TALENT SCOUT - Geoff Zanelli

Emmy-winning composer Geoff Zanelli has scored films like Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Christopher Robin, The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Outlander. His latest score is for Sony's The Intruder, out May 3rd. Get to know our TALENT SCOUT Artist of the Week!NAME: Geoff ZanelliHOMETOWN: Westminster, California  MUSICAL TRAINING: I graduated from Berklee College of Music, which I attended on scholarship. I dual majored in Film Scoring and Music Production/Engineering. Then I got the real-life education in the trenches, working with my mentors Hans Zimmer and John Powell.FIRST GIGS: I was an intern for Hans Zimmer when he was scoring The Lion King in 1994, but my first paying gig was as a tape op on the self-titled debut album from Goldfinger. MUSICAL INFLUENCES: All over the map! Guns 'n Roses, John Powell, Yes, Hans Zimmer, The Beatles, Ravel, Danny Elfman. And I'm an unashamed pop music fan.  WHAT I’M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW: Queen, Jóhann Jóhannsson.MY BIG BREAK: It's always felt like a series of small breaks to me than one big one, but I recognize that scoring Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on my own was a substantial jump up in terms of exposure for my work.LATEST PROJECTS: Film scores for The Intruder and David Koepp's film You Should Have Left, both thrillers.FAVORITE KEYBOARDS AND WHY? My day-to-day work is in front of a workhorse keyboard - the Doepfer LMK2+, but that's just to trigger my nerve center - an overstuffed rack of PCs running various sampling software. But I get inspired by unusual things, so if you put me in front of a Mellotron M4000D run through a nice amp, I'm in heaven. I lose track of time!WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? A film called Black & Blue, directed by Deon Taylor who also directed The Intruder.ADVICE TO THE NEXT GENERATION: Get an internship with someone you admire, or at least someone who is working in the medium you're aiming to work in as soon as possible. That's the toe-in-the-door that leads to all sorts of things - education, inspiration, and of course, even future work.For more information visit geoffzanelli.com