James Hannigan is a BAFTA winning composer and music producer, known for his diverse output across several forms of media. Among his many credits are entries in the multi-million selling Harry Potter, Dead Space, Transformers, The Lord of the Rings, Evil Genius, Grand Prix, Warhammer, EA Sports and Command and Conquer video game franchises; TV and Radio including ITV’s Primeval and BBC R4’s Good Omens; Amazon/Audible’s multi-award winning full-cast Alien series and, recently, the New York Times No.1 bestselling audio adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (with a cast including James McAvoy, Michael Sheen and Cat Dennings).
Five times BAFTA award nominated, and an IFMCA (International Film Music Critics Association) award winner for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (VG; BAFTA nomination, Music, 2010), James has scored titles such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (EA/WBIE), the Guinness World Record-breaking MMO RuneScape, Dead Space 3, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (VG), Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 (featuring Tim Curry, Jonathan Pryce and J.K.Simmons) – including its iconic theme Soviet March – and his recent projects include Rebellion’s Evil Genius 2 – sequel to 2004’s cult hit, originally developed by Elixir Studios and led by Google DeepMind Founder, Demis Hassabis.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, James is a creator and founder of sold-out London Southbank-based conferences, Screen Music Connect and Game Music Connect – introduced to inspire and educate professional and aspiring composers alike. Hosted by close friend and colleague, John Broomhall, events held since 2013 have been partnered with BAFTA, Classic FM, PRS For Music, Sony Playstation, Electronic Arts, Music Week, the Ivors Academy and others.
Among James’s numerous credits are Microsoft’s classic entry in the ‘Wing Commander’ universe, Freelancer; Catwoman, Brute Force, Privateer: The Darkening (with Christopher Walken, Clive Owen and John Hurt), Space Hulk, the pioneering BAFTA-nominated interactive score of Republic: The Revolution, Reign of Fire, Theme Park World (aka Sim Theme Park; BAFTA Award, 2000), multiple entries in EA Sports’ F1 and FIFA series, Nintendo’s Art Academy (heard also in Super Smash Bros), Evil Genius (BAFTA Nomination, Music, 2004), Amazon/Audible’s adaptations of Alien: Out of the Shadows and Alien 3 (featuring Rutger Hauer and Michael Biehn) and Terry Pratchett’s Unseen Academicals; BBC R4’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere (with James McAvoy, Christopher Lee and Benedict Cumberbatch), Wizarding World and Pottermore (including the Harry Potter audiobooks read by Stephen Fry); Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, Warhammer: SotHR, The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest, Transformers Universe and others. James’s production music is also heard every day around the world in productions as diverse as The Grand Tour, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge- Adventure Awaits, Floor is Lava, Top Gear and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.
His music occasionally airing on radio stations such as Classic FM and Scala Radio, James has worked with countless world class musicians and orchestras including the Philharmonia, The Chamber Orchestra of London (COOL), the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and Slovak Symphony Orchestra, recording at locations such as Air-Lyndhurst, Abbey Road Studios and Skywalker Ranch. A regular interviewee and panellist for BBC radio, Comic Con and other international events, James has been the subject of BAFTA’s Conversations with Composers at the Royal Albert Hall, and his music has been performed in concerts around the world. From time to time he pens articles, and has contributed to Classic FM online, Develop Magazine and others.
