ROGER NEILL - News & Bio
This year has been very active with new feature film scores, music for television shows and for commercials, and great collaborations.
Lately I’ve been working with one of the best game composers in the business, Jesper Kyd. Our work includes the recent blockbuster games Borderlands 2 and Darksiders 2. I’ve also contributed to the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and many other major titles.
Earlier in the year I enjoyed working on Roman Coppola’s film, “A Glimpse Inside The Mind of Charles Swan III. It has a great cast. Charlie Sheen is our star, alongside Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Winnock, Bill Murray, and Patricia Arquette. Charlie dances and sings. Roman and I collaborated extensively during the film’s pre-production phase, and I teamed-up with Chicago-based songwriter Liam Hayes on the dramatic underscore. “Charles Swan” will be released in February 2012.
I’ve been continuing my fruitful relationship with the animation production company Mirari Films. I just completed the pilot for their new [adult swim] series, “King Star King.” This is my third series for Mirari, following “Thunderstruck” and “Mongo Wrestling Alliance.” Check out my music on the Mirari show reel – you’ll find it on the “see” page.
I’ve had the chance to work this year with one of my favorite composer-collaborators. Mark Isham brought me on board the hit ABC series “Once Upon a Time.” It’s a full-orchestra action fantasy score, every week. I also contributed to Mark’s score for the Nicholas Cage action feature, “Stolen.”
Mike Mill’s feature film, Beginners, won tons of awards, including the Oscar for actor Christopher Plummer. These days “Beginners” seems ubiquitous on HBO’s rotation.
And to keep myself extra busy I am part-time professor at Cal Poly Pomona, teaching courses in Music for Media, and Music Technology.
Here’s some more biographical information on who I am and what I do:
Composer Roger Neill is a Harvard doctorate whose award-winning music-writing catalog spans hundreds of television episodes, TV commercials, more than 20 major motion pictures and even an operetta.
As an arranger, orchestrator, conductor and collaborator, Roger has worked with a who’s who in the recording industry, including Beck, John Legend, Mellow, Spoon, David Sylvian, Jason Falkner, Natalie Merchant, Stereolab, Sondre Lerche and Stars of Track & Field.
These join Roger’s ongoing highlight reel, a canon that includes work on Sofia Coppola’s kaleidoscopic Marie-Antoinette, for which he adapted and conducted the music of Antonio Vivaldi and Siouxsie and the Banshees with equal vigor.
The ubiquitous artist is perhaps best known for his 13 seasons scoring the Fox prime-time animated series King of the Hill; Roger’s other television credits include Chicago Hope, Michael Hayes and The Simple Life.
You can hear more of Roger’s signature sound Tanner Hall, co-director by Tatiana Von Furstenberg and Francesca Gregorini, and starring Rooney Mara from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Tanner Hall was released theatrically in September 2011. Other features include Ed Stone’s romantic tragi-comedy Griffin & Phoenix; the crime drama Take starring Minnie Driver and Jeremy Renner; and the documentary The Killer Within, featuring the renowned Kronos String Quartet.
A Southern California native, Roger hails from El Cajon, a cultural backwater of eastern San Diego County where gun racks outnumber surf racks. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Southern California, and a PhD in music composition from Harvard University.
Roger is the recipient of many ASCAP and BMI awards, an Emmy for his work on King of the Hill, and an LA Weekly Theater Critics Musical of the Year Award for his operetta The Beastly Bombing.
Roger is represented by the Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency: (818) 260-8500.
