Carter Burwell Carter Burwell

Born: 18 November 1955, New York, New York.

Biography:
American composer Carter Burwell graduated from Harvard College, where he studied the unusual combination of animation and electronic music. Initially set on a career as a film maker and animator, he won numerous awards for his 1979 animated film "Help, I'm Being Crushed to Death by a Black Rectangle" while working as a software developer at a health care facility in upstate New York. During the 1980s Burwell began to develop a dual career as a film maker (he worked at the New York Institute of Technology, and worked on many computer-animated television shows and films including the Japanese anime "Lensman") and film composer, with the latter eventually winning out following the cult success of his breakout score, the 1984 thriller "Blood Simple" directed by the Coen brothers Ethan and Joel. Since then, Burwell has gone on to develop a strong working relationship with the Coens, having collaborated with them on offbeat classics such as "Raising Arizona" (1997), "Barton Fink" (1991), "The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994), "Fargo" (1996), "The Big Lebowski" (1998), "Intolerable Cruelty" (2003), "The Ladykillers" (2004) and the Oscar-winning “No Country for Old Men” (2007). In addition to his work with the Coens, Burwell has also struck up strong partnerships with directors such as Spike Jonze and Michael Caton-Jones, and includes box-office hits such as "Doc Hollywood" (1991), "Conspiracy Theory" (1997), "The Jackal" (1997), "The General’s Daughter" (1999), "Three Kings" (1999), "A Knight’s Tale" (2001) and "The Rookie" (2002) in his list of successes. Away from film music, Burwell has dabbled the rock scene with several bands in the 1980s, and has written music for dance and the theatre. A composer with a bright future, Burwell is well-known in the film score community for his unusual and unique orchestrations and penchant for experimental scoring techniques, and is becoming highly sought-after for A-list independent films and movies with a 'quirky edge'.

Reviews:
Barton Fink, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Being John Malkovich, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Fargo, The General's Daughter, Gods and Monsters, Hamlet, The Hi-Lo Country, Intolerable Cruelty, The Jackal, Kinsey, Miller's Crossing, No Country for Old Men, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Rob Roy, A Serious Man, The Spanish Prisoner, Three Kings, Twilight and Where the Wild Things Are.

Filmography:
The Blind Side (2009), A Simple Man (2009), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), Burn After Reading (2008), In Bruges (2008), Twilight (2008), Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007), The Hoax (2007), No Country for Old Men (2007), Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006), The Alamo (2004), The Ladykillers (2004), Kinsey (2004), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Adaptation (2002), The Rookie (2002), Searching for Paradise (2002), Simone (2002), A Knight's Tale (2001), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), Before Night Falls (2000), Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), Hamlet (2000), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), What Planet Are You From? (2000), Being John Malkovich (1999), The Corruptor (1999), The General's Daughter (1999), Mystery Alaska (1999), Three Kings (1999), The Big Lebowski (1998), Gods and Monsters (1998), The Hi-Lo Country (1998), Mercury Rising (1998), Velvet Goldmine (1998), Assassin(s) (1997), Conspiracy Theory (1997), Girls Night Out (1997), The Jackal (1997), Picture Perfect (1997), A Secret Sin (1997), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), The Chamber (1996), Fargo (1996), Fear (1996), Joe's Apartment (1996), Bad Company (1995), The Celluloid Closet (1995), Children Remember the Holocaust (1995), A Goofy Movie (1995), Rob Roy (1995), Two Bits (1995), Airheads (1994), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), It Could Happen to You (1994), And the Band Played On (1993), A Dangerous Woman (1993), Kalifornia (1993), This Boy's Life (1993), Wayne's World 2 (1993), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Storyville (1992), Waterland (1992), Barton Fink (1991), Doc Hollywood (1991), Scorchers (1991), Framed (1990), Miller's Crossing (1990), Checking Out (1989), The Beat (1988), It Takes Two (1988), Pass the Ammo (1988), Raising Arizona (1987), Psycho III (1986), Blood Simple (1984).

Highest Grossing Films as at end of 2008 (adjusted for inflation):
Twilight ($194.7m), The General’s Daughter ($145.6m), Conspiracy Theory ($119.2m), Doc Hollywood ($93.7m), The Rookie ($93.7m), The Jackal ($86.2m), Three Kings ($86.0m), Wayne’s World 2 ($83.8m), No Country For Old Men ($77.7m), A Knight’s Tale ($71.9)

Awards:
2009 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score – Where the Wild Things Are
2000 BAFTA Awards - Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music - O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Links:
The Body: Official Site

Adaptation The Alamo And the Band Played On Assassin(s) Before Night Falls Being John Malkovich The Big Lebowski Blood Simple/Raising Arizona Burn After Reading Burn After Reading The Chamber Conspiracy Theory The Corruptor Doc Hollywood Fargo/Barton Fink Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus The General's Daughter Gods and Monsters A Goofy Movie Hamlet The Hi-Lo Country The Hudsucker Proxy In Bruges Intolerable Cruelty It Could Happen To You The Jackal (Album) The Jackal/The Spanish Prisoner Kalifornia Kinsey A Knight's Tale The Ladykillers The Man Who Wasn't There Mercury Rising Miller's Crossing O Brother, Where Art Thou? Psycho III Rob Roy The Rookie A Serious Man Simone Storyville Three Kings Twilight Velvet Goldmine Where the Wild Things Are


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