Don Davis Don Davis

Born: 4 February 1957, Anaheim, California.

Biography:
Don Davis is an exciting young American composer, most famous for his work on the "Matrix" trilogy of science fiction films. Davis began playing trumpet and piano at the age of nine, and was writing his own music at twelve. He majored in music theory at UCLA, played trumpet in college jazz ensembles and orchestras, and studied privately after his graduation, learning composition from Henri Lazarof, and orchestration from Albert Harris. He began his scoring career working on TV series during the early 80s with composers such as Joe Harnell (to whom Davis had been introduced by Harris) and Lee Holdridge, both of whom recognized his prodigious talent. He won an Emmy award for his work on the Ron Perlman/Linda Hamilton series "Beauty and the Beast" in 1987, and during the early part of his career wrote music for dozens of TV series, including "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Tiny Toon Adventures" and "SeaQuest DSV". During the 1980s and early 1990s, Davis worked steadily, as a composer of second-string features, but also as one of Hollywood's foremost orchestrators, having worked with virtually every major composer, including James Horner, Michael Kamen, Alan Silvestri and Randy Newman. Davis's first breakthrough came in 1997, when he scored "Bound", an offbeat thriller directed by brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski. His collaboration with them led directly to him being hired to score their follow-up feature, the massively successful, Oscar-winning "The Matrix" (1999), and his journey to the A-list was complete. Since then, Davis has scored successful features such as "House on Haunted Hill" (1999), "Jurassic Park III" (2001), "Behind Enemy Lines" (2001) and "Valentine" (2001), as well as the two Matrix sequels "Matrix Reloaded" (2003) and "Matrix Revolutions" (2003). In addition to film scoring, Davis has written a number of original concert works, notably "Rio De Sangre", an opera originally commissioned by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and which is scheduled to premiere with the Florentine Opera Company in 2010. . Davis lives in Calabasas, California, with his wife Megan and family.

Reviews:
Behind Enemy Lines, House of Frankenstein, House on Haunted Hill, Long Time Dead, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying, Valentine and Warriors of Virtue

Filmography:
The Good Life (2007), Ten Inch Hero (2007), Augusta Gone (2006), The Marine (2006), The Animatrix (2003), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002), Long Time Dead (2002), Murder in Greenwich (2002), Anti-Trust (2001), Behind Enemy Lines (2001), Jurassic Park III (2001), The Unsaid (2001), Valentine (2001), Gabriel's Run (2000), Hell Swarm (2000), Osaka (2000), Personally Yours (2000), Race Against Time (2000), House on Haunted Hill (1999), In the Company of Spies (1999), The Matrix (1999), Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999), Universal Soldier: The Return (1999), The Lake (1998), The Agency (1998), The Lesser Evil (1998), Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story (1998), Route 9 (1998), The Third Twin (1997), House of Frankenstein (1997), Weapons of Mass Distraction (1997), Invasion (1997), Warriors of Virtue (1997), A Match Made in Heaven (1997), The Alibi (1997), Not In This Town (1997), Pandora's Clock (1996), The Beast (1996), Bound (1996), In the Lake of the Woods (1996), The Perfect Daughter (1996), For Love Alone (1995), Sleep, Baby, Sleep (1995), Leave of Absence (1994), In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride & Madness (1994), Murder of Innocence (1993), Session Man (1993), Woman with a Past (1992), Notorious (1992), Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992), A Little Piece of Heaven (1991), Lies Before Kisses (1991), My Life and Times (1991), Spud (1991), Running Against Time (1990), Home Fires Burning (1989), Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story (1988), A Stoning in Fulham County (1988), Bluegrass (1988), Blackout (1988), Beauty and the Beast (1987), Hyperspace (1985).

Highest Grossing Films as at end of 2007 (adjusted for inflation):
The Matrix Reloaded ($330.6m), The Matrix ($239.0m), Jurassic Park III ($226.6m), The Matrix Revolutions ($163.5m), Behind Enemy Lines ($73.6m), House on Haunted Hill ($56.9m), Valentine ($26.1m), The Marine ($20.1m), Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever ($17.4m), Universal Soldier: The Return ($14.9m)

Awards:
1995 Emmy Awards – Winner, Outstanding Music Composition for a Series – SeaQuest DSV
1990 Emmy Awards – Winner, Outstanding Music Composition for a Series – Beauty and the Beast
1998 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – House of Frankenstein
1994 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Series – SeaQuest DSV
1992 Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – A Little Piece of Heaven
1991 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – Lies Before Kisses
1991 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Series – My Life and Times
1988 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Series – Beauty and the Beast

Links:
Official Site

The Animatrix Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever The Beast Behind Enemy Lines Bound House of Frankenstein House on Haunted Hill Hyperspace/Beauty and the Beast Invasion Jurassic Park III The Matrix The Matrix Reloaded The Matrix Revolutions Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying Universal Soldier: The Return The Unsaid Warriors of Virtue


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