Geoff Zanelli

Geoff Zanelli
Birth nameGeoffrey Zanelli
Born (1974-09-28) September 28, 1974 (age 50)
Westminster, California, U.S.
GenresFilm score, television score, video game score
Occupation(s)Composer, orchestrator
InstrumentsPiano, keyboards, guitar, bass
Years active1997–present
Websitewww.geoffzanelli.com

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.

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

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Zanelli 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

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Film

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As primary score composer

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Year Title Director Studio / Publisher Notes
2004 House of D David Duchovny Bob Yari Productions
Lionsgate Films
Secret Window David Koepp Columbia Pictures
Sony Pictures Releasing
Composed with Philip Glass
2007 Hitman Xavier Gens Dune Entertainment
EuropaCorp
20th Century Fox
Disturbia D. J. Caruso DreamWorks Pictures
The Montecito Picture Company
Paramount Pictures
2008 Delgo Marc F. Adler
Jason Maurer
Fathom Studios
Freestyle Releasing
Outlander Howard McCain The Weinstein Company
Virtual Studios
Ghost Town David Koepp Spyglass Entertainment
DreamWorks Pictures
Paramount Pictures
2009 Gamer Mark Neveldine
Brian Taylor
Lakeshore Entertainment
Lionsgate Films
Composed with Robert Williamson
2011 You May Not Kiss the Bride Rob Hedden Showcase Entertainment
Freestyle Releasing
Beneath the Darkness Martin Guigui Sunset Pictures
Image Entertainment
2012 The Odd Life of Timothy Green Peter Hedges Scott Sanders Productions
Walt Disney Pictures
2013 Once Upon a Time in Queens David Rodriguez Grindstone Entertainment
Lionsgate Films
Louder Than Words Anthony Fabian Identity Films
ARC Entertainment
2014 School Dance Nick Cannon N'Credible Entertainment
Lionsgate Films
2015 The Scorpion King 4:
Quest for Power
Mike Elliott Universal 1440 Entertainment
Universal Pictures
Mortdecai David Koepp Odd Lot Entertainment
Infinitum Nihil
Lionsgate Films
Composed with Mark Ronson
No Stranger Than Love Nick Wernham Innis Lake Entertainment
Orion Pictures
Momentum Pictures
2016 Bling Kyung Ho Lee
Wonjae Lee
Digiart Productions
Digital Idea
Momentum Pictures
Masterminds Jared Hess Michaels-Goldwyn
Relativity Media
2017 The Ottoman Lieutenant Joseph Ruben Eastern Sunrise Films
Paladin
Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Men Tell No Tales
Joachim Rønning
Espen Sandberg
Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Walt Disney Pictures
Themes by Geoff Zanelli and Hans Zimmer
2018 Traffik Deon Taylor Codeblack Films
Summit Entertainment
Christopher Robin Marc Forster 2DUX²
Walt Disney Pictures
Replaced Jóhann Jóhannsson
Composed with Jon Brion
2019 The Intruder Deon Taylor Screen Gems
Primary Wave Entertainment
Sony Pictures Releasing
Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs Sung-ho Hong
Moo-Hyun Jang
Young Sik Uhm
Locus Creative Studios
Next Entertainment World
Black and Blue Deon Taylor Hidden Empire Film Group
Screen Gems
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Joachim Rønning Roth Films
Walt Disney Pictures
Replaced James Newton Howard
2020 You Should Have Left David Koepp Blumhouse Productions
Universal Pictures
Fatale Deon Taylor Hidden Empire Film Group
Summit Entertainment
2021 The House Next Door:
Meet the Blacks 2
Hidden Empire Film Group
2023 Fear
The Hill Jeff Celentano Rainmaker Films
Briarcliff Entertainment
Leo Robert Marianetti
Robert Smigel
David Wachtenheim
Happy Madison Productions
Netflix

As composer of additional music

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Year Title Director Composer Notes
1997 Face/Off John Woo John Powell
1998 Antz Eric Darnell
Tim Johnson
John Powell
Harry Gregson-Williams
Also orchestrator
1999 Endurance Leslie Woodhead
Bud Greenspan
John Powell
Chill Factor Hugh Johnson Hans Zimmer
John Powell
2000 The Road to El Dorado Don Paul
Bibo Bergeron
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Also technical advisor
Chicken Run Peter Lord
Nick Park
John Powell
Harry Gregson-Williams
Hannibal Ridley Scott Hans Zimmer
2001 Just Visiting Jean-Marie Poiré John Powell
Pearl Harbor Michael Bay Hans Zimmer
2002 Eye See You James Gillespie John Powell
The Time Machine Simon Wells Klaus Badelt
Passionada Dan Ireland Harry Gregson-Williams
K-19: The Widowmaker Kathryn Bigelow Klaus Badelt
Equilibrium Kurt Wimmer
2003 Ned Kelly Gregor Jordan Klaus Badelt
Bernard Fanning
Pirates of the Caribbean:
The Curse of the Black Pearl
Gore Verbinski Klaus Badelt
Veronica Guerin Joel Schumacher Harry Gregson-Williams Uncredited
Matchstick Men Ridley Scott Hans Zimmer
The Last Samurai Edward Zwick
2004 Catwoman Pitof Klaus Badelt
Shark Tale Vicky Jenson
Bibo Bergeson
Rob Letterman
Hans Zimmer
2006 Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Man's Chest
Gore Verbinski
2007 Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World's End
2008 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Eric Darnell
Tom McGrath
Will.i.am
Hans Zimmer
2009 Angels & Demons Ron Howard Hans Zimmer
2010 Clash of the Titans Louis Leterrier Ramin Djawadi
2011 Rango Gore Verbinski Hans Zimmer
Pirates of the Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides
Rob Marshall
2013 The Lone Ranger Gore Verbinski
2017 Justice League Zack Snyder Danny Elfman

Television

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ "P!nk - I'm Not Dead". Discogs. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Geoff Zanelli Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  3. ^ "Geoff Zanelli". Berklee College of Music. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  4. ^ Schweiger, Daniel (May 23, 2017). "Interview with Geoff Zanelli". Film Music Institute. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  5. ^ "Into The West". Academy Awards. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  6. ^ "ScoreKeeper's Top Ten Film Scores of 2012!!!". Aint It Cool News. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  7. ^ Barker, Andrew (August 16, 2016). "'Pirates of the Caribbean' Taps Composer Geoff Zanelli". Variety. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  8. ^ Mithaiwala, Mansoor (March 6, 2018). "Disney's Christopher Robin Trailer Arrives". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
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