Composers
ALEXANDER, Geoffrey
Already established as one of the leading Hollywood and UK film music arrangers, orchestrators and conductors, Geoff Alexander is now moving across into composing, bringing with him the wealth of experienced gained from more than 100 feature credits.
He recently contributed orchestral cues to George Fenton’s score for the BBC’s One World series and earlier provided the score for the Merchant Ivory film Merci Docteur Rey, directed by Andrew Litvak.
ALTMAN, John
John Altman won a BAFTA for Hear My Song and EMMY for RKO 281, this award winning British composer’s most recent Hollywood movie score is Miramax’s worldwide smash hit Shall We Dance, starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. Other recent credits include the features Shoot On Sight and a contemporary version of Ibsen’s The Master Builder both of which opened this year, as well as The Good Samaritan for ITV. Recently awarded a Gold Badge for services to British music by The British Academy of Songwriters & Composers.
ATACK, Tim
Tim Atack’s latest feature credits include Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s film Cemetery Junction for Sony Pictures and Ricky’s 2009 The Invention of Lying for Warners. He has completed Re-Uniting The Rubins, a new Brit rom.com for Balagan Productions and Dead Cert, a thriller for Raw Films/Black & Blue Films. He has also scored the forthcoming Channel 4 documentary Graffiti Wars: Banksy vs Robbo, produced by Twofour Broadcast.
BALANESCU, Alexander
Film Composer & Virtuoso Musician
Don’t recognise the name? Then put it into Google and you get more than a staggering 27,400 hits, including his 32 film and tv scores on IMDbPro, most recently for Daniel Mulloy’s 2010 Edinburgh Film Festival Best Short Baby, made by Sister Films for Channel 4, as well as sites with concert reviews and countless video performance clips on YouTube. This Romanian born prolific composer is one of the world’s leading contemporary violinists who started scoring films as a young man back in the late 1980’s. His best known score is for Philip Haas’s Oscar and Palm D’Or Nominated Angels and Insects for The Goldwyn Company/Playhouse Pictures. Last year he worked on another Philip Haas film, The Death of Pentheus, which was shown at the Venice Film Festival. Meanwhile Wim Wenders has featured several pieces by The Balanescu Quartet in his latest film, the much lauded Pina.
BARNABAS, Andrew & ARNOLD, Paul
Known to all and sundry as Bob & Barn, Andrew and Paul set up their business and recording studio in Cambridge in 2001 after meeting at Millennium Interactive, where they were both writing and producing music for the company’s video games. Although still involved with the games industry they have now gone on to work in features and television as well. With a successful background in bands they are also established re-mix engineers and have worked on many records for Sony Records including tracks for Chris Brown and Omarion.
CERVANTES, Pablo
Pablo is one of Spain’s leading film composers and is now breaking into the international markets. His credits in 2011 include Camera Obscura and Kenu, for Basque Films and Jaleo Films; Rocio Dural: Volver a Vertu, a 2-part biopic about one of Spain’s legendary singers who recently died from cancer; two documentaries about the Spanish Civil war, 30 Years of Darkness and Deported 1969; an historical adventure series for Globomedia, El Corazón Del Océano; and is now on a 13-part series Luna: El Misterio De Calenda for the same company. In 2012 he will score the feature Els Nens Salvatges for Distinto Films.
DOWLING, Willie
Willie Dowling is a successful singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, who first broke into scoring with tv comedy series for Armstrong & Miller, among others and then moved across into drama with BBC drama You’re Breaking Up. He recently completed the score for Carnaby Films’ Caught In The Act, directed by Matt Lipsey and has finished Vexed, a new Greenlit series for the BBC2 airing August 15 for 3 weeks . Other credits include Life Of Riley for the BBC; The Cup for Hartswood Films and Never Better, a tv series for World Productions/BBC2. In 2007 also completed the songs and score for the animated feature Snow White – The Sequel.
FREDERICK, Jason
Canadian born film composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jason Frederick has recently relocated from Los Angeles to the UK and later this year ITV will screen the Hallmark/Granada thriller Murder Among Friends featuring his latest score. Other recent credits include The Replacements, the Disney tv animation series, also now on Virgin Media; Two Sisters for ABC Television; Good Chemistry for Warners; Bears for Rockhard Pictures; Showtime’s The Other Side; Gold Circle’s Dawg; and 2B Perfectly Honest, starring Robert Vaughn, Hayley Mills and Andrew McCarthy.
GREEN, Nick
Nick Green was an established recording artist and songwriter when he teamed up with record producer Tristin Norwell to create tv drama and film scores. After some 8 years they’ve now gone their separate ways with Nick further concentrating on establishing himself as a solo composer.
Their joint credits include six series of Wild at Heart for Company Pictures/BBC1. Last year they scored the tv film Whistle And I’ll Come To You for the BBC and director Andy De Emmony and starring John Hurt, Lesley Sharp and Gemma Jones and earlier the Oscar Nominated short Wish 143, directed by Ian Barnes for Swing and Shift Films/Union Pictures. They also worked on Shed Productions’ Waterloo Road series and it is their music that opens and closes the show.
HARLE, John
John Harle’s first credited film score was Prick Up Your Ears (Zenith), co-written with Stanley Myers, which won the Best Artistic Achievement Award at Cannes in 1988. Since then he has emerged as one of the UK’s most gifted drama composers with more than 60 major credits ranging from Silent Witness (BBC) which won him the coveted Royal Television Society Award to A History of Britain (BBC), Simon Schama’s multi-award winning series. Nominated for another Royal Television Society Award for Windows of the Soul, an episode from the 2007 The Commander series (La Plante/ITV). Most recent credit is A Short Trip To Switzerland for BBC Films, starring Julie Walters, directed by Simon Curtis and produced by Liz Trubridge.
HEARD, Paul
Paul Heard, the co-writer and producer of the group M-People, is now scoring films and tv drama. His credits include the recently completed Clubbed for Formosa Films, a gangster film set in the Northern clubs in the early 1980′s and Ahead of The Class, ITVs much lauded production starring Julie Walters.
LOCKE, Bob & NORFOLK, Tim
Bob Locke and Tim Norfolk, aka The Insects, started their film and tv composing career in the 90’s and in those early days mostly on docs and nat.hist. – they won an EMMY in 1994 for Life At The Edge, a National Geographic Special. Since then they have scored two features for director Richard Kwietniowski; – Love and Death on Long Island (BBC Films) starring John Hurt and Jason Priestley and Owning Mahowny (Alliance Atlantis) starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John Hurt and Minnie Driver. The music for the latter was nominated for a Prix Genie Award in Canada. Major tv credits include all six series of Wire In The Blood for Coastal Productions. Just last year they worked with Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack on the feature 44 Inch Chest (Prescience), starring Ray Winstone, Tom Wilkinson and Ian Mcshane, contributing band numbers and songs to Angelo Badalamenti’s score.
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MARTIN, Neil
Neil Martin is a Belfast based composer and musician whose work spans television, radio, theatre, the concert stage and the recording studio. First major tv drama commission was the BBC’s Food For Ravens written and directed by Trevor Griffiths. In 2009 he scored the feature Hell’s Pavement for Irish director Andy Kemp which had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh Festival. A cellist and uilleann piper, his first solo album is on Universal Records.
MORAN, Mike
Mike Moran is one of the most experienced and versatile of composers, his skill include film/tv scoring, arranging, song writing and record production. Recent scores include the features Blessed, starring James Nesbitt, The Lonely Stag, an Irish film, and A Fox’s Tale, a full length animation movie. He also scored Octavia, the 2008 tv drama based on the novel Jilly Cooper. Other credits include New Tricks, Sherlock, Scarlet Pimpernel and the cult movie Time Bandits.
PARKER, Alan
Alan Parker is a brilliant orchestrator and programmer; his composing credits include the 2006 movie Stormbreaker, the cult What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, Fallen Angel, Marian Again, D-Day, Family, Walking With Cavemen, Winter Solstice, The Cry, Ivor Novello nominations for his scores for Victoria & Albert and Rhodes. 2007 tv included Fallen Angel for ITV.
PETIT, Jean-Claude
Jean-Claude Petit is one of the foremost film composers in France and his work includes the universally acclaimed Cyrano de Bergerac (BAFTA Award) with Gerard Depardieu’s amazing performance; Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, both directed by Claude Berri; and the huge hit, Les Miserables, starring John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu and Jeanne Moreau.
PRUESS, Craig
Craig Pruess was Nominated for a BAFTA for his score for the BBC’s Moses Jones. The music was singled out as being an important element in creating the character of the series with one reviewer writing “ surely the tv soundtrack of the year!”. He went on to compose the music for Five Days 2 for the BBC. Films include Bend It Like Beckham.
As musician, arranger, producer and Indo/World fusion expert he is widely regarded as the finest non-Indian sitar player and world music specialist. Following the acclaim for his music in Moses Jones he launched the African fusion band, The Ganga Boys who were featured in the series.
RAIHER, Andrew
Born and educated in London, Andrew Raiher, a classically trained film composer who completed his studies at Trinity College of Music, is equally at home with both orchestral and contemporary film music. He works in London and Los Angeles and recently completed scores include Solomon Kane (Davis Films), Waking Madison for director Katherine Brooks and Annapurna Productions; the major motion picture, Redline (Chicago Pictures) for director Andy Cheng and producer Mario Kassar.
Other recent credits Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior for Universal Pictures; Dragon Hunters for Paris based Futurikon; and Starship Troopers 3: Marauders for Sony Pictures.
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SALISBURY, Ben
EMMY nominated composer, Ben Salisbury, has forged a highly successful career as one of the UK’s leading film and tv composers; particularly in the field of natural history, where he has scored over 50 films – including the last three of David Attenborough’s Life Of… series. He is also involved with some of the UK’s most interesting ‘alternative’ bands, working as an arranger and collaborator with acts on Geoff Barrow’s (Portishead) Invada label, and as a co-writer with Domino signed “stand-alone Bristol sensation”, Malachai. This combination of an impressive, modern cinematic, orchestral style and a deep rooted understanding of alternative rock and electronica has now pitched Ben firmly into the field of contemporary drama and features.
SHRAGGE, Lawrence
Canadian born, Los Angeles based, award winning film composer Lawrence Shragge has written music for everything from feature films to tv series, from theatre, dance and documentaries to international advertising campaigns and even music for major art installations. He was Nominated for a 2010 EMMY for his score for CBS Television’s When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story.
SWAIN, Martyn
Martyn Swain, an award winning score composer and songwriter, comes from a ‘rock ‘n roll’ background having joined The Waterboys back in 1987 and went on to work with major superstars, including David Bowie. Credits include Reichenbach Falls, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, The Rotters Club, Belonging and more…
VALENTINE, Dean
Composer & Songwriter
Dublin born and based Dean Valentine is one of the most highly regarded film and tv composers in Ireland. His latest feature credits include the ‘Til The Tenth Generation’, directed by Gerry Greg for Praxis Pictures/RTE; the award winning film Satellites & Meteorites starring Amy Hubberman, directed by Rick Larkin for iWire Pictures; and For All Those Seeking The Exquisite Company of the Late Mr Boyle, a Numbers & Spaces production directed by Nathan Levine Healey. He also scored the shorts Up For Air directed by Richard Conroy for Snowluke Pictures and Be A Hero for Numbers & Spaces Productions, also directed by Nathan Levine Healey.
WILLIAMS, Jim
Scots born film composer Jim Williams’ latest feature is Ben Wheatley’s Kill List. for Warp Films. It opened nationwide on September 2 and has received much praise, as has Jim’s score – …”Jim Williams’ eminently unsettling score – the film’s saturnine heartbeat – pulses underneath (Financial Times); “…Jim Williams’ abrasively oppressive score…” (Independent); “Jim Williams’ score, incorporating mysterious chants and whistling, backward-played speech, and dragging strings, further cements a mood of dread and anxiety.” (Reuters); “Britain has rarely seemed so eerie, the sound and score playing with an expert handle on tension, tension…release.” (Sunday Times). Jim will shortly start work on Ben’s next film The Sightseers.
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WRIGHT, Steve
Steve Wright was Head of Music and principal composer at Phil Redmond’s Mersey Television and Lime Pictures before leaving in 2007 to concentrate on his in demand career as a film composer. His first commission was from LA Productions to score the Jimmy McGovern created 5-part drama series Moving On for the BBC. Directed by Gary Williams, Illy, Richard Standeven and produced by Colin McKeown and McGovern, it was repeated and followed immediately by a new 10-part series, again featuring Steve’s music. He also scored Justice, another LA Productions 5-parter and recently completed working on the BBC’s new Raymond Blanc series The Very Hungary Frenchman.