ellison (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, True Grit, G.I. Joe 2), which starts airing on PBS in May, 2013. She is currently attached to score several films including the Cecil B. DeMille Biopic and Resilient 3D starring Virginia Madsen and Robert Beltran.
She has also written and conducted the orchestra for the logo for David Ellison's company, Skydance Productions.
She has won two International Film Music Critics Association Awards as well as nominated for Best Revelation Composer alongside Trent Reznor and Daft Punk.
Pinar is also known for the action feature film Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil by 20th Century Fox, the crime drama Breaking Point by LIONSGATE with Tom Berenger and Busta Rhymes, the animated feature Light of Olympia featuring the voices of Debbie Reynolds and Phyllis Diller as well as the romantic drama Say It in Russian starring Faye Dunaway and Stephen Brand. She has also written music for the Xbox 360 video game Ninety Nine Nights produced by Microsoft, as well as numerous trailers. Moreover she had the privilege to join the Media Ventures team (now known as Remote Control Productions), home of the legendary film composer Hans Zimmer during projects such as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Last Samurai and King Arthur.
Pinar was born in Istanbul and began her music education at the age of five at the renowned Istanbul State Conservatory. While at the conservatory, she studied composition, violin as well as voice and graduated with a diploma in classical guitar.
In 1997, Pinar moved to Chicago and studied piano and jazz theory with many master jazz pianists. Later she decided to combine her two biggest passions, music and film, and traveled to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. She finished her Bachelor’s degree in Film Scoring in just two years and moved to Los Angeles to further pursue her career in film music. At the age of 22, she received a Master of Music degree in composition. Her master’s thesis was commissioned by California State University to be performed by the CSUN Symphony Orchestra.
Credits
Filmography
- C.B. DeMille Biopic (Development)
- When the Storm God Rides (pre-production)
- Resilient 3D (pre-production)
- The Challenger (post-production)
- Restos (2012)
- The River Murders (2011)
- Last Will (2011)
- Girls! Girls! Girls! (2011)
- How to Have a Happy Marriage (2011)
- Medium Raw: Night of the Wolf (2010) (TV movie)
- Mongolian Death Worm (2010) (TV movie)
- The Lightkeepers (2009)
- Breaking Point (2009)
- The Crimson Mask (2009)
- Wyvern (2009) (TV movie)
- Pregnant in America (2008) (documentary)
- Ba'al (2008) (TV movie)
- Light of Olympia (2008)
- Ogre (2008) (TV movie)
- Ocean of Pearls (2008)
- Beyond Loch Ness (2008) (TV movie)
- Say It in Russian (2007)
- In the Name of the Son (2007)
- Fall Down Dead (2007)
- Sinner (2007)
- Daydreamer (2007)
- Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil
- When All Else Fails (2005)
- Headbreaker (2004)
- Hold The Rice (2004)