John Powell

John Powell was catapulted into the realm of A-list composers by displaying an entirely original voice with his oft-referenced scores to the Matt Damon Jason Bourne franchise. He has become the go-to composer for family animated films, scoring such hits as Shrek, Chicken Run, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Bolt, Rio, Happy Feet, Happy Feet 2, Kung Fu Panda and Kung Fu Panda 2.

His pulsating action music has provided the fuel for Hancock, Green Zone, Stop-Loss, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Italian Job. His music has also sweetened the romance of Two Weeks Notice and P.S. I Love You, empowered X-Men: The Last Stand, lent tenderness to I Am Sam and gripping drama to United 93.

His infectious score for How to Train Your Dragon earned him his first Academy Award® nomination. Powell has also lent his voice to the score of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax and Ice Age: Continental Drift. Most recently, Powell completed the scores to Carlos Saldanha's Rio 2, the critically acclaimed DreamWorks' film How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Warner Bros.' Pan, which starred Hugh Jackman.

A native of London, Powell was an accomplished violinist as a child, wrote music for commercials out of school, and assisted composer Patrick Doyle in the early 1990s. He moved to the U.S. in 1997, co-wrote the score for Antz and quickly became one of the most desirable, versatile and exciting composers in town.

Universal Pictures US