Christopher Lennertz

Christopher Lennertz
Lennertz in 2024
Background information
Born	Christopher Joseph Lennertz (1972-01-02) January 2, 1972 (age 53) Methuen, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres	Film score video game score jazz rock electronic rock
Occupation	Composer
Instruments	Piano keyboards synthesizer percussion guitar
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	Shannon Madden Lennertz ​ ​ (m. 2008)​
Website	christopherlennertz.com
Signature

Christopher Joseph Lennertz (born January 2, 1972) is an American composer of film, television, and video game scores. A dual citizen of the United States and Italy,^{[ citation needed ]} he has composed the scores for films such as Alvin and the Chipmunks , Hop , Horrible Bosses , Think Like a Man and Smurfs: The Lost Village , and the Medal of Honor video game series created by Steven Spielberg. He additionally composed the scores for Supernatural , Revolution , The Boys and Gen V , all created by Eric Kripke.

He composed the score for Sausage Party and Galavant with Alan Menken, and the television series Agent Carter , which included a first-ever Marvel musical number co-written by him and Glenn Slater. He later composed the scores for Lost in Space and Sausage Party: Foodtopia .

Early life and education

Christopher Joseph Lennertz was born on January 2, 1972 in Methuen, Massachusetts. He attended Easton Area High School in Easton, Pennsylvania and then Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where he studied with Academy Award-winner Elmer Bernstein.^{[ citation needed ]} He was mentored as an assistant, arranger, and orchestrator to legendary composers Basil Poledouris and Michael Kamen.

Career

Lennertz began his musical career in 1998, though his first credit as an orchestrator was in 2000, with the direct-to-video animated film Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins , where he served as an orchestrator and additional music provider. His first major breakthrough composition was in 2007, with the jukebox musical comedy Alvin and the Chipmunks , directed by Tim Hill; the album containing his score for the film was released in 2008. Lennertz would also collaborate with several directors, including Hill, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, Seth Gordon, Tim Story, and Matthew O'Callaghan.

He would continue to compose and conduct music for several other blockbuster films, including Marmaduke (2010), Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2011), Hop (2011), Horrible Bosses (2011), Think Like a Man (2012), The Wedding Ringer (2015), and Sausage Party (2016). He composed the score for six Looney Tunes animated short films, directed by Matthew O'Callaghan and animated by Reel FX Creative Studios. Outside of composing music for films, Lennertz composed the score for video games, including Medal of Honor titles such as Rising Sun (2003), Pacific Assault (2004), and European Assault (2005), as well as James Bond games such as From Russia with Love (2005), and 007: Quantum of Solace (2008). Lennertz has also composed the score for television shows, including Supernatural (2005–2020), Agent Carter (2015–2016), Lost in Space (2018–2021), The Boys (2019–present; with Matt Bowen), Gen V (2023–present; with Matt Bowen), and Sausage Party: Foodtopia (2024–present).

Honors and awards

He was named best new composer in 2002 for his score to Clive Barker's Saint Sinner . He won several awards for his 2003 soundtrack to Medal of Honor: Rising Sun , the first of three Medal of Honor games composed by Lennertz. In 2006 he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Composition in a Series for his score for the pilot of the television series Supernatural , and he is the first recipient of the Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for an Independent Feature Film for Tortilla Heaven . In 2025, Lennertz won a BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Award in the "Streaming Series" category for his music for The Boys . ^[1]

Personal life

Lennertz married Shannon Madden Lennertz on August 13, 2008. ^[2] They had two children together, Tobi (born January 20, 2008 ^[3] ) and Vesper (born March 13, 2013 ^[4] ).

Filmography

Films

2000s

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio(s)	Notes
2000	Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins	Tad Stones	Walt Disney Television Animation Pixar Animation Studios	Direct-to-video; as orchestrator and additional music only; score by Adam Berry
	A Diva's Christmas Carol	Richard Schenkman	VH1	Television film
2002	Saint Sinner	Joshua Butler	Syfy
2004	Soul Plane	Jessy Terrero	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
2005	Confessions of an Action Star	Brad Martin	Lightyear Entertainment
	Three Wise Guys	Robert Iscove	USA Network	Television film
2006	Dr. Dolittle 3	Rich Thorne	20th Century Fox Home Entertainment	Direct-to-video film
	Shark Bait	Howard E. Baker John Fox	The Weinstein Company	First score for an animated film
2007	Tortilla Heaven	Judy Hecht Dumontet	Archangel Releasing
	The Comebacks	Tom Brady	Fox Atomic
	The Perfect Holiday	Lance Rivera	Destination Films Yari Film Group
	Alvin and the Chipmunks	Tim Hill	20th Century Fox	First collaboration with Tim Hill
2008	Meet the Spartans	Jason Friedberg Aaron Seltzer		First collaboration with Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
	Disaster Movie		Lionsgate Films	Second collaboration with Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
2009	Adam	Max Mayer	Fox Searchlight Pictures
	The Open Road	Michael Meredith	Anchor Bay Entertainment
	The Horde	Benjamin Rocher Yannick Dahan	Canal+

2010s

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio(s)	Notes
2010	Marmaduke	Tom Dey	20th Century Fox
	Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore	Brad Peyton	Warner Bros. Pictures
	Coyote Falls	Matthew O'Callaghan	Warner Bros. Animation Reel FX Creative Studios	Short film; released with Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
	Vampires Suck	Jason Friedberg Aaron Seltzer	20th Century Fox	Third collaboration with Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
	Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam	Paul Hoen	Disney Channel	Television film
	Fur of Flying	Matthew O'Callaghan	Warner Bros. Animation Reel FX Creative Studios	Short film; released with Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
	Rabid Rider			Short film; released with Yogi Bear
2011	Hop	Tim Hill	Illumination Entertainment	Second collaboration with Tim Hill
	Lemonade Mouth	Patricia Riggen	Disney Channel	Television film
	Horrible Bosses	Seth Gordon	Warner Bros. Pictures New Line Cinema	First collaboration with Seth Gordon
	I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat	Matthew O'Callaghan	Warner Bros. Animation Reel FX Creative Studios	Short film; adaptation score only; song by Billy May, Warren Foster and Michael Maltese; released with Happy Feet Two
	The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol	Troy Quane	Sony Pictures Animation	Short film; released as part of The Smurfs three-disc holiday gift set [5]
2012	Daffy's Rhapsody	Matthew O'Callaghan	Warner Bros. Animation Reel FX Creative Studios	Short film; adaptation score only; song by Billy May, Warren Foster and Michael Maltese; released with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
	Think Like a Man	Tim Story	Screen Gems	First collaboration with Tim Story
	Thanks for Sharing	Stuart Blumberg	Lionsgate
	Girl in Progress	Patricia Riggen	Pantelion Films Lionsgate
	Item 47	Louis D'Esposito	Marvel Studios	Marvel One-Shot direct-to-video short film; inspired the TV series of the same name
2013	Identity Thief	Seth Gordon	Universal Pictures	Second collaboration with Seth Gordon
	Remember Sunday	Jeff Bleckner	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Television film
	As Cool as I Am	Max Moyer	IFC Films
	Agent Carter	Louis D'Esposito	Marvel Studios	Marvel One-Shot direct-to-video short film; inspired the TV series of the same name
	The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow	Stephen Franck	Sony Pictures Animation	Direct-to-video short film
	Battle of the Year	Benson Lee	Screen Gems
	Gimme Shelter	Patricia Riggen	Lionsgate Pantelion Films
2014	Ride Along	Tim Story	Universal Pictures	Second collaboration with Tim Story
	Flash in the Pain	Matthew O'Callaghan	Warner Bros. Animation Reel FX Creative Studios
	Think Like a Man Too	Tim Story	Screen Gems	Third collaboration with Tim Story
	Horrible Bosses 2	Sean Anders	Warner Bros. Pictures New Line Cinema
2015	The Wedding Ringer	Jeremy Garelick	Screen Gems Miramax Films
2016	Ride Along 2	Tim Story	Universal Pictures	Featuring Shelia E & Arturo Sandoval; additional music provided by Alexander Bornstein, Matt Bowen & Jess Stroup Fourth collaboration with Tim Story
	My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2	Kirk Jones
	The Boss	Ben Falcone
	Bad Moms	Jon Lucas Scott Moore	STX Entertainment	Featuring Soloist by KT Tunstall
	Sausage Party [6]	Greg Tiernan Conrad Vernon	Columbia Pictures Nitrogen Studios	R-rated animated film; composed with Alan Menken
	Kevin Hart: What Now?	Leslie Small Tim Story	Universal Pictures	Fifth collaboration with Tim Story
2017	Smurfs: The Lost Village [7]	Kelly Asbury	Sony Pictures Animation	Additional music provided by Philip White First collaboration with Kelly Asbury
	Baywatch	Seth Gordon	Paramount Pictures	Additional music provided by Alexander Bornstein, Joshua R. Mosley, Nathan Rightour & Zack Ryan Third collaboration with Seth Gordon
	Boo 2! A Madea Halloween	Tyler Perry	Tyler Perry Studios	Themes only; score composed by Philip White
	A Bad Moms Christmas	Jon Lucas Scott Moore	STX Entertainment
	El Camino Christmas	David E. Talbert	Netflix
	Pitch Perfect 3	Trish Sie	Universal Pictures
2018	Acrimony	Tyler Perry	Tyler Perry Studios
	Uncle Drew	Charles Stone III	Summit Entertainment Temple Hill Entertainment
	The Happytime Murders	Brian Henson	STX Entertainment
	Nobody's Fool	Tyler Perry	Tyler Perry Studios	Score producer only; score composed by Phillip White
2019	A Madea Family Funeral		Tyler Perry Studios	Themes only; score composed by Phillip White
	UglyDolls	Kelly Asbury	STX Entertainment	Also wrote songs with Glenn Slater Second collaboration with Kelly Asbury
	Shaft	Tim Story	Warner Bros. Pictures New Line Cinema	Additional music provided by Alexander Bornstein, Dara Taylor & Stu Thomas Sixth collaboration with Tim Story
	Jexi	Jon Lucas Scott Moore	Lionsgate	Composed with Philip White

2020s

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio(s)	Notes
2021	Tom & Jerry [8]	Tim Story	Warner Animation Group	Seventh collaboration with Tim Story
	Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar	Josh Greenbaum	Gloria Sanchez Productions	Composed with Dara Taylor
	The Loud House Movie	Dave Needham	Nickelodeon Movies	Composed with Philip White
2022	13: The Musical	Tamra Davis	Zadan/Meron Productions	Song lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
	The Curse of Bridge Hollow	Jeff Wadlow	Ugly Baby Productions
2023	Dashing Through the Snow [9]	Tim Story	Walt Disney Pictures	Eighth collaboration with Tim Story
2025	Back in Action [10]	Seth Gordon	Chernin Entertainment
	The Pickup	Tim Story	Amazon MGM Studios	Ninth collaboration with Tim Story

Television

Year	Title	TV Channel	Notes
1999	Brimstone	Fox
2000	The Strip	UPN
2005–2020	Supernatural	The WB (2005–2006) The CW (2006–2020)	Composed with Jay Gruska
2012–2014	Revolution [11]	NBC
2015–2016	Galavant	ABC	Composed with Alan Menken Song lyrics by Glenn Slater
	Agent Carter
2018–2021	Lost in Space	Netflix	Original Lost in Space Theme by John Williams
2018	Best.Worst.Weekend.Ever.		Composed with Matt Bowen
2019–present	The Boys	Amazon Prime Video	Composed with Matt Bowen
2022–present	Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock	Apple TV+
2023	Gen V	Amazon Prime Video	Composed with Matt Bowen
2024–present	Sausage Party: Foodtopia

Video games

Year	Title	Publisher	Notes
2003	Medal of Honor: Rising Sun	EA Games	Original Medal of Honor theme by Michael Giacchino
2004	Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault
2005	Medal of Honor: European Assault
	From Russia with Love	Electronic Arts
	Gun	Activision
2007	The Simpsons Game	Electronic Arts	Additional music composed with Tim Wynn; score composed by Hans Zimmer and James Dooley
	Warhawk	Sony Computer Entertainment	Composed with Tim Wynn
2008	Quantum of Solace	Activision
2009	The Godfather II	Electronic Arts
2010	Mass Effect 2: Overlord		Downloadable content for Mass Effect 2
	Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker
2011	The Sims 3: Pets		Expansion pack for The Sims 3
2012	Mass Effect 3		Composed with Sascha Dikiciyan, Clint Mansell, Cris Velasco, and Sam Hulick
	Starhawk	Sony Computer Entertainment
2013	Madden NFL 25	EA Sports
Cancelled	Scalebound	Microsoft Studios	Project cancelled in 2017 Composed with Hitomi Kurokawa and Naoto Tanaka

See also

• Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

References

1. "2025 BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards". bmi.com. Broadcast Music, Inc. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
2. Lennertz, Christopher [@clennertzmusic]; (August 12, 2021). "15 years and I love you more than ever. Happy Anniversary, baby! @shanouxnoux" – via Instagram.
3. Lennertz, Christopher [@clennertzmusic]; (January 20, 2024). "I can't believe you're 16! 15 was quite a year…think we can top it?! So proud of you and love you so much @tobi._.lennertz !!! ❤️❤️❤️🎉🎉🎉🎁🎁🎁" – via Instagram.
4. Lennertz, Christopher [@clennertzmusic]; (March 13, 2023). "10 YO BDay success accomplished! Happy BDay to my baby girl! Love you so much! @shanouxnoux" – via Instagram.
5. S. Palmer, Michael (December 1, 2011). "A Sneak Peek at 'The Smurfs' Second Screen and Exclusive Blu-ray Special Features". High-Def Digest . Retrieved January 19, 2024.
6. "Christopher Lennertz Scoring 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'". filmmusicreporter.com. February 15, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
7. "Christopher Lennertz to score Smurfs: The Lost Village". filmmusicreporter.com. October 11, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
8. "Christopher Lennertz to Score Tim Story's 'Tom & Jerry'". filmmusicreporter.com. July 22, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
9. "Christopher Lennertz Scoring Tim Story's Disney+ Movie Dashing Through the Snow". filmmusicreporter.com. June 26, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
10. "Christopher Lennertz Scoring Seth Gordon's Back in Action". filmmusicreporter.com. November 14, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
11. "Christopher Lennertz to Score Eric Kripke's & J.J. Abrams' 'Revolution'". filmmusicreporter.com. March 14, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2012.

External links

• Official website
• Christopher Lennertz at IMDb