
James Hannigan is a BAFTA and IFMCA winning composer and music producer, known for his hugely diverse output across all forms of media. Among his many credits are entries in the multi-million selling Harry Potter, Dead Space, Transformers, The Lord of the Rings, Evil Genius, Command and Conquer and Warhammer video game franchises; TV and Radio including ITV’s Primeval and BBC Radio 4’s Good Omens; Amazon/Audible’s multi-award winning full-cast Alien quadrilogy; the New York Times No.1 bestselling audio adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (with a cast including James McAvoy, Michael Sheen and Taron Egerton) and many others.
An IFMCA (International Film Music Critics Association) Award winner for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (VG; BAFTA nomination, Music, 2010), James has scored titles such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (EA/WBIE), the Guinness World Record-breaking RuneScape, Dead Space 3, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (VG), Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 (including its celebrated theme, Soviet March) and his current projects include Evil Genius 2 – the sequel to 2004’s cult hit, originally developed by Elixir Studios and Google DeepMind Founder, Demis Hassabis.
Other credits include Microsoft’s entry in the ‘Wing Commander’ universe, Freelancer; Catwoman, Brute Force, Privateer: The Darkening (with Christopher Walken, Clive Owen and John Hurt), Space Hulk, the BAFTA-nominated interactive score of Republic: The Revolution, Reign of Fire, Theme Park World (BAFTA Award, 2000), entries in EA Sports’ F1 & FIFA series, Nintendo’s Art Academy (often heard also in Super Smash Bros), Evil Genius (BAFTA Nomination, Music, 2004) and Amazon/Audible’s adaptations of Alien: Out of the Shadows and Alien 3 (featuring Rutger Hauer and Michael Biehn). Further work includes Terry Pratchett’s Unseen Academicals; BBC R4’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere (with James McAvoy, Christopher Lee and Benedict Cumberbatch), Wizarding World and Pottermore; Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, Warhammer: SotHR, The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest and Transformers Universe. James’ music is also heard every day around the world in TV shows as diverse as The Grand Tour, Top Gear and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.
With his music airing on radio stations such as Classic FM and Scala Radio, Hannigan has worked with countless world class musicians, and orchestras including the Philharmonia, The Chamber Orchestra of London, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and Slovak Symphony Orchestra, recording at locations such as Air-Lyndhurst, Abbey Road Studios and Skywalker Ranch. A regular interviewee and panellist for BBC radio, Comic Con and other international events, James has been the subject of BAFTA’s Conversations with Composers at the Royal Albert Hall, and his music has been performed in numerous concerts. He is also founder of London Southbank-based events Screen Music Connect and Game Music Connect – which in previous years have been partnered with BAFTA, PRS, Sony Playstation, EA, Music Week and the Ivors Academy.
Credits
Evil Genius 2: World Domination | Rebellion Developments | |
Unannounced Title | FunPlus | |
RuneScape: The Orchestral Collection | Recorded with the Philharmonia Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios | |
Transformers Universe | Hasbro | |
Dead Space 3 (Co-composer) | EA/ Visceral Games | |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Electronic Arts/Warner Bros | |
Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest | Headstrong/Warner Bros | |
Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight | Electronic Arts | |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Electronic Arts/Warner Bros | IFMCA Award 2009: Best Original Score for a Video Game Nominated for BAFTA Video Games Awards 2010 (Best Original Score) |
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | Ubisoft/Sony Pictures | |
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 Uprising | EA LA | |
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 | Electronic Arts | |
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | EA/Warner Bros | Best of 2007, IGN; ‘Best Game Score’, Movie Music UK Awards 2007 |
Freelancer | Digital Anvil/Microsoft | |
Evil Genius | VU Games | BAFTA Nomination, Music, 2005 |
RuneScape 3 | Jagex | DEVELOP Awards Nomination |
Republic The Revolution | Eidos | BAFTA Nomination, Music, 2004 |
Conquest: Frontier Wars | Digital Anvil / Ubisoft | |
Warhammer: SotHR | Mindscape; Games Workshop | |
Super Smash Bros. (Additional Music) | Nintendo | |
Catwoman | EA/Warner Bros | |
Reign of Fire | KUJU/BAM | |
Brute Force | Digital Anvil/Microsoft | |
Art Academy | Nintendo | |
Mr. Bean | Blast! Ents | |
Jetix | Blast! Ents | |
Lost In Space | New Line Cinema | |
Sim Theme Park/Theme Park World | Electronic Arts | BAFTA Award, 2000 |
Sim Coaster/Theme Park Inc | Electronic Art | |
Grand Prix 4 | Infogames | |
Warhammer: Dark Omen | Electronic Arts; Sound Design | |
Action Man (multiple titles) | Intelligent Games/Hasbro | |
Privateer, The Darkening | Electronic Arts, Origin Systems | |
FA Premier League Manager | EA Sports | BAFTA Nomination, Music, 2000 |
F1 Series – various | EA Sports | |
FIFA Soccer Manager | EA Sports | |
FIFA Soccer Manager | various entries; EA Sports | |
Cutthroat Island | Sony Imagesoft | |
Flight of the Amazon Queen | Renegade | |
Infestation | Frontier Developments | |
MoHo | Lost Toys | |
Beasts and Bumpkins | Electronic Arts | |
Darklight Conflict | Electronic Arts | |
Space Hulk | Electronic Arts/Games Workshop |
FLOOR IS LAVA | Netflix |
THE GRAND TOUR | Season 4 (Additional Score) Chump / Amazon |
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO JEFF GOLDBLUM | Series 1 (Additional Score) Disney+ Directors: Karen McGann, Simon Lloyd, Nic Stacey Producers: Craig Robert Young, Aisling Browne |
TOP GEAR | Series 18 (Additional Score) BBC |
PRIMEVAL | SERIES 3 (Additional Score) Impossible Pictures/ITV Director: Tony Mitchell, Mark Everest, Cilla Ware, Richard Curson Smith, Matthew Thompson Producer: Tim Bradley Execs: Tim Haines, Adrian Hodges |
The Sandman | DC/Amazon/Audible |
Alien III | Amazon/Audible |
Neverwhere | BBC Radio 4 |
Good Omens | BBC Radio 4 |
Stardust | BBC Radio 4 |
Alien: Out of the Shadows | Amazon/Audible |
Alien: Sea of Sorrows | Amazon/Audible |
Alien: River of Pain | Amazon/Audible |
Unseen Academicals | Amazon/Audible |
Big Screen, Space and Science, Distorted Reality, Short Cuts series, Ducati Launch Events, Ferrari Red Racing Advertising Campaign |
Videos
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James Hannigan scores ‘Steelrising’
James Hannigan has composed the score to the new game ‘Steelrising’ from developer Spiders. The role-playing game has just been released for PS5, Xbox Series

‘The Sandman Act II’ scored by James Hannigan wins Webby Award!
‘The Sandman Act II’ scored by James Hannigan wins best Original Music Score/Sound Design at the 2022 Webby Awards. Congradulations to James and the team!

James Hannigan scores ‘Evil Genius 2: World Domination’
James Hannigan has composed the score to the real-time strategy and simulation game ‘Evil Genius 2: World Domination’ from Rebellion Developments. The game is a

ASCAP roundtable discussion with COOL’s Darrell Alexander
In such a rapidly evolving music-for-media landscape, how has the role of the composer changed? And how does the art of musical storytelling change when