Academy® Award nominated and Emmy® Award winner John Debney is considered one of the most prolific and successful composers in Hollywood. His unique ability to create memorable work across a variety of genres, as well as his reputation for being remarkably collaborative, have made him the first choice of top level producers and directors. Debney combines his classical training and a strong knowledge of contemporary sounds to easily adapt to any assignment.
Debney's career seemed almost destined for Hollywood. The son of Disney Studios producer Louis Debney (Zorro (1957), The Mickey Mouse Club (1955)), John grew up in nearby Glendale, Calif. where he began guitar lessons at age six and played in rock bands in college. Debney earned his B.A. degree in Music Composition from the California Institute of Arts (1979). After college, Debney's professional entry into the business came from television composing legend Mike Post (Magnum (1980), Deux cent dollars plus les frais (1974) and New York - Police judiciaire (1990)) who gave the young composer his start. Debney furthered his hands-on training by working with Hanna-Barbera composer Hoyt Curtin. With this experience under his belt, Debney went on to score television projects as diverse as Star Trek: La nouvelle génération (1987), A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988), and SeaQuest, police des mers (1993), for which he won an Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. With the Disney comedy Hocus Pocus: Les trois sorcières (1993) starring Bette Midler, he secured his first feature film.
Debney has prove his versatility with films ranging from blockbuster comedies such as Elfe (2003), Menteur menteur (1997) and Bruce tout-puissant (2003), to action adventures like Iron Man 2 (2010), Spy Kids (2001) & Spy kids 2: Espions en herbe (2002) to dark thrillers including Souviens-toi... l'été dernier (1997) and Sin City (2005). Although Debney had built an industry reputation as a talented composer, it was with his next project that the rest of the world discovered him. Blending symphonic orchestra, a wide range of world instruments and the beauty of the human voice, Debney composed the landmark score for La passion du Christ (2004). Strong in his faith, Debney was enticed by the idea of working on a project that held deep, spiritual meaning for him. Debney's emotional score for the film connected with viewers and listeners and debuted on Billboard's charts at #1 on the Soundtrack and Christian Album charts and #19 on the Billboard Top 200. The record was certified gold by the RIAA and won the Dove award for Best Instrumental Album, as well as garnering Debney an Oscar nomination. Fresh off his success with La passion du Christ (2004), he premiered "La passion du Christ (2004) Symphony" in Rome, Italy. The performance featured an 83-person choir and a 96-piece orchestra, and included special guest vocalist Lisbeth Scott and woodwind soloist Pedro Eustache, plus solo musicians from both the film and the classical worlds. The symphony was a success with the audience erupting into a 15-minute standing ovation catapulting Debney's success not just in Hollywood but worldwide. John Debney recently scored Draft Day, Stonehearst Asylum and History's Emmy-winning Hatfields & McCoys (2012) as well as the History's most recent mini-series Houdini, l'illusionniste (2014). He also scored last year's A&E mini-series Bonnie & Clyde (2013). Debney's upcoming projects include the re imagining of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)_ and Le Livre de la jungle (2016), both in theaters 2015. In the tradition of classical composers, John Debney enjoys conducting his own work. "A big part of the joy in what I do is that I consider it an honor to stand in front of live musicians and have the opportunity to hear my music played by these talented people." In addition to conducting some of the world's greatest orchestras performing his original works, Debney also conducted the Royal Scottish National Orchestra on a series of classic film scores for Varése Sarabande Records. He has been celebrated for incorporating a myriad of musical styles and techniques into his work, from contemporary beats to ancient instrumentation. Debney is the youngest recipient of ASCAP's prestigious Henry Mancini Lifetime Achievement Award. His foray into video game scoring- 2007's Lair- resulted in a BAFTA nomination and a Best Videogame Score award from the International Film Music Critics Association. Debney received his first Emmy for the main theme for L'equipée du Poney Express (1989), and has since won three more and been nominated for a total of six. As director Robert Rodriguez perfectly described it, "It's not the years, it's the mileage."
