Geoff Zanelli
Composer of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
Source: Piper Ferguson
Emmy Award-winning composer Geoff Zanelli is a standout in the film and television scoring industry, garnering accolades and recognition for his diverse musical voice. Zanelli has composed for directors such as Gore Verbinski and Ridley Scott; writer/directors David Koepp, Peter Hedges and David Duchovny; producers Jerry Bruckheimer, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg; as well as actor/producer Tom Hanks.
Zanelli recently scored the fifth installment of Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” which debuted at #1 in the world upon release in May 2017, earning over $347 million in its first weekend. “Pirates of the Caribbean” fans have previously heard Zanelli’s original music contributions in all four of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films via his collaborative work with Zimmer.
This marks a return of Zanelli’s strong scores for Disney, which began with his breakout score for the fantasy drama “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” starring Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton. Zanelli’s organic and stirring score for the film also received critical acclaim, including a feature in Variety’s Eye on the Oscars issue.
Zanelli recently collaborated with Grammy-award winning Mark Ronson on the co-written score and songs to Lionsgate’s “Mortdecai,” marking his third time working with writer/director David Koepp; director Jared Hess for the comedy “Masterminds;” and Steve Martin and Edie Brickell to lend string arrangements to the Grammy-award winning album “Love Has Come For You,” and follow-up album “So Familiar,” which dominated the Bluegrass charts. He is currently writing the score and songs for “Star Citizen: Squadron 42,” the most crowd-funded game in history.
In 2006, Zanelli earned his first Emmy after scoring the original music for Steven Spielberg’s miniseries “Into The West.” With this win, Zanelli became the youngest composer ever to be awarded the ‘Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score)’ accolade. A few years later, Spielberg once again tapped Zanelli to score HBO’s “The Pacific,” which earned him his second Emmy nomination. Other credits include: DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures’ “Disturbia,” 20th Century Fox’s “Hitman,” Lionsgate’s “Gamer,” DreamWork’s “Ghost Town,” The Weinstein Company’s “Outlander” and Columbia Pictures’ “Secret Window” (co-written with Philip Glass) among many others. Additionally, Zanelli co-wrote the song “Don’t Make Me Wait” for “Disturbia.”
Zanelli has contributed music to many feature films including: Disney’s “The Lone Ranger;” the Golden Globe-nominated scores for Warner Bros.’ “The Last Samurai” and Touchstone Pictures’ “Pearl Harbor;” Paramount Pictures’ “Rango,” MGM’s “Hannibal,” Columbia Pictures’ “Angels & Demons,” DreamWorks’ “Antz,” “Chicken Run,” “Shark Tale,” and “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” working alongside composers Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams and Steve Jablonsky.
Zanelli has degrees in Film Scoring and Music Production & Engineering from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, which he attended on scholarship. He is an active alumnus at his alma mater and has participated in Berklee’s Curriculum Review Initiative as well as given seminars to students studying composition. During his time at Berklee, Zanelli received the Doug Timm Award in recognition of his film scoring work and the Music Production/Engineering Scholar Award.
A Southern California native, Zanelli began his musical career as a guitar player and songwriter. In 1994, he met Zimmer and was offered a job at Remote Control Productions. Now, Zanelli is known as a versatile composer in his own right, who combines music from different genres and cultures.
Listen to the score for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
Watch the trailer for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
This episode of The Pop Disciple Podcast is hosted by Paul Goldowitz.
Production, Editing, Mixing, Mastering | Paul Goldowitz
Select Cues Throughout The Episode | Geoff Zanelli
The Pop Disciple Podcast Theme and Outro Music | Paul Goldowitz
Special thanks to Geoff Zanelli and Impact24 PR.