James Hannigan
- Composer
- Music Department
- Sound Department
James Hannigan is a BAFTA award-winning composer with credits ranging from multi-million-selling video games and installations to cutting-edge audio drama and television. His work includes entries in the Harry Potter, Dead Space, Evil Genius, RuneScape, Warhammer, The Lord of the Rings, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Theme Park, F1, FIFA, and Command and Conquer video game series; full-cast audio adaptations including the NY Times #1 bestselling The Sandman, Alien series and the newly recorded Discworld. His themes, such as the "Soviet March", have been streamed hundreds of millions of times across digital platforms, and among his other awards are a Webby People's Choice Award for The Sandman Act II (with James McAvoy, Michael Sheen, and Regé-Jean Page) and an IFMCA Award for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince VG (also BAFTA award-nominated in 2010).
Hannigan has recorded with world class orchestras such as The Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra, at iconic studios including Abbey Road, Air-Lyndhurst, and Skywalker Ranch.
Past projects also include entries in the Space Hulk, EA Sports, Grand Prix game series; Primeval (BBC America/ITV), Nintendo's Art Academy (also heard in the Super Smash Bros. series), Evil Genius 2 (2022), Steelrising (2022), Transformers Universe, Red Alert 3, Dead Space 3, Reign of Fire, Catwoman, Freelancer, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Call of Antia (2023), Terraria: Otherworld, Command and Conquer 4, Conquest, Brute Force, The Darkening (with Christopher Walken, Clive Owen and John Hurt), Sim Theme Park; BAFTA Award, 2000), FA Premier League (BAFTA Nomination, 2000), Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat, RuneScape: The Orchestral Collection, the popular Harry Potter audio books read by Stephen Fry, and BBC R4's adaptations of Good Omens and Neverwhere.
An occasional panelist at Comic-Con, interviewed by BBC Radio, Sky TV, IGN, Music Radar and others, Hannigan has also written articles for Classic FM and other media outlets on subjects ranging from the function of screen music and interactive audio to the implications of AI Music. He has appeared on the cover of Develop magazine, spoken at conferences and institutions such as The School of Sound, EIGF, Musicworks, Ludomusicology, Develop, and The Royal College of Music, and has been featured in BAFTA's "Conversations with Composers" series at the Albert Hall.
Deeply fascinated by the intersection of music and technology, Hannigan was an early innovator in interactive music for video games. Working first internally with Electronic Arts and then later from his offices at Pinewood Studios in London, he devised comprehensive interactive music systems for games such as Theme Park World, Evil Genius (BAFTA Award Nomination for Original Music, 2004), and Republic: The Revolution (BAFTA Award Nomination for Original Music, 2003), the latter designed by Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis. His early work also includes sound design for films such as the Golden Reel-Nominated, Lost in Space.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a longstanding BAFTA member, Hannigan has co-founded and organized industry conferences including Screen Music Connect, Game Music Connect (held at The UK's Southbank Centre, in partnership with BAFTA, Classic FM, Sony PlayStation, Music Week, and The Ivors Academy), and has participated in concerts ranging from RuneFest with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra to VGL with The Philharmonia at Royal Festival Hall.
Music from Hannigan's back catalogue and production library music can be heard in numerous TV productions, documentaries, commercials and trailers, on numerous channels and platforms including Disney+, Discovery, The BBC and Netflix - ranging from episodes of Top Gear, The Grand Tour and SpongeBob SquarePants, to Floor is Lava, Disney shorts, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tour of Houses and Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts. His music has also accompanied various experiences, installations, immersive experiences and dance routines, from the Dream Portal at NY Comic Con to US reality TV show, Dance Moms.
James Hannigan is represented in the UK by Cool Music in London.
Hannigan has recorded with world class orchestras such as The Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra, at iconic studios including Abbey Road, Air-Lyndhurst, and Skywalker Ranch.
Past projects also include entries in the Space Hulk, EA Sports, Grand Prix game series; Primeval (BBC America/ITV), Nintendo's Art Academy (also heard in the Super Smash Bros. series), Evil Genius 2 (2022), Steelrising (2022), Transformers Universe, Red Alert 3, Dead Space 3, Reign of Fire, Catwoman, Freelancer, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Call of Antia (2023), Terraria: Otherworld, Command and Conquer 4, Conquest, Brute Force, The Darkening (with Christopher Walken, Clive Owen and John Hurt), Sim Theme Park; BAFTA Award, 2000), FA Premier League (BAFTA Nomination, 2000), Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat, RuneScape: The Orchestral Collection, the popular Harry Potter audio books read by Stephen Fry, and BBC R4's adaptations of Good Omens and Neverwhere.
An occasional panelist at Comic-Con, interviewed by BBC Radio, Sky TV, IGN, Music Radar and others, Hannigan has also written articles for Classic FM and other media outlets on subjects ranging from the function of screen music and interactive audio to the implications of AI Music. He has appeared on the cover of Develop magazine, spoken at conferences and institutions such as The School of Sound, EIGF, Musicworks, Ludomusicology, Develop, and The Royal College of Music, and has been featured in BAFTA's "Conversations with Composers" series at the Albert Hall.
Deeply fascinated by the intersection of music and technology, Hannigan was an early innovator in interactive music for video games. Working first internally with Electronic Arts and then later from his offices at Pinewood Studios in London, he devised comprehensive interactive music systems for games such as Theme Park World, Evil Genius (BAFTA Award Nomination for Original Music, 2004), and Republic: The Revolution (BAFTA Award Nomination for Original Music, 2003), the latter designed by Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis. His early work also includes sound design for films such as the Golden Reel-Nominated, Lost in Space.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a longstanding BAFTA member, Hannigan has co-founded and organized industry conferences including Screen Music Connect, Game Music Connect (held at The UK's Southbank Centre, in partnership with BAFTA, Classic FM, Sony PlayStation, Music Week, and The Ivors Academy), and has participated in concerts ranging from RuneFest with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra to VGL with The Philharmonia at Royal Festival Hall.
Music from Hannigan's back catalogue and production library music can be heard in numerous TV productions, documentaries, commercials and trailers, on numerous channels and platforms including Disney+, Discovery, The BBC and Netflix - ranging from episodes of Top Gear, The Grand Tour and SpongeBob SquarePants, to Floor is Lava, Disney shorts, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tour of Houses and Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts. His music has also accompanied various experiences, installations, immersive experiences and dance routines, from the Dream Portal at NY Comic Con to US reality TV show, Dance Moms.
James Hannigan is represented in the UK by Cool Music in London.
