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David Buckley
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Key Information
David Buckley (born 7 June 1976) is an English composer of film and television scores, based in Santa Monica, California.[2]
Career
[edit]Born in London in 1976,[1] Buckley's first involvement with film music was as a cathedral choirboy performing on Peter Gabriel’s score for Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ.[3] He continued his musical education at the University of Cambridge. In 2006, Buckley moved to Los Angeles to collaborate on a number of Harry Gregson-Williams’ scores, including Shrek, Gone Baby Gone, Flushed Away, Arthur Christmas, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and The Number 23. In addition to his work for Gregson-Williams, he has written additional music for Danny Elfman on films including American Hustle, Big Eyes and all Fifty Shades movies (including the choral piece "Bliss") and for Hans Zimmer and Rupert Gregson-Williams on Winter's Tale and Wonder Woman.
He has worked with filmmakers including Ridley and Tony Scott, Ben Affleck, Joel Schumacher, Rob Minkoff, Luc Besson, Taylor Hackford and Ric Roman Waugh. Notable film scores include The Town, Jason Bourne, The Nice Guys (with John Ottman), Papillon, The Forbidden Kingdom, Angel Has Fallen, Arctic Dogs, Greenland and Nobody'. He is also the composer for the critically acclaimed Scott Free-produced CBS television series The Good Wife and its spinoff The Good Fight. His music from The Good Wife was prominently featured in the 2015 David O. Russell film Joy.
Buckley was included in BAFTA's list of "Brits to Watch",[4] is the recipient of numerous BMI Awards, and earned an Emmy Award nomination in 2017 for Outstanding Theme Music for his work on The Good Fight.[5]
Discography
[edit]Film
[edit]Additional music
[edit]Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Original channel(s) aired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–15 | The Good Wife | CBS | |
| 2012 | Coma | A&E | Miniseries |
| 2013 | Killing Lincoln | National Geographic Channel | Television film |
| 2015 | Proof | TNT | |
| 2016 | Mercy Street | PBS | Miniseries |
| 2016 | Killing Reagan | National Geographic Channel | Television film |
| 2016 | BrainDead | CBS | |
| 2017–19 | The Good Fight | Nominated – Emmy Award for Outstanding Theme Music (2017) | |
| 2017–18 | Fox | with John Ottman | |
| 2019–24 | Evil | CBS | |
| 2022–25 | The Sandman | Netflix |
Video games
[edit]| Year | Title | Developer(s) | Publisher(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Metal Gear Solid 4 | Konami | Konami | Additional Music |
| 2010 | Shrek Forever After | XPEC | Activision | |
| 2013 | Call of Duty: Ghosts | Infinity Ward Raven Software Neversoft |
||
| 2015 | Batman: Arkham Knight | Rocksteady Studios | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | Composed with Nick Arundel |
| 2016 | Batman: Arkham VR |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "David Buckley - Soundtrack.Net". www.soundtrack.net. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- ^ "David Buckley – Official Composer Website". David Buckley. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ "15 questions | Interview | David Buckley | Making an Entrance".
- ^ "Discover More About Our 42 Brits". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 5 July 2011.
- ^ "2017 EMMY® AWARDS NOMINATIONS FOR PROGRAMS AIRING JUNE 1, 2016 – MAY 31, 2017" (PDF). Emmys.org. 13 July 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
External links
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|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
David Buckley
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Early life and education
Childhood and early influences
David Buckley was born on 7 June 1976 in London, England, into a family steeped in musical tradition.[6] His mother, a music teacher who had aspired to become an opera singer, fostered a musical environment. Buckley's father introduced him to jazz, and his maternal grandfather's Indian heritage brought early exposure to non-Western musical forms.[13] The family relocated to Wells in Somerset during his early years, where Buckley joined the choir at Wells Cathedral School as a boy soprano around age 10.[4] This role led to his first professional musical involvement at approximately age 12, when he sang on Peter Gabriel's soundtrack album Passion for Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), an experience that sparked his fascination with film scoring.[14] He also contributed vocals to other projects, including Richard Harvey's score for The Plague and the Moonflower.[13] Buckley's childhood musical development included tinkering with piano from a young age, blending self-directed exploration with initial lessons, though he gravitated more toward singing initially.[15] By age 9, he was composing his own concert and choral pieces, influenced by the cathedral's repertoire of early English polyphony, his family's classical and jazz leanings, and diverse cultural sounds.[14] These formative elements cultivated his passion for composition, paving the way for formal training at the University of Cambridge.[6]Formal education and initial training
David Buckley pursued his formal musical education at the University of Cambridge, where he studied music with a focus on early music traditions both as a performer and an academic.[16] His training there encompassed a broad understanding of Western musical history spanning over a millennium, emphasizing pre-1600 compositions that influenced his later orchestration and compositional techniques.[16] A pivotal requirement of his program was composing a four-part fugue during final examinations, which honed his skills in counterpoint and rapid structuring of complex musical forms.[17] Following graduation, Buckley briefly taught music at Cambridge, applying his academic knowledge in a mentorship capacity to emerging students.[18] He then relocated to London, where he undertook initial professional training in film and television scoring through hands-on work on advertisements and early media projects, building foundational expertise in synchronizing music to visual narratives.[19] This period in London served as a bridge between his academic background and industry application, without formal apprenticeships but through practical immersion in the UK's post-production scene. In 2006, seeking expanded opportunities in Hollywood, Buckley moved to Los Angeles and settled in Santa Monica, California, positioning himself near major studios for advanced training under established composers.[6] His early experiences as a cathedral chorister had initially sparked his interest in formal studies, providing a choral foundation that complemented his university work.[6]Professional career
Early career and breakthrough
David Buckley began his professional career in music after completing his studies at the University of Cambridge, where he had honed his compositional skills through choral and classical training.[6] Initially based in London, he established himself writing music for television shows and commercials, marking his entry into the industry around 2004 with contributions to documentary projects such as Fighter Plane Dig... Live! (2004).[7][5] In 2006, Buckley relocated to Los Angeles to collaborate with composer Harry Gregson-Williams, a connection formed through earlier choral work in the UK.[6][5] This move facilitated his immersion in Hollywood scoring, where he provided additional music for several high-profile films under Gregson-Williams' supervision, including Flushed Away (2006), The Number 23 (2007), Gone Baby Gone (2007), and Shrek the Third (2007).[7][12] These roles allowed Buckley to build a vital network within the industry, contributing thematic elements and orchestrations that supported the lead composer's vision while gaining exposure to major studios like DreamWorks and Warner Bros.[20] Buckley's breakthrough came with his first solo feature film score for The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), a martial arts fantasy directed by Rob Minkoff, where he crafted an original soundtrack blending Eastern influences with orchestral drama to underscore the film's adventurous tone.[21] This project, released by Lionsgate, showcased his ability to lead a full score independently and earned critical notice for its dynamic integration of cultural motifs.[22] By 2010, he co-composed the score for The Town, directed by Ben Affleck, further solidifying his reputation with a tense, urban thriller soundscape that highlighted his evolving style in action-oriented cinema.[23] Around this period, Buckley established Santa Monica, California, as his primary base for U.S.-based scoring work, enabling closer proximity to Los Angeles studios and ongoing collaborations.[24]Major film projects
David Buckley's collaboration with John Powell on the score for Jason Bourne (2016) marked a significant milestone in his film career, blending orchestral depth with electronic elements to amplify the film's high-stakes action-thriller narrative. The soundtrack employs hyper-kinetic pulses, chugging cello rhythms, and rattling electronics layered over brass and string sustains, creating a relentless sense of movement that heightens tension in sequences like the motorcycle chase. This hybrid approach, characterized by throbbing rhythmic ideas and metallic percussion, underscores the protagonist's internal conflict and external pursuits, contributing to the score's immersive propulsion across its 61-minute runtime.[25] Building on such partnerships, Buckley took the lead as composer for Angel Has Fallen (2019), a political action thriller in the Has Fallen series, where his score maintains a predominantly dark and introspective tone to reflect the hero's isolation and moral dilemmas. Recorded with a focus on stripped-back orchestration to evoke vulnerability amid escalating threats, the music supports the film's blend of personal drama and explosive set pieces, using subtle electronic textures to build suspense without overpowering the dialogue-driven intrigue. The 47-minute soundtrack, released by Milan Records, emphasizes emotional restraint, portraying a protagonist "on the run" and approaching the end of his endurance.[26][27] In Greenland (2020), Buckley crafted a propulsive score tailored to the apocalyptic disaster genre, alternating between heart-wrenching familial motifs and adrenaline-fueled urgency to mirror the Garrity family's desperate survival journey amid a comet strike. The 55-minute album, featuring cues like "Butterfly Effect" and "Brave New World," integrates orchestral swells with percussive intensity to evoke global catastrophe, plucking at emotional strings while driving the narrative's relentless pace. This work exemplifies Buckley's ability to balance large-scale peril with intimate human stakes in the thriller format.[28][29] Buckley's scoring for Nobody (2021) further evolved his style toward intense, character-driven action, supporting Bob Odenkirk's portrayal of a seemingly ordinary man unleashing suppressed rage in a revenge-fueled rampage. The 25-minute score, with tracks like "Suburban Disruption" and "We Reap What We Sow," employs gritty electronic pulses and orchestral stabs to underscore the protagonist's psychological transformation, blending humor-tinged tension with visceral combat energy. This approach highlights Buckley's shift from ensemble-driven epics to more personal, explosive character arcs in the genre.[30] Continuing this trajectory, Kandahar (2023), another Ric Roman Waugh-directed thriller, showcases Buckley's maturation in crafting culturally immersive scores for high-tension espionage tales, as CIA operative Tom Harris (Gerard Butler) navigates betrayal in Afghanistan. The 33-minute soundtrack fuses global influences—such as Middle Eastern percussion and strings—with modern electronic hybrids in cues like "The Butcher of Tehran," evolving his earlier hybrid sounds into more nuanced, location-specific intensity that drives character motivations amid geopolitical chaos. This project reflects Buckley's growing emphasis on thematic depth and rhythmic propulsion in lead-composer roles.[31][32] Looking ahead, Buckley is set to return for Greenland: Migration (2026), the sequel to his 2020 disaster score, maintaining thematic continuity by expanding on the family's post-apocalypse struggles with renewed orchestral and electronic motifs to sustain the saga's emotional and survivalist core. Early announcements confirm his role in scoring this Lionsgate production, directed by Ric Roman Waugh, promising an escalation of the original's propulsive style.[33] These major projects trace Buckley's progression from collaborative efforts, such as his work with Harry Gregson-Williams on The Town (2010), to solo compositions that define contemporary action and thriller cinema.[18]Television and video game contributions
David Buckley's television scoring career is marked by his work on several acclaimed legal and dramatic series, where he developed sustained thematic motifs to support ongoing narratives. For the CBS drama The Good Wife (2010–2016), he composed original music across approximately 140 episodes, blending orchestral elements with subtle tension to mirror the show's intricate courtroom dynamics.[8] This approach carried into the Paramount+ spin-off The Good Fight (2017–2022), for which Buckley scored all 60 episodes, incorporating lively neoclassical structures—such as fugues—to evoke the procedural rigor and intellectual sparring of legal proceedings.[17] In more recent years, Buckley has expanded into genre-diverse television projects, emphasizing atmospheric depth and episodic variation. He provided the score for the Paramount+ supernatural thriller Evil (2019–2024), crafting haunting cues that underscore psychological and paranormal investigations over 50 episodes.[34] For Netflix's The Lincoln Lawyer (2022–present), he composed music for the ongoing legal drama, using pulsating rhythms to heighten the intensity of courtroom battles and personal stakes across multiple seasons, including Season 3 (2024) and the forthcoming Season 4 (expected 2026).[35][36] Similarly, his contributions to the fantasy series The Sandman (2022–present) include scoring both Season 1 and Season 2 (released July 2025), where he built eclectic soundscapes blending orchestral swells with ethereal electronics to capture the dreamlike realms of Neil Gaiman's universe.[37] Buckley also scored the pilot and select episodes of CBS's procedural Elsbeth (2024–present), integrating witty, understated motifs to complement the show's quirky detective format.[38] He is also scoring the Harlan Coben adaptation Run Away (2026), a TV mini-series.[39] Turning to interactive media, Buckley's video game contributions demonstrate his versatility in non-linear storytelling. He supplied additional music for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008), enhancing the stealth-action game's tense espionage sequences with atmospheric layers.[40] His most prominent game project is the collaboration with Nick Arundel on Batman: Arkham Knight (2015), where Buckley co-wrote the score, including the brooding main theme that drives the narrative of Batman's confrontation with the Arkham Knight, utilizing dynamic orchestral and electronic elements tailored to gameplay variability.[41] Scoring for television and video games presents distinct creative hurdles for Buckley, rooted in their structural differences. Television demands thematic continuity and nimble adaptation to serialized arcs, as Buckley approaches each episode with fresh cues to avoid repetition across disparate storylines, ensuring musical evolution mirrors the narrative's progression.[42] In video games, the interactive nature requires composing adaptive layers that respond to player choices, with technical implementation—such as syncing audio to real-time actions—often extending beyond the writing phase, a process Buckley found particularly intricate in Batman: Arkham Knight.[43]Collaborations and stylistic evolution
David Buckley's career has been marked by significant collaborations with prominent composers, beginning with his early work alongside Harry Gregson-Williams on films such as Shrek the Third (2007) and Gone Baby Gone (2007), where he contributed additional music and gained entry into Hollywood scoring circles.[18] He later provided additional music for Danny Elfman on American Hustle (2013) and Big Eyes (2014), integrating his orchestral sensibilities into Elfman's distinctive style.[18] Similarly, Buckley collaborated with Hans Zimmer and Rupert Gregson-Williams on Winter's Tale (2014), composing supplementary cues that complemented the main score's romantic and fantastical elements.[18] These partnerships extend to his ongoing involvement with the Remote Control Productions network in Santa Monica, where he has worked with composers like Steve Jablonsky and Atli Örvarsson, fostering a collaborative environment that has shaped much of his professional output.[44] Buckley's stylistic evolution reflects a progression from his orchestral foundations in the early 2000s, rooted in classical training as a cathedral chorister and studies at Cambridge University, to more experimental hybrid approaches in the 2010s.[6] Early scores emphasized traditional symphonic elements, drawing from his choral and concert music background, but by the mid-2010s, he incorporated electronic textures and rhythmic propulsion, as evident in his contributions to Jason Bourne (2016) alongside John Powell, where pulsating synth layers blended with orchestral forces to drive action sequences.[25] This shift allowed for greater versatility across genres, influenced by mentors like Gregson-Williams, who encouraged adaptation to diverse narrative demands.[18] His adaptability is showcased in genre-spanning projects, from the ethereal, dreamlike soundscapes of the fantasy series The Sandman (2022), featuring choral motifs and ambient electronics to evoke mythological realms, to the intense, percussion-heavy action score for Kandahar (2023), which employs hybrid orchestration for high-stakes tension.[45][16] As of 2025, Buckley's residence in the Los Angeles area, particularly Santa Monica, continues to facilitate these Hollywood collaborations, enabling proximity to studios and fellow composers within the Remote Control ecosystem.[12][6]Awards and recognition
Notable awards
David Buckley has received multiple BMI Film & TV Awards for his scoring work on the television series The Good Wife, spanning from 2010 to 2013, recognizing the high performance of his music in broadcast and cable categories.[46][11] These accolades highlighted the enduring popularity of his contributions to the show's tense, dramatic soundscape, contributing to his growing reputation in television composition during the series' run from 2009 to 2016. In 2011, Buckley was honored as part of BAFTA's inaugural "Brits to Watch" list, which celebrated emerging British talent across film disciplines, including his innovative scoring for projects like The Town.[47] This recognition marked an early career milestone, positioning him among rising stars such as Joe Cornish and Jessica Brown Findlay, and underscored his potential as a composer bridging British roots with Hollywood productions. Buckley's film scoring achievements earned him a BMI Film Music Award in 2017 for Jason Bourne, acknowledging the score's intense, pulse-pounding integration with the action-thriller's narrative.[48] He also received a BMI London Award in 2020 for Angel Has Fallen and BMI London Awards in 2021 for both Nobody and Unhinged.[49][50] Similarly, in 2021, he won a BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Award for Nobody, praising his dynamic orchestral and electronic elements that amplified the film's visceral fight sequences.[51] These successes propelled his career forward, leading to high-profile opportunities in major studio films and prestige television series.Key nominations and honors
David Buckley received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2017 for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for his work on the CBS All Access series The Good Fight, recognizing the innovative and dynamic theme that captured the show's legal drama intensity. That same year, he earned a nomination from the Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) in the Best Main Title Theme - TV Show/Digital Streaming Series category for The Good Fight, highlighting his ability to blend neoclassical elements with contemporary tension to underscore the narrative's themes of justice and chaos.[11] In 2017, Buckley was also nominated by the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) for Best Original Score for a Comedy Film for The Nice Guys, co-composed with John Ottman, where his contributions emphasized the film's retro-noir humor through playful orchestral motifs and period-inspired jazz influences.[52] Earlier in his career, Buckley was honored in 2011 as part of BAFTA's inaugural "Brits to Watch" list, selected alongside emerging British talents in film and television for his rising contributions to scoring, including early work on projects like The Town. This recognition underscored his potential as a composer bridging orchestral traditions with modern storytelling.[47] Throughout the 2020s, Buckley has received multiple BMI Film & TV Awards for his television scoring, including honors for series such as The Good Fight, reflecting the widespread performance and impact of his music in broadcast and streaming media.Discography
Film scores
David Buckley's film scoring career features a select body of work emphasizing tense, action-driven narratives, with full compositional credits on the following feature films.| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Blood Creek | Original score; composed by Buckley.[53] |
| 2008 | The Forbidden Kingdom | Original score; composed by Buckley.[21] |
| 2010 | From Paris with Love | Original score; composed by Buckley.[54] |
| 2010 | The Town | Original score; co-composed with Harry Gregson-Williams.[55] |
| 2013 | Parker | Original score; composed by Buckley.[56] |
| 2016 | The Nice Guys | Original score; composed by Buckley.[57] |
| 2016 | Jason Bourne | Original score; co-composed with John Powell.[58] |
| 2017 | Papillon | Original score; composed by Buckley.[59] |
| 2019 | Angel Has Fallen | Original score; lead composer.[60] |
| 2020 | Greenland | Original score; lead composer.[61] |
| 2021 | Nobody | Original score; lead composer.[62] |
| 2023 | Kandahar | Original score; lead composer, released by Lakeshore Records.[63] |
| 2026 | Greenland: Migration | Original score; upcoming, lead composer.[33] |