John Paesano

Last updated

John Paesano
Born (1977-07-02) July 2, 1977 (age 46)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres Film and television scores, video game scores, classical, ambient, electronic
Occupation(s)Composer, conductor, arranger, musician
Instruments Piano, keyboards, synthesizer
Years active1997–present
Website johnpaesano.com

John Paesano (born July 2, 1977) is an American composer working primarily in film, television, and video games. He is known for collaborating with director Wes Ball on the Maze Runner film trilogy and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes , as well as composing for the Marvel Television series Daredevil and The Defenders. As a video game composer, he has contributed music to the acclaimed titles Detroit: Become Human and the three installments in the Marvel's Spider-Man series. Paesano won the BAFTA Games Award for Music ( Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales ), as well as the D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition ( Marvel's Spider-Man 2 ).

Contents

Biography

Paesano was born in Birmingham, Michigan. He first studied classical music at Conservatoire de Paris located in Parc de la Villette, France before continuing his studies at Berklee College of Music pursuing a major in musical composition and film scoring. John knew from the age of nine years old, he wanted to become a music composer. [1] He then worked under composers Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams providing additional music for the former, and orchestrating for the latter. [2] Paesano cites Steven Spielberg's 1987 film Empire of the Sun as his motivation for getting into film scoring. [3]

In 2014, Paesano was hired to compose the music for The Maze Runner . Speaking of the job, he recalled seeing Wes Ball's 2011 short film, Ruin and was intrigued by it, composing a short demo (which eventually would become the "Maze Runner" theme) for Ball. He visited the sets in New Orleans, observing the "environmental soundscape" and tried to incorporate the natural sounds into his score. He recorded the score with an orchestra at the Newman Scoring Stage with sessions running for 2 weeks. Paesano would later return to score the 2nd and 3rd film of the series, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and Maze Runner: The Death Cure . [2] [4]

Paesano was later tasked with composing the score to Spider-Man developed by Insomniac Games, joining the game's development in the early stages. He worked with game director Bryan Intihar and brought about creating several character themes, emphasising the need for the music to be its "own character" in the game. [5] Paesano ensured that his music struck a balance between the cinematics and the gameplay as he wanted the player to be fully immersed. He looked at distinguishing his music from past Spider-Man films and games and decided to focus on creating a musical identity for Peter Parker. [6]

In 2021, he composed the music for the Avengers Campus themed area at Disney California Adventure, combining themes from the MCU's Avengers , Spider-Man , Doctor Strange , Guardians of the Galaxy , Ant-Man , Captain Marvel , and Black Panther films; a single entitled "Welcome Recruits" was released in April 2022. [7]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirector(s)Studio(s)Notes
2007 Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix Sebastian Montes
Scooter Tidwell
Cartoon Network Studios Television film
2008 Another Cinderella Story Damon Santostefano Warner Home Video
Warner Premiere
Direct-to-video film
2010 Superman/Batman: Apocalypse Lauren Montgomery Warner Home Video
Warner Premiere
Warner Bros. Animation
2011 S.W.A.T.: Firefight Benny Boom Stage 6 Films
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
2014 When the Game Stands Tall Thomas Carter TriStar Pictures
The Maze Runner Wes Ball 20th Century Fox
2015 Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials 20th Century Fox
My All American Angelo Pizzo Clarius Entertainment
2016 Brain on Fire Gerard Barrett Broad Green Pictures
Almost Christmas David E. Talbert Universal Pictures
2017 All Eyez on Me Benny Boom Morgan Creek Productions
Same Kind of Different as Me Michael Carney Paramount Pictures
The Star Timothy Reckart Columbia Pictures
2018 Maze Runner: The Death Cure Wes Ball 20th Century Fox
2020 Tesla Michael Almereyda IFC Films
The Secrets We Keep Yuval Adler Bleecker Street
2021 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Swinton O. Scott III Walt Disney Pictures
Bardel Entertainment [8]
Disney+
2022 Cheaper by the Dozen Gail Lerner Walt Disney Pictures
Disney+
2022 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules [9] Luke Cormican Walt Disney Pictures
Bardel Entertainment
Disney+
2022 Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again [9] Matt Danner Walt Disney Pictures
21 Laps Entertainment
Atomic Cartoons
Disney+
Alibaba Pictures
2023 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever Luke Cormican Walt Disney Pictures
Bardel Entertainment
Disney+
2024 Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Wes Ball 20th Century Studios
Chernin Entertainment
Oddball Entertainment
Shinbone Productions

Television

YearTitle
2011 Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas
2012–2018 DreamWorks Dragons
2014 Crisis
2015–2018 Daredevil
2017 The Defenders
2017–present Salvation
2019–present Truth Be Told
Devils
2019 Charmed
2020 Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
2021 The Hot Zone: Anthrax
2021–present Leonardo
Invincible

Video games

YearTitleDirector(s)Studio(s)Notes
2017 Mass Effect: Andromeda Mac Walters BioWare / Electronic Arts Debut work as video game composer
Gran Turismo Sport Kazunori Yamauchi Polyphony Digital / Sony Interactive Entertainment Also used in Gran Turismo 7
2018 Detroit: Become Human David Cage
Gregory Diaconu
Quantic Dream Composed the soundtrack for Markus, one of the main protagonists
Marvel's Spider-Man Bryan Intihar
Ryan Smith
Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment / Marvel Games Also composed for the game's downloadable content Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps
2020 Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Brian Horton
Cameron Christian
2023 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Bryan Intihar
Ryan Smith

Theme park attractions

YearAttractionLocation(s)Ref.
2021 Avengers Campus Disney California Adventure [7]

Awards

WorkYearAwardOutcomeRef
DreamWorks Dragons 2012 Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production (for "How to Pick Your Dragon")Won [10]
The Maze Runner 2014 IFMCA Awards for Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller FilmNominated [11]
2015 World Soundtrack Award for Public Choice Award Won [12]
The Defenders 2018 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music Nominated [13]
Marvel's Spider-Man The Game Award for Best Score/Music Nominated [14]
HMMA Award for Best Original Score – Video Game Nominated [15]
2019 D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Nominated [16]
Detroit: Become Human Nominated [17]
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales 2021 BAFTA Games Award for Music Won [18]
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 2024 D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Won [19]
BAFTA Games Award for Music Nominated [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hannigan</span> British composer

James Hannigan is a BAFTA Award winning composer and producer. His credits include entries in the Harry Potter, Command & Conquer, Dead Space, RuneScape, Evil Genius,EA Sports and Theme Park video game series, among numerous others. He has also scored full-cast adaptations of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, the Audie Award winning Alien dramas (2016–2019), BBC Radio 4's adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens and Neverwhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Giacchino</span> American music composer (born 1967)

Michael Giacchino is an American composer of music for film, television, and video games. He has received many accolades for his work, including an Oscar for Up (2009), an Emmy for Lost (2004), and three Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter McConnell</span> American video game composer and musician

Peter Nelson McConnell, also known as Peter Mc, is an American video game composer and musician, best known for his work at LucasArts and for composing the soundtracks for every Sly Cooper game since the second installment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bear McCreary</span> American composer and musician (born 1979)

Bear McCreary is an American musician and composer of film, television, and video game scores based in Los Angeles, California. His work includes the scores of the television series Battlestar Galactica (2004), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Outlander, The Walking Dead, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Serpent Queen, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Halo, the video games Call of Duty: Vanguard, God of War and God of War Ragnarök, and the film Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramin Djawadi</span> German score composer (born 1974)

Ramin Djawadi is a German film score composer, conductor, and record producer. He is known for his scores for the HBO series Game of Thrones, for which he was nominated for Grammy Awards in 2018 and 2020. He is also the composer for the HBO Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon (2022–present). He has scored films such as Clash of the Titans, Pacific Rim, Warcraft, A Wrinkle in Time, Iron Man and Eternals, television series including Prison Break, Person of Interest, Jack Ryan, and Westworld, and video games such as Medal of Honor, Gears of War 4, and Gears 5. He won two consecutive Emmy Awards for Game of Thrones, in 2018 for the episode "The Dragon and the Wolf" and in 2019 for "The Long Night".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilan Eshkeri</span> British neoclassical composer

Ilan Eshkeri is a British composer known for his concert music, films scores and artist collaborations.

Stephen Barton is a British composer. He splits his time between his native London and Los Angeles. He has composed the music for dozens of major film, television, and video game projects, winning Grammy and SCL Awards for his work.

Olivier Derivière is a French video game composer, best known for his work on the Alone in the Dark, Obscure, Remember Me and Streets of Rage 4 soundtracks. His work on Remember Me won the 2013 IFMCA award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media.

Michael Reagan is an American composer, songwriter and music producer for film, television, and video games. His TV work includes The Powerpuff Girls, Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt, and Bob Boyle's Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!. His film work includes Any Given Sunday, Odnoklassniki.ru: naCLICKay udachu starring Snoop Dogg, the original song "Heart and Soul" for Ripple Effect featuring Asdru Sierra from Ozomatli, and the song "Take The First Step" for the Sony Pictures / Jim Henson Studios feature film Elmo in Grouchland, which won a Grammy Award for Best Children's Soundtrack.

Takeshi Furukawa is a Japanese-American composer and conductor. His works have spanned the concert stage, films, television, video games, and advertising campaigns.

Daniel Pemberton is an English composer and songwriter. Primarily working in film, television, and video games, he is best known for composing the scores for the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the latter of which earned him a number of award nominations, including at the Golden Globes and the Critics' Choice Awards. He has also received recognition for his work in films such as Steve Jobs, Motherless Brooklyn, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Being the Ricardos, and The Rescue, as well as the LittleBigPlanet series of games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Wintory</span> American film and video games composer (born 1984)

Austin Wintory is an American composer for film and video games. He is known for scoring the video games Flow and Journey, the latter of which made history as the only video game soundtrack to be nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.

<i>Daredevil</i> (TV series) 2015–2018 Marvel Television series

Marvel's Daredevil is an American television series created by Drew Goddard for the streaming service Netflix, based on the Marvel Comics character Daredevil. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the franchise's films, and was the first Marvel Netflix series leading to the crossover miniseries The Defenders. Daredevil was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios. Steven S. DeKnight served as showrunner for the first season, with Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez taking over as co-showrunners for the second, and Erik Oleson joining the series as showrunner for the third; Goddard served as a consultant for the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadji Jeter</span> Jamaican-American actor

Nadji Anthony Jeter is an American actor. He is best known for providing the voice and motion capture for Sam in the action-adventure video game The Last of Us (2013) and Miles Morales in several Marvel projects since 2017, most notably the Marvel's Spider-Man series by Insomniac Games. He received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Performer in a Leading Role, as well as won the D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character, for his performance as Miles Morales in the 2020 video game Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. He won the BAFTA award, as well as his second D.I.C.E. Award, for his reprisal of the role in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

<i>The Maze Runner</i> (soundtrack) 2014 soundtrack album by John Paesano

The Maze Runner (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2014 dystopian science fiction film of the same name directed by Wes Ball. It consisted of 21 tracks from the film's score produced by John Paesano with a runtime of over an hour. Paesano was involved in the film, much before its production so that he could create the sketches based on the story and further develop the music to suit its visuals. The score resembled the classic Hollywood films and takes inspiration from John Williams' score for fantasy films to mimic the grandeur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gareth Coker</span> British composer

Gareth Coker is a British composer. He has composed work for video games, including Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, ARK: Survival Evolved, ARK: Survival Ascended and Halo Infinite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe</span> Film and television scores of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise

The music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) covers the soundtracks of the American media franchise and shared universe, which is centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The soundtracks include the original scores composed by various composers for the films and television series of the franchise, as well as the songs that are heard in each film.

Gordy Haab is an American film, video game and television composer based in Los Angeles, California. His work has been featured in works associated with franchises including Star Wars Battlefront II, for which he won Video Game Score of the Year from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Haab is also known for his work on Microsoft's Halo Wars 2, for which he was nominated for a 2017 HMMA award. His score for Electronic Arts' Star Wars: Battlefront, won three awards at the 2016 GDC G.A.N.G. Awards: Music of the Year, Best Interactive Score, and Best Instrumental Score. Haab was also nominated for a BAFTA Games Awards for his work on Star Wars: Battlefront.

Martin Stig Andersen is a Danish composer and sound designer, best known for his work on the video games Limbo and Inside, as well as contributions to Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.

<i>Spider-Man: Miles Morales</i> 2020 superhero video game

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Based on the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales, it is inspired by both the character's decade-long comic book mythology and appearances in other media. The game is a spin-off and continuation of Marvel's Spider-Man (2018), and the second installment in Insomniac's Spider-Man series. The narrative focuses on Miles' struggle to balance the duties of his civilian persona and his role as the second Spider-Man when his new home, Harlem, is threatened by a war between the Roxxon Energy Corporation and a high-tech criminal army called the Underground, led by the mysterious Tinkerer.

References

  1. @ExBee (February 12, 2021). "The ExBee Podcast: S1E5 | John Paesano Interview" . Retrieved August 23, 2021 via YouTube.
  2. 1 2 Hannett, Michelle (September 12, 2014). "WAMG Talks To THE MAZE RUNNER Composer John Paesano". We Are Movie Geeks. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  3. Rozeman, Mark (April 6, 2016). "Devil's in the Details: Daredevil Composer John Paesano on Scoring Hell's Kitchen". Paste . Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  4. "Interview: 'Daredevil' Season 2 Composer John Paesano". Geeks of Doom. March 21, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  5. Wood, Chandler (September 12, 2018). "Composing Peter Parker – The Music of Marvel's Spider-Man with Composer John Paesano". PlayStation Lifestyle. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  6. Dedmon, Tanner (October 3, 2018). "How 'Marvel's Spider-Man' Harmonized Web-Swinging With Music". ComicBook.com . Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Music from Disneyland's Avengers Campus Released". Film Music Reporter. April 22, 2022. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  8. Howard, Courtney (December 3, 2021). "'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' Review: Animated Reboot Delivers Plenty of Familiar Charms". Variety. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021. A Disney Plus release of a Bardel Entertainment Production
  9. 1 2 Schonewill, Kyle; Earle, Robby (March 17, 2022). "What's New in the MCU with John Paesano". Friends From Work: An Unofficial Marvel Podcast (Podcast). Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  10. Patten, Dominic (February 2, 2013). "Annie Awards: 'Wreck-It-Ralph' Wins 5 Including Feature, Robot Chicken 'DC Comics Special' TV, 'Paperman' Best Short". Deadline . Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  11. "IFMC Awards 2014". IFMCA: the International Film Music Critics Association. February 20, 2015. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  12. World Soundtrack Awards (October 24, 2015). "Winners of the 15th World Soundtrack Awards". World Soundtrack Academy . Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  13. "Nominees/Winners". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  14. Crowd, Dan (December 8, 2018). "The Game Awards 2018: All the Winners". IGN . Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  15. Xu, Linda (November 15, 2018). "Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Full List of Winners". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  16. "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details Marvel's Spider-Man". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  17. "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details Detroit: Become Human". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  18. Beresford, Trilby; Ritman, Alex (March 25, 2021). "'Hades' Takes Top Honor at BAFTA Games Awards". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  19. "Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Announces Winners of 2023's Best Video Games at 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  20. "20th BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations". BAFTA. March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.