biography
James Hannigan is a BAFTA award-winning composer with a career spanning several industries, from TV and multi-million selling games to groundbreaking audio drama. Among his credits are entries in the Harry Potter, Dead Space, Evil Genius, RuneScape, Transformers, Theme Park, EA Sports and Command and Conquer game series, along with full-cast audio adaptations of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and the Alien series. His themes, such as the parodic Red Alert 3 theme, Soviet March, have been streamed hundreds of millions of times on digital platforms, and his other awards include a Webby People's Choice Award for The Sandman Act II and an IFMCA award for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (also BAFTA award-nominated, 2010). Recent projects include a theme for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld universe and the NY Times #1 bestselling adaptation of The Sandman Act III (with a cast including James McAvoy, Michael Sheen and Regé-Jean Page). | LISTEN
Hannigan's diverse recent and past projects include Steelrising (2022), Evil Genius 2 (2022), entries in the Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Space Hulk, F1, Grand Prix, The Lord of the Rings and Warhammer game series; Primeval (BBC America), Red Alert 3 (with J.K. Simmons and Tim Curry), Dead Space 3, Nintendo's Art Academy (also heard in the Super Smash Bros. series), Terraria: Otherworld, Reign of Fire, Catwoman, the innovative interactive music of Republic: The Revolution (designed by Google DeepMind co-founder, Demis Hassabis; BAFTA Award Nomination, Original Music, 2003), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Call of Antia, Evil Genius (BAFTA Award Nomination, Original Music, 2004), Command and Conquer 4, Conquest, Freelancer, The Darkening (with Christopher Walken, Clive Owen and the late John Hurt), Transformers Universe, Theme Park World (aka Sim Theme Park; BAFTA Award, 2000), RuneScape 3, RuneScape: The Orchestral Collection, the hugely popular Harry Potter audio book series read by Stephen Fry, BBC R4 adaptations of Good Omens and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Christopher Lee) and many more.
Hannigan has worked with several world class orchestras, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Skywalker Orchestra and Budapest Film Orchestra - recording at locations such as Abbey Road, Air-Lyndhurst and Skywalker Ranch.
After forming a working relationship with Electronic Arts towards the beginning of his career, Hannigan went on to base his studio at Pinewood Studios in West London for over a decade. Continuing to work with EA and other global publishers, he ventured into music for other forms, and briefly into sound design (his credits include the Golden Reel nominated, Lost in Space).
Music from Hannigan’s back catalogue can be heard in numerous TV productions, commercials and trailers - ranging recently from Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, Top Gear and The Grand Tour to Floor is Lava, SpongeBob SquarePants, Disney shorts, Dance Moms, and The World According to Jeff Goldblum. His music has also accompanied various experiences, installations and dance routines, from the Dream Portal at NY Comic Con 2022 to Dance Moms with Maddie Ziegler.
A BBC radio interviewee, Comic Con and conference panelist, Hannigan has had the cover of DEVELOP magazine, written articles for Classic FM and other outlets. He's also a founder of sold-out London Southbank-based conferences Screen Music Connect and Game Music Connect, introduced to inspire and educate professional and aspiring composers alike. London Southbank-based events held since 2013 have partnered with BAFTA, Classic FM, Sony PlayStation, Music Week, The Ivors Academy and others.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a BAFTA member for over twenty years, Hannigan has also been a subject of BAFTA’s Conversations with Composers held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
James Hannigan is represented by COOL Music, London.