Chris Bacon (composer)
American composer
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Chris Bacon is an American composer. His film scores include Alpha and Omega (2010), Source Code (2011), Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), Sherlock Gnomes (2018) and Men in Black: International (2019). He was the composer for all 50 episodes of the A&E drama series Bates Motel, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award, and also composed the music for 26 of the 32 episodes of the NBC musical drama series Smash.[1][2]
Early life and education
As a youth Bacon learned to play piano and saxophone, and from an early age he knew he wanted to be a film composer. He has said, "From the point that I could start thinking about what I wanted to do when I grew up... it was always to write movie music."[3]
Bacon received a Bachelor's Degree in music composition from Brigham Young University and completed the Scoring For Motion Pictures and Television program at University of Southern California.[4][5]
Bacon cites his internship with James Newton Howard as his most valuable musical training, "While I learned a ton from school, my real-world education came under James. It felt like I was on scholarship because I was being paid to learn what it means to be a film composer at the pinnacle of the industry. James gave me my first opportunities on projects that he couldn't fully take on for a variety of reasons, and his endorsement was very comforting to producers who appreciated the work still being performed under his 'umbrella'."[4]
Career
Bacon's solo debut as a film composer came with the 2007 Lifetime film Angels Fall, for which he composed the main theme. Bacon's first solo feature film score was the thriller Source Code.[6][better source needed] Bacon has also contributed music to many film and TV productions, including American Hustle, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Goosebumps. Bacon's next project is the Amazon reboot of The Tick, directed by Wally Pfister.[3]
Bacon has been nominated for four Emmy Awards: one for his work on the NBC series Smash, two for this work on the A&E series Bates Motel, three for Amazon Prime series The Tick and four for Netflix series Wednesday.[3]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Space Chimps | Kirk DeMicco | Composed with Blue Man Group
First score for an animated film |
| 2009 | Waking Sleeping Beauty | Don Hahn | Documentary |
| 2010 | Love Ranch | Taylor Hackford | |
| Alpha and Omega | Anthony Bell Benjamin Gluck |
||
| 2011 | Gnomeo & Juliet | Kelly Asbury | Composed with James Newton Howard |
| Source Code | Duncan Jones | ||
| Beethoven's Christmas Adventure | John Putch | ||
| 2012 | High Ground | Michael Brown | Documentary |
| Atlas Shrugged: Part II | John Putch | ||
| 2013 | Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure | Richard Rich | |
| 2015 | Being Charlie | Rob Reiner | |
| 2016 | Patient Seven | Danny Draven | |
| 2017 | Snatched | Jonathan Levine | Composed with Theodore Shapiro |
| 2018 | Sherlock Gnomes | John Stevenson | |
| The Weight of Water | Michael Brown | Documentary | |
| 2019 | Men in Black: International | F. Gary Gray | Composed with Danny Elfman |
| 2022 | Immanence | Kerry Bellessa | |
| Strong Enough | John Foss | ||
| 2023 | 65 | Scott Beck Bryan Woods |
|
| 2024 | Heretic | ||
| 2025 | M3GAN 2.0 | Gerard Johnstone |
Composer of additional music
| Year | Title | Director | Composer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | King Kong | Peter Jackson | James Newton Howard | Also score producer |
| 2006 | RV | Barry Sonnenfeld | ||
| 2007 | Earth | Alastair Fothergill Mark Linfield |
George Fenton | |
| 2010 | Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang | Susanna White | James Newton Howard | |
| Inhale | Baltasar Kormákur | |||
| 2011 | Water for Elephants | Francis Lawrence | ||
| Larry Crowne | Tom Hanks | |||
| Arthur Christmas | Sarah Smith | Harry Gregson-Williams | ||
| 2013 | American Hustle | David O. Russell | Danny Elfman | |
| 2014 | Mr. Peabody & Sherman | Rob Minkoff | ||
| Paddington | Paul King | Nick Urata | ||
| 2015 | Avengers: Age of Ultron | Joss Whedon | Danny Elfman Brian Tyler |
|
| Goosebumps | Rob Letterman | Danny Elfman | ||
| 2016 | Alice Through the Looking Glass | James Bobin | ||
| 2017 | Tulip Fever | Justin Chadwick | ||
| 2018 | The Grinch | Scott Mosier | ||
| 2019 | Dumbo | Tim Burton | ||
| 2020 | Dolittle | Stephen Gaghan | ||
| 2022 | Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness | Sam Raimi | ||
| Disenchanted | Adam Shankman | Alan Menken | ||
| 2024 | Beetlejuice Beetlejuice | Tim Burton | Danny Elfman |
Television
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Angels Fall | TV film; composed with Stuart Michael Thomas |
| Blue Smoke | ||
| 2009 | Northern Lights | |
| Midnight Bayou | ||
| 2011 | Ricochet | TV film |
| Wonder Woman | TV film | |
| 2012 | Hornet's Nest | TV film |
| 2012–13 | Smash | 26 episodes; composed with Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman |
| 2013 | An Amish Murder | TV film |
| Reckless | TV film | |
| 2013–17 | Bates Motel | 50 episodes |
| 2015 | Living with Lincoln | TV film |
| 2016 | Finding Fortune | TV film |
| 2016–19 | The Tick | 22 episodes |
| 2017 | A Series of Unfortunate Events | 2 episodes |
| When We Rise | Miniseries; composed with Danny Elfman | |
| 2022–present | Wednesday | 7 episodes; composed with Danny Elfman[7] |
Awards and nominations
| Award | Year | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grammy Award | 2024 | Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella | "Paint It Black" (from Wednesday) | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Award | 2012 | Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)[8] | Smash ("Publicity") | Nominated |
| 2016 | Bates Motel ("Forever") | Nominated | ||
| 2017 | Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music[8] | The Tick | Nominated | |
| 2023 | Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)[8] | Wednesday ("Woe is the Loneliest Number") | Nominated | |
| World Soundtrack Award | 2023 | Television Composer of the Year | Wednesday | Nominated |