John Powell (film composer)
{{short description|English film music composer and music conductor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = John Powell
| image = John Powell with his Score (cropped).tif
| landscape = yes
| caption = John Powell in 2008
| birth_place = London, England
| origin = East Sussex, England
| genre = Film score
| occupation = Music composer
Music conductor
| years_active = 1989–present
| label = 5 Cat Studios
| website = {{URL|johnpowellmusic.com}}
{{URL|5catstudios.com}}
}}
John Powell is an English film music composer and music conductor. He has been based in Los Angeles, California since 1997 and has composed the music to over 70 feature films. He is best known for composing the music for films such as Face/Off, the Bourne films, the Happy Feet films, United 93, X-Men: The Last Stand, Wicked and its upcoming sequel For Good, Evolution, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, Migration, Drumline, Hancock, The Call of the Wild, Bolt, That Christmas, Thelma the Unicorn, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, eight Blue Sky Studios films and ten DreamWorks Animation films.
His work on Happy Feet, Ferdinand and Solo: A Star Wars Story has earned him three Grammy nominations. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for How to Train Your Dragon and Wicked.{{cite web|url=http://movieline.com/2011/01/25/from-gigli-to-how-to-train-your-dragon-composer-john-powell-responds-to-his-oscar-nomination/|title=From Gigli to Oscar: Composer John Powell Reacts to His Nomination|date=25 January 2011|access-date=3 November 2014 |publisher=Movieline}}
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.
He has also collaborated with film directors such as Carlos Saldanha, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders, Jon M. Chu, George Miller, John Woo, Ron Underwood, Doug Liman, Charles Stone III and Paul Greengrass.
Early life and education
As a child, he played the violin and viola. He studied the violin at the Trinity College of Music, central London (now the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Greenwich, London). There, he met John Ashton Thomas, who orchestrated many of Powell's scores. Powell played for "Faboulistics", an amateur rock and roll band.{{Cite web|title=John Powell – Composer Biography, Facts and Music Compositions|url=https://www.famouscomposers.net/john-powell|access-date=12 November 2020|website=FAMOUS COMPOSERS|language=en-US}}
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.{{Cite web |title=Much Ado About Nothing · British Universities Film & Video Council |url=http://bufvc.ac.uk/shakespeare/index.php/title/av67282 |access-date=8 May 2022 |website=bufvc.ac.uk}} In 1995, Powell co-founded the London-based commercial music house Independently Thinking Music with Gavin Greenaway,{{Cite web |date=20 August 2021 |title=John Powell receives IFMCA Award for The Call of the Wild |url=https://filmmusiccritics.org/2021/08/john-powell-receives-ifmca-award-for-the-call-of-the-wild/ |access-date=11 March 2024 |website=IFMCA: International Film Music Critics Association |language=en-US}} which produced scores for more than 100 British and French commercials and independent films.
Career
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. It was followed by Antz in 1998, the first film produced by DreamWorks Animation, which he co-scored with fellow British composer Harry Gregson-Williams, which also marked the duo's first score for an animated film. Two years later, Powell collaborated with composer Hans Zimmer on the score for The Road to El Dorado. Later that same year, he also teamed up with Harry Gregson-Williams again to compose the score to Chicken Run and then again the following year on Shrek. Gregson-Williams composed all the subsequent Shrek films and the sequel to Chicken Run himself. In 2001 he also scored Evolution, I Am Sam, Just Visiting and Rat Race.
In 2002 Powell was hired to score The Bourne Identity for director Doug Liman after Carter Burwell left the project. He also returned to score the series' other two films, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, under British director Paul Greengrass.
Powell collaborated with Liman again to score Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). That year he also scored Robots for Blue Sky Studios, and went on to score many of the studio's subsequent films until 2017's Ferdinand.
In 2006, he scored Greengrass' United 93. He also composed music for his second Blue Sky film 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 next 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 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, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. It was his sixth DreamWorks Animation film, although the first where he composed the whole score himself. That year he also scored Greengrass's Green Zone and Knight and Day.
In 2013, Powell took a sabbatical year from film scoring. In April 2014, after completing his scores to sequels Rio 2 and How to Train Your Dragon 2, he announced he would take another break to compose concert music, including a 45-minute oratorio to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of World War I. The piece, "A Prussian Requiem", with a libretto by Michael Petry, premiered on 6 March 2016 at The Royal Festival Hall, London with José Serebrier conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra.{{cite web|url=http://www.soundtracksandtrailermusic.com/2015/11/john-powells-a-prussian-requiem-to-be-performed-live-in-london/|title=John Powell's 'A Prussian Requiem' to be performed live in London|date=5 November 2015|work=SoundtracksAndTrailerMusic.com|access-date=8 January 2016}}
Powell composed the score for Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018),{{Cite web|date=10 September 2018|title=John Powell on Scoring The "Completely Absorbing World" of Solo: A Star Wars Story|url=https://www.starwars.com/news/solo-a-star-wars-story-composer-john-powell|access-date=12 November 2020|website=Star Wars}} collaborating with John Williams, who wrote Han Solo's theme. In 2019, Powell scored How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, the final film in the How to Train Your Dragon series. In November 2023, it was announced that Powell would compose the musical score for the 2024 Netflix and Locksmith Animation film That Christmas. In January 2024, it was announced that Powell will return to compose the score for the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon.{{Cite web |last=Gearan |first=Hannah |date=16 February 2023 |title=How To Train Your Dragon Live-Action Movie Bringing Back Key Original Creator |url=https://screenrant.com/how-train-your-dragon-composer-returns-live-action/ |access-date=11 March 2024 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}} In August 2024, it was confirmed that Powell will compose and conduct the incidental score for the two-part film adaptation of Wicked, in collaboration with the musical's composer Stephen Schwartz.{{Cite web |date=3 July 2024 |title=John Powell Scoring Jon M. Chu's 'Wicked' |url=https://filmmusicreporter.com/2024/07/03/john-powell-scoring-jon-m-chus-wicked/ |access-date=3 July 2024 |website=Film Music Reporter}}{{cite web |last1=Sharpe |first1=Josh |title=John Powell Scoring WICKED Movie With Stephen Schwartz |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/John-Powell-Scoring-WICKED-Movie-With-Stephen-Schwartz-20240708 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |access-date=10 July 2024 |date=8 July 2024 |language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Giere |first1=Carol de |title=The Schwartz Scene updates on the Wicked Soundtrack from Stephen Schwartz |url=https://www.theschwartzscene.com/quarterly-newsletter/issue-78-summer-2024-wicked-soundtrack/ |website=The Schwartz Scene |access-date=10 July 2024}}
Filmography
=Feature films=
==1990s==
| class="wikitable sortable" width=100% |
| width=30px | Year
! width=200px | Title ! width=100px | Director(s) ! width=150px | Company credits ! Note(s) |
|---|
| 1997
! Face/Off | John Woo | Touchstone Pictures | Additional music composed by Gavin Greenaway |
| rowspan="3"| 1998
| Philip Frank Messina | Miramax Films | Also a music conductor |
| Endurance
| Leslie Woodhead | Walt Disney Pictures | Also a music producer |
| Antz
| DreamWorks Pictures | Co-composed with Harry Gregson-Williams |
| rowspan="2"| 1999
| DreamWorks Pictures | Also a soundtrack producer |
| Chill Factor
| Morgan Creek Entertainment | Co-composed with Hans Zimmer |
==2000s==
| class="wikitable sortable" width=100% |
| width=30px | Year
! width=200px | Title ! width=100px | Director(s) ! width=150px | Company credits ! Note |
|---|
| rowspan="2"| 2000
| Don Paul | DreamWorks Pictures | Co-composed with Hans Zimmer |
| Chicken Run
| Aardman Animations | Co-composed with Harry Gregson-Williams |
| rowspan="5"| 2001
| Gaumont | Additional music composed by Nick Glennie-Smith, James McKee Smith and Geoff Zanelli |
| Shrek
| DreamWorks Pictures | Co-composed with Harry Gregson-Williams |
| Evolution
| The Montecito Picture Company | Trailer music composed by Daniel Nielsen |
| Rat Race
| Fireworks Pictures | Originally composed by Elmer Bernstein |
| I Am Sam
| The Bedford Falls Company | {{N/A}} |
| rowspan="5"| 2002
! D-Tox | Universal Pictures | Additional music composed by Nick Glennie-Smith, James McKee Smith, William Ross and Geoff Zanelli |
| The Bourne Identity
| Stillking Films | Originally composed by Carter Burwell |
| Drumline
| 20th Century Fox | {{N/A}} |
| The Adventures of Pluto Nash
| Castle Rock Entertainment | Additional music composed by James McKee Smith, Joel J. Richard and John Ashton Thomas |
| Two Weeks Notice
| Fortis Films | {{N/A}} |
| rowspan="4"| 2003
| Maverick Films | Additional music composed by James McKee Smith and John Ashton Thomas |
| The Italian Job
| Paramount Pictures | Also a guitarist |
| Gigli
| Columbia Pictures | Originally composed by Carter Burwell |
| Paycheck
| John Woo | Davis Entertainment | Also a soundtrack producer |
| rowspan="3"| 2004
| The Kennedy/Marshall Company | Trailer music composed by Daniel Nielsen |
| Mr. 3000
| The Kennedy/Marshall Company | {{N/A}} |
| Alfie
| Paramount Pictures | Co-composed with Mick Jagger and David A. Stewart |
| rowspan="3"| 2005
! Be Cool | Jersey Films | Also a guitarist |
| Robots
| 20th Century Fox | Trailer music composed by Daniel Nielsen |
| Mr. & Mrs. Smith
| Weed Road Pictures | Also a music conductor |
| rowspan="4"| 2006
| 20th Century Fox | Originally composed by David Newman |
| United 93
| Universal Pictures | {{N/A}} |
| X-Men: The Last Stand
| 20th Century Fox | Additional music composed by James McKee Smith and John Ashton Thomas |
| Happy Feet
| Animal Logic | Also a song arranger and a song producer |
| rowspan="2" |2007
| The Kennedy/Marshall Company | Additional music composed by James McKee Smith, Joel J. Richard, John Ashton Thomas and Islam Sabry |
| P.S. I Love You
| Alcon Entertainment | Also a guitarist |
| rowspan="6"| 2008
! Jumper | Regency Enterprises | Additional music composed by James McKee Smith and John Ashton Thomas |
| Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!
| 20th Century Fox | Additional music by James McKee Smith, John Ashton Thomas and Paul Mounsey |
| Stop-Loss
| MTV Films | Also a music conductor and a solo guitarist |
| Kung Fu Panda
| Paramount Pictures | Co-composed with Hans Zimmer |
| Hancock
| Overbrook Entertainment | Trailer music composed by Ernst Meinrath |
| Bolt
| Walt Disney Pictures | Walt Disney Animation Studios theme music composed by Wilfred Jackson |
| rowspan="1"| 2009
! Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | 20th Century Fox | Additional music composed by James McKee Smith and Paul Mounsey |
==2010s==
==2020s==
=Television=
| class="wikitable" width="100%" |
| width="30px" | Year
! width="200px" | Title ! width="100px" | Creator(s) ! width="150px" | Company credits ! Note(s) |
|---|
| 1989–1993
| Co-composed with Ray Russell |
| 1996–1997
| Steven Spielberg | Johnson/Pavone Productions | Co-composed with Jeff Rona and Christopher Tyng |
| 2003
| Showtime Networks | Television film |
| 2022
! Ice Age: Scrat Tales{{Cite web|title=Batu Sener Scoring Disney+'s 'Ice Age: Scrat Tales' {{!}} Film Music Reporter|url=http://filmmusicreporter.com/2022/02/22/batu-sener-scoring-disneys-ice-age-scrat-tales/|access-date=23 February 2022|language=en-US}} | Chris Wedge{{Cite web|title=Ice Age: Scrat Tales|url=https://comicbook.com/category/ice-age-scrat-tales/|access-date=23 February 2022|website=ComicBook}} | Blue Sky Studios (final animated production before shutting down) | Miniseries |
Albums
= Studio albums =
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Category !Notes !Label !Catalogue Number |
| 2018
|Hubris: Choral Works by John Powell{{Cite news|url=http://johnpowellmusic.com/shop/hubris/|title=Hubris: Choral Works by John Powell (192kHz / 24-bit)|work=John Powell|access-date=16 June 2018|archive-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616130636/http://johnpowellmusic.com/shop/hubris/|url-status=dead}} |Classical |First release on John Powell's own label, 5 Cats Studios. John Powell's 1st original project. Performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra. | rowspan="4" |5 Cat Studios |FCS001 |
| rowspan="3" |2020
|Piano Solos from "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World"{{Cite web|title=Film Music Reporter|url=http://filmmusicreporter.com/2020/06/01/piano-solos-from-how-to-train-your-dragon-a-hidden-world-released/}} | rowspan="2" |Solo Piano | rowspan="2" |Music by John Powell. Piano solos performed by Batu Sener. |FCS005 |
| Piano Solos from "The Call of the Wild"
|FCS007 |
| Film Suites, Vol. 1
|Classical |Performed with Jose Serebrier, Philharmonia Orchestra, and The Philharmonia Voices. |FCS010 |
= Archival soundtrack albums =
| class="wikitable"
!Year !Title !Notes !Label !Catalogue Number |
| rowspan="3" |2020
|Forces of Nature (Music from the Motion Picture) |Released on Audio CD. Limited 1000 copies. Co-composed with Oliver J. Lieber 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){{Cite web |title=How To Train Your Dragon: The Deluxe Edition (CD) |url=https://www.varesesarabande.com/products/how-to-train-your-dragon-the-deluxe-edition-cd?_pos=1&_sid=d077ad4ba&_ss=r |access-date=30 September 2021 |website=Varèse Sarabande}}
|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 | |
| 2021
|Paycheck: The Deluxe Edition (Music From The Motion Picture){{Cite web |title=Paycheck: The Deluxe Edition (Music From The Motion Picture) (2-CD) |url=https://www.varesesarabande.com/products/john-powell-paycheck-the-deluxe-edition-2-cd |access-date=11 June 2021 |website=Varèse Sarabande |language=en}} |Deluxe Edition of the 2003 film score. This Deluxe Edition greatly expands the playing time to over 95 minutes. |5 Cat Studios, Varèse Sarabande | |
| rowspan="2" |2022
|How to Train Your Dragon 2 (The Deluxe Edition) |Deluxe Edition of the 2014 film score. Includes alternate versions and demos. |5 Cat Studios, Varèse Sarabande, Back Lot Music | |
| The Bourne Identity (Tumescent Edition)
|Expanded score with alternate versions of cues. |5 Cat Studios, Varèse Sarabande |888072412774 |
| 2024
|How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (The Deluxe Edition){{Cite web |title=Powell's announcement of the Deluxe Edition of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. |url=https://www.instagram.com/johnj_powell/p/CrEKfUophH0/}} |Deluxe Edition of the 2019 film score. Includes alternate versions and demos. Additional Music by Batu Sener, Anthony Willis & Paul Mounsey. |5 Cat Studios, Varèse Sarabande | |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://johnpowellmusic.com|John Powell}} – official site
- {{Discogs artist}}
- {{IMDb name|694173}}
- [http://www.soundtrack.net/composers/database/?id=171 John Powell] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113044641/http://www.soundtrack.net/composers/database/?id=171 |date=13 November 2013 }} biography at SoundtrackNet
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for John Powell
|list =
{{Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production}}
{{Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production}}
{{EmmyAward MusicCompositionDocumentary}}
{{Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Score in an Animated Film}}
{{Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Score in a Documentary}}
{{International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure Film}}
{{International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for an Animated Film}}
{{International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction Film}}
{{International Film Music Critics Association Award for Film Music Composition of the Year}}
{{International Film Music Critics Association Award for Film Score of the Year}}
{{WSA – Public Choice}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, John}}
Category:20th-century English composers
Category:20th-century English male musicians
Category:21st-century English composers
Category:21st-century English male musicians
Category:Animated film score composers
Category:Blue Sky Studios people
Category:Composers from London
Category:DreamWorks Animation people
Category:English expatriate musicians in the United States
Category:English film score composers
Category:English male film score composers
Category:Film people from London
Category:Hollywood Records artists
Category:Illumination (company) people
Category:Ivor Novello Award winners
Category:People from East Sussex
Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners
Category:Varèse Sarabande Records artists