Steve Jablonsky (born October 9, 1970) is an American composer for film, television and video games, best known for his musical scores in the Transformers film series and The Sims 3.[1] Some of his frequent collaboration partners include film directors Michael Bay and Peter Berg, and fellow composer Hans Zimmer.
Steve Jablonsky | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 9, 1970 |
| Genres | Film score, video game music, post-rock, alternative rock, electronic, classical |
| Occupations | Film composer, video game composer |
| Instruments | Piano, keyboards, guitar, drums |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Website | steve-jablonsky |
Early life
editJablonsky's mother was born in a Japanese internment camp.[2] He went to the University of California, Berkeley for college and studied computer science at first, but switched to music composition a year later.[3] After graduation, he became an intern at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions after cold calling the studio to ask if they needed any help.[4] During that time, Jablonsky met Harry Gregson-Williams, a fellow composer of Zimmer, and started working as his assistant. Later, he became more engaged with Zimmer and started composing for works such as Desperate Housewives and the Transformers film series.[5]
Career
editJablonsky has composed the soundtracks to the films The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Steamboy (2004), The Island (2005), Transformers (2007), D-War (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), Battleship (2012), Ender's Game (2013) (replacing renowned film composer James Horner), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), and Transformers: The Last Knight (2017). He was also a contributor on Team America: World Police (2004) among many others. In addition, he helped compose some of the music to the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and composed the theme music for BBC's Seven Wonders of the Industrial World in 2003. He also has written music for the television show Desperate Housewives (2004 - 2012) since the fourth episode. His track "Trailblazing" served as the opening theme for WrestleMania X8 and WrestleMania XIX, as well as the soundtrack to the TNA Hall of Fame induction of Sting.
Jablonsky also wrote the music for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, taking the place of the former Command & Conquer music composer Frank Klepacki who was unable to write the game's score due to his involvement with Universe at War: Earth Assault.
Jablonsky has worked for Harry Gregson-Williams at Media Ventures, the music production company which was conceived and founded by Jay Rifkin and Hans Zimmer, for seven years. His most recent projects include the scores for the South Korean film D-War, Gears of War 3 for the Xbox 360 gaming console, and music for The Sims 3.
Currently, Jablonsky is employed at Zimmer's studio, Remote Control Productions, having been mentored by the company's members Zimmer and Nick Glennie-Smith, as well as former members Harry Gregson-Williams and Klaus Badelt.
In February 2015, Jablonsky was hired to compose the score for the film The Last Witch Hunter.[6] He also composed the soundtrack for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the 2016 Peter Berg film Deepwater Horizon, starring Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Russell.
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Film | Director | Additional Music | Studio / Developer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Border to Border | Thomas Whelan | — | Stage 15 Productions | — |
| 2003 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Marcus Nispel | Jay Flood | New Line Cinema | — |
| 2004 | Steamboy | Katsuhiro Otomo | — | Sony Pictures Entertainment | — |
| 2005 | The Amityville Horror | Andrew Douglas |
|
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | — |
| The Island | Michael Bay |
|
Warner Bros. Pictures | — | |
| 2006 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning | Jonathan Liebesman | Jay Flood | New Line Cinema | — |
| 2007 | The Hitcher | Dave Meyers |
|
Rogue Pictures | Incidental music by Holeg Spies |
| Transformers | Michael Bay |
|
Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Pictures |
— | |
| D-War | Shim Hyung-rae | Jay Flood | Freestyle Releasing | — | |
| 2009 | Friday the 13th | Marcus Nispel |
|
New Line Cinema Paramount Pictures |
— |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Michael Bay |
|
Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Pictures |
Featuring original song by Linkin Park "New Divide" | |
| 2010 | A Nightmare on Elm Street | Samuel Bayer | Jay Flood | Warner Bros. Pictures | New Line Cinema |
| 2011 | Your Highness | David Gordon Green | — | Universal Pictures | — |
| Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Michael Bay |
|
Paramount Pictures | — | |
| 2012 | Battleship | Peter Berg |
|
Universal Pictures | — |
| 2013 | Gangster Squad | Ruben Fleischer | — | Warner Bros. Pictures | — |
| Pain & Gain | Michael Bay | Clay Duncan | Paramount Pictures | — | |
| Ender's Game | Gavin Hood | Jacob Shea | Summit Entertainment | Orchestra conducted by Gavin Greenaway | |
| Lone Survivor | Peter Berg |
|
Universal Pictures | Composed with Explosions in the Sky | |
| 2014 | Transformers: Age of Extinction | Michael Bay |
|
Paramount Pictures | Featuring original song By Imagine Dragons "Battle Cry" |
| 2015 | The Last Witch Hunter | Breck Eisner |
|
Lionsgate Films | Orchestra conducted by David Shipps and performed by Nashville Music Scoring Orchestra |
| 2016 | Keanu | Peter Atencio | Elgin Thrower Jr. | Warner Bros. Pictures | Composed with Nathan Whitehead |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows | Dave Green |
|
Paramount Pictures Nickelodeon Movies |
Orchestra conducted by James Sale | |
| Deepwater Horizon | Peter Berg | Jon Jablonsky (Drums) | Summit Entertainment | Featuring original song by Gary Clark Jr. | |
| 2017 | Transformers: The Last Knight | Michael Bay |
|
Paramount Pictures | Orchestra conducted by James Sale & Nick Glennie-Smith |
| 2018 | Game Over, Man! | Kyle Newacheck | Christian Wibe | Netflix | — |
| Skyscraper | Rawson Marshall Thurber |
|
Universal Pictures Legendary Entertainment |
Featuring original song by Jamie N Commons "Walls" | |
| Morning Express II | Randall Miller | — | Mediacorp Onetree Pictures mm2 Entertainment |
— | |
| 2020 | Spenser Confidential | Peter Berg | Jared Fly | Netflix | — |
| Bloodshot | David S. F. Wilson |
|
Columbia Pictures | Orchestra conducted by Nick Glennie-Smith | |
| 2021 | Red Notice | Rawson Marshall Thurber |
|
Netflix | Orchestra conducted by Jasper Randall |
| 2022 | DC League of Super-Pets | Jared Stern | — | Warner Bros. Pictures | Replaced Dominic Lewis[7] |
| 2024 | The Tiger's Apprentice | Raman Hui |
|
Paramount+ | — |
| Borderlands | Eli Roth | — | Lionsgate Films | Replaced Nathan Barr[8] |
Additional music credits
edit| Year | Film | Director | Additional Music | Studio / Developer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Smilla's Sense of Snow | Bille August |
|
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams and Hans Zimmer |
| Deceiver | Jonas Pate Josh Pate |
— | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams | |
| 1998 | Border to Border | Thomas Whelan | — | Stage 15 Productions | — |
| Armageddon | Michael Bay |
|
Touchstone Pictures | Score composed by Trevor Rabin | |
| Antz | Eric Darnell Tim Johnson |
|
DreamWorks Pictures | Score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell | |
| 1999 | Light It Up | Craig Bolotin |
|
20th Century Fox | Score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams |
| Deep Blue Sea | Renny Harlin |
|
Warner Bros. Pictures | Score composed by Trevor Rabin | |
| 2000 | The Tigger Movie | Jun Falkenstein |
|
Walt Disney Pictures | Score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams |
| The Magic of Marciano | Tony Barbieri | — | Cape Atlantic Productions | ||
| Chicken Run | Peter Lord Nick Park |
|
DreamWorks Pictures | Score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell | |
| 2001 | Pearl Harbor | Michael Bay |
|
Touchstone Pictures | Score composed by Hans Zimmer |
| 2002 | Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron | Kelly Asbury Lorna Cook |
|
DreamWorks Pictures | |
| 2003 | Tears of the Sun | Antoine Fuqua |
|
Columbia Pictures | Score composed by Lisa Gerrard and Hans Zimmer |
| Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Gore Verbinski |
|
Walt Disney Pictures | Score composed by Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer | |
| Bad Boys II | Michael Bay |
|
Columbia Pictures | Score composed by Trevor Rabin | |
| 2019 | 6 Underground |
|
Netflix | Score composed by Lorne Balfe |
Television
edit| Year | Title[9] | TV Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Swing Vote | — | Television film Additional music only Score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams |
| 2002 | AFP: American Fighter Pilot | CBS | — |
| Live from Baghdad | HBO | Television film | |
| National Geographic Explorer | National Geographic Channel | Episode: "Lost Subs: Disaster at Sea" | |
| 2003 | Seven Wonders of the Industrial World | BBC | 7 episodes |
| Threat Matrix | ABC | 3 episodes | |
| 2004—2012 | Desperate Housewives | 157 episodes | |
| 2005 | The Contender | NBC | — |
| Threshold | CBS | — | |
| 2006 | Him and Us | — | Television film |
| 2008 | Amas de Casa Desesperadas | Univision | 24 episodes |
| 2009 | WWII in HD | History | Only composed "Trailblazing" |
| 2011 | Vietnam in HD | ||
| 2013 | The List | — | Television film |
| Occult | A&E | ||
| 2014 | The Last Ship | TNT | Season 1 |
| 2015 | You, Me and the Apocalypse | NBC | 10 episodes |
| 2021 | Why Women Kill | Paramount+ | 3 episodes |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty | Konami | Additional music only Music composed by Harry Gregson-Williams and Norihiko Hibino E3 Best Original Score |
| 2007 | Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars | Electronic Arts | Composed with Trevor Morris |
| Transformers: The Game | Activision | Composed with Jonathan Flood, David Whittaker and Adam Hay | |
| 2008 | Gears of War 2 | Microsoft Game Studios | — |
| 2009 | The Sims 3 | Electronic Arts | Composed CAS, Map View, Buy and Build mode music |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Activision | Additional music by Julien-K and Bobby Tahouri | |
| 2010 | Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands | Ubisoft | Main Title, Cinematics and Front Music PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 versions |
| 2011 | Gears of War 3 | Microsoft Game Studios | — |
| 2013 | Gears of War: Judgment | Composed with Jacob Shea | |
| 2014 | Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark | Activision | Composed with Jeff Broadbent, Bobby Tahouri and Troels Brun Folmann |
References
edit- ^ "Steve Jablonsky". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2016. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016.
- ^ @jablonsky_steve (January 28, 2017). "My mom was born in a Japanese internment camp. I almost did not exist because of policies similar to what's happening right now" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Michael Bay's 'Transformers' Composer Steve Jablonsky Talks Making Music For Movies, TV, Video Games And More!". Mstarz. July 31, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ "Episode #6 | Steve Jablonsky, Behind the Score: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross & Name That Score". SCORE: A FILM MUSIC DOCUMENTARY. April 24, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
- ^ Newman, Melinda (June 26, 2014). "Composer Steve Jablonsky on Transformers: Age of Extinction: This was the craziest film of all". Uproxx. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
- ^ "Steve Jablonsky to Score 'The Last Witch Hunter'". filmmusicreporter.com. February 12, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
- ^ "Steve Jablonsky Scoring Jared Stern's 'DC League of Super-Pets' | Film Music Reporter".
- ^ "Steve Jablonsky Scoring 'Borderlands' Film Adaptation". Film Music Reporter. October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
- ^ "Steve Jablonsky". Hans-Zimmer.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.