James Hannigan is a BAFTA award-winning composer and producer with credits ranging from multi-million-selling video games and television to cutting-edge audio drama. 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, FIFA, and Command and Conquer video game franchises; full-cast Audible adaptations including the NY Times #1 bestselling The Sandman, the Alien series and the newly recorded Discworld. His themes, such as the parodic “Soviet March” from Red Alert 3, 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 (International Film Music Critics Association) Award for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince VG (also BAFTA award-nominated for Original Music, 2010).
Hannigan has recorded with world class orchestras including The Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra, at iconic studios such as Abbey Road, Air-Lyndhurst, and Skywalker Ranch. An occasional panellist at Comic-Con, interviewed by BBC Radio, Sky TV, IGN, Forbes, Music Radar and others, he 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 in 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.
Past projects include entries in the EA Sports, Grand Prix, Space Hulk and F1 game series; Primeval (BBC America/ITV), Nintendo’s Art Academy (also heard in the Super Smash Bros. series), Evil Genius 2 (2022), Steelrising (2022), Call of Antia (2022), Transformers Universe, Red Alert 3, Dead Space 3, Reign of Fire, Catwoman, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Terraria: Otherworld, Chris Roberts’ Freelancer, Command and Conquer 4, Conquest, Brute Force, The Darkening (with Christopher Walken, Clive Owen and John Hurt), Theme Park World (BAFTA Award, 2000), FA Premier League (BAFTA Nomination, 2000), The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest, Evil Genius (BAFTA Nomination, Original Music, 2004), Republic: The Revolution (BAFTA Nomination, Original Music, 2003), Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat, RuneScape: The Orchestral Collection, the popular Harry Potter audiobooks read by Stephen Fry, and BBC Radio 4’s adaptations of Good Omens and Neverwhere.
Deeply fascinated by the intersection of music, sound and technology, early in his career Hannigan was an innovator in the field of interactive audio. Working internally with Electronic Arts and then later from his offices at Pinewood Studios in London, he devised pioneering interactive playback systems for numerous titles – including Republic: The Revolution, designed by Google DeepMind co-founder Sir Demis Hassabis. His early work in other media includes sound design for films such as the Golden Reel-Nominated, Lost in Space.
A longstanding BAFTA member and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Hannigan has co-founded and organised industry conferences including Screen Music Connect and Game Music Connect (held at London’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 can be heard in countless TV productions, documentaries, commercials, and trailers, on numerous channels and platforms including Disney+, Discovery, The BBC and Netflix. His music has also accompanied a number of experiences, rides, installations, and immersive experiences.
Credits
STEELRISING | Spiders/ Nacon | |
CALL OF ANTIA | Funplus | |
EVIL GENIUS 2: WORLD DOMINATION | Rebellion Developments | |
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 | 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 | 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: SCOTHR | 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 | |
CUTTHROAT ISLAND | Sony Imagesoft | |
FLIGHT OF THE AMAZON QUEEN | Renegade | |
INFESTATION | Frontier Developments | |
MOHO | Lost Toys | |
BREATS 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 |
TERRY PRATCHET DISCWORLD | Audible |
THE SANDMAN | DC/Amazon/Audible |
HOGFATHER | Ladbroke Audio |
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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Links
‘Songs of Chaos’ audiobooks with music by James Hannigan now available on Audible
James Hannigan has composed the music for Michael R.Miller’s ‘Songs of Chaos’ audiobooks, of which three are available now on Audible. ‘From the author of
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