Geoffrey Zanelli (born September 28, 1974) is an American composer working primarily in the medium of film, television, and video game scores. His early career was notable for scoring additional music on roughly 30 film scores written by Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Steve Jablonsky including several blockbuster films. He has since moved on to more solo work, winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special for his score to the miniseries Into the West.
Geoff Zanelli | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Geoffrey Zanelli |
| Born | September 28, 1974 Westminster, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Film score, television score, video game score |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, orchestrator |
| Instruments | Piano, keyboards, guitar, bass |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Website | www |
Aside from film and television scores, Zanelli also works with recording artists, writing arrangements for Steve Martin, Edie Brickell, Robbie Williams, The Webb Sisters, Mest and Story of the Year. He is credited as a guitarist/bassist/keyboardist on the song "I'm Not Dead" from recording artist Pink.[1]
Life and career
editZanelli was born on September 28, 1974, in Westminster, California.[2] He graduated in 1996 from Berklee College of Music.[3]
In 1994, at 19 years old, Zanelli met Hans Zimmer, believing him to be a promising young talent, Zimmer invited him to Los Angeles to join his group of film composers. Zanelli worked as an engineer on the debut album from Goldfinger as well as Zimmer's score for The Preacher's Wife.[4]
Zanelli's experience and desire to collaborate led him to work with British composer John Powell on his first Hollywood feature, Face/Off. Throughout the following years he built the foundation for his scoring career, composing with Powell, Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, and Steve Jablonsky on many feature films, including: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Rango and the Golden Globe-nominated scores for The Last Samurai and Pearl Harbor.[2]
One of his earliest solo works, Steven Spielberg's miniseries Into the West, earned him an Emmy.[5] In approximately one year, Zanelli scored the films Disturbia, Hitman, Outlander, Delgo, Ghost Town and Gamer.[2]
In early 2013, film blog Ain't It Cool News called his score for The Odd Life of Timothy Green the best score of 2012.[6] In 2017, he composed the score to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, picking up the mantle from long-time series composer Hans Zimmer.[7] In June 2018, he composed the score, with Jon Brion, in Christopher Robin.[8]
Filmography
editFilm
editAs primary score composer
editAs composer of additional music
editTelevision
edit| Year | Title | Network(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Die Motorrad-Cops | RTL | Episode: "Am Abgrund" |
| Fear | MTV | 3 episodes | |
| 2000-03 | SportsCentury | ESPN | 8 episodes |
| 2002 | National Geographic Explorer | National Geographic | Episode: "Lost Subs: Disaster at Sea" Composer of additional music Composed by Steve Jablonsky |
| Live from Baghdad | HBO | Television film Composer of additional music Composed by Steve Jablonsky | |
| 2003 | Threat Matrix | ABC | Episode: "Pilot" Composer of additional music Composed by Steve Jablonsky |
| 2005 | Into the West | TNT | Miniseries; 6 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score) |
| 2010 | The Pacific | HBO | Miniseries; 10 episodes Composed with Blake Neely Theme music by Hans Zimmer Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score) |
| 2013 | Killing Kennedy | National Geographic | Television film |
| Christmas in Conway | ABC | ||
| 2022 | The First Lady | Showtime |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Champions of Norrath | Sony Online Entertainment | Composer of additional music Composed by Inon Zur |
| 2007 | Shrek the Third | Activision | Composer of additional music Composed by Winifred Phillips |
| 2009 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized | ||
| 2010 | Call of Duty: Black Ops | Nintendo DS version | |
| 2011 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Defiance | ||
| TBA | Star Citizen: Squadron_42 | Cloud Imperium Games |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score) | Into the West | Won |
| International Film Music Critics Awards | Best Original Score for a Television Series | Into the West | Nominated | |
| 2008 | ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards | Top Box Office Films | Disturbia | Nominated |
| 2010 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score) | The Pacific: Part 10 (shared with Blake Neely and Hans Zimmer) | Nominated |
| 2019 | International Film Music Critics Awards | Best Original Score for a Comedy Film | Christopher Robin | Nominated |
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | Best Original Score in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Film | Maleficent: Mistress of Evil | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ "P!nk - I'm Not Dead". Discogs. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Geoff Zanelli Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Zanelli". Berklee College of Music. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ Schweiger, Daniel (May 23, 2017). "Interview with Geoff Zanelli". Film Music Institute. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ "Into The West". Academy Awards. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ "ScoreKeeper's Top Ten Film Scores of 2012!!!". Aint It Cool News. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ Barker, Andrew (August 16, 2016). "'Pirates of the Caribbean' Taps Composer Geoff Zanelli". Variety. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ Mithaiwala, Mansoor (March 6, 2018). "Disney's Christopher Robin Trailer Arrives". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 7, 2018.