David Fleming is an American composer for films, television, and interactive media. He is known for collaborating with various Remote Control Productions composers including Hans Zimmer, Atli Örvarsson, Lorne Balfe, Steve Jablonsky and Tom Holkenborg. In 2024, he won the ASCAP Screen Music Award for Television Score of the Year for his work on HBO's The Last of Us with Gustavo Santaolalla. He is also known for scoring films and series such as Blue Planet II, Hillbilly Elegy, Americana, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Damsel, The Alto Knights and Superman.
David Fleming studied musical composition at State University of New York at Purchase. From there, he started his career in New York advertising companies, creating music for ringtones and liquor commercials. He won the BMI Foundation's Pete Carpenter Fellowship and moved to Los Angeles where he began writing music for major films.[1]
In 2017, Fleming co-composed the BBC series Blue Planet II (2017) alongside Hans Zimmer, starting a collaborative relationship that saw Fleming contribute to films like The Lion King (2019), Dune (2021), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), and co-compose films together such as Hillbilly Elegy, The Unforgivable, and The Night Logan Woke Up.[2] Their work on Blue Planet II earned the score award nominations with the Jerry Goldsmith Awards and the International Film Music Critics Awards.[3][4]
Fleming co-composed the original score for the television series The Last of Us (2023–present) with Gustavo Santaolalla. Fleming's work was inspired by real-world sounds within a decayed civilization.[5] He largely worked on action-heavy music for the series, such as a large action sequence in the fifth episode. Like Santaolalla, he wanted to keep his score minimalistic and exercised restraint to match series co-creator Craig Mazin's goal of "having the viewer feel that they're part of the scene rather than be observing the scene".[6] He selected specific instruments that paired appropriately with Santaolalla's work; rather than using a generic drum, he wanted one with "personality, whether it be a rusty barrel or like cracking wood or bowing, rusty metal".[6]
In 2024, Fleming scored projects including Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Jim Henson Idea Man, for which he was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series and Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special, respectively.[7] On June 7, 2024, Fleming performed his work to Mr. & Mrs. Smith at the Deadline Sound & Screen TV Event at Royce Hall at UCLA. Lead actor Donald Glover guided Fleming's score to focus on trust and the relationship between the characters.[8] For Jim Henson Idea Man, Fleming wanted to carry the spirit of Jim Henson through the score.[9] He also composed music for the film Damsel (2024).[10]
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Revenge for Jolly! | Chadd Harbold | ||
| 2015 | The Perfect Guy | David M. Rosenthal | Composed with Atli Örvarsson | |
| 2020 | Hillbilly Elegy | Ron Howard | Composed with Hans Zimmer | [11] |
| 2021 | South of Heaven | Aharon Keshales | ||
| The Unforgivable | Nora Fingscheidt | Composed with Hans Zimmer | [12] | |
| 2023 | Americana | Tony Tost | [13] | |
| 2024 | Damsel | Juan Carlos Fresnadillo | [10] | |
| Jim Henson Idea Man | Ron Howard | [14] | ||
| Bando Stone and the New World | Donald Glover | [15] | ||
| 2025 | The Alto Knights | Barry Levinson | [16] | |
| Superman | James Gunn | Composed with John Murphy Includes "Superman March" composed by John Williams |
[17] | |
| Eternity | David Freyne | [18] |
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Blue Planet II | 7 episodes | |
| 2022 | The Night Logan Woke Up | 5 episodes; with Hans Zimmer | [19] |
| 2023–present | The Last of Us | 16 episodes; with Gustavo Santaolalla | [5] |
| 2024 | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | 8 episodes | [20] |
| Year | Title | Role | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–2023 | Chicago Fire | additional music | Atli Örvarsson |
| 2013 | Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters | additional music | Atli Örvarsson |
| A Single Shot | additional music | Atli Örvarsson | |
| Evidence | additional music | Atli Örvarsson | |
| The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones | additional music | Atli Örvarsson | |
| 2014–2015 | Chicago P.D. | additional music | Atli Örvarsson |
| 2014 | Son of God | additional music | Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe |
| Divergent | additional music | Tom Holkenborg | |
| Transformers: Age of Extinction | additional music | Steve Jablonsky | |
| 2015 | Last Knights | additional music | Satnam Ramgotra and Martin Tillman |
| 2016 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows | additional music | Steve Jablonsky |
| 2017 | Transformers: The Last Knight | additional music | Steve Jablonsky |
| What Happened to Monday | additional music | Christian Wibe | |
| 2018 | Believer | additional music | Hans Zimmer |
| 2019 | X-Men: Dark Phoenix | additional music | Hans Zimmer |
| The Lion King | Arranger "Never Too Late", producer "Be Prepared" | Hans Zimmer | |
| 2020 | Wonder Woman 1984 | additional music | Hans Zimmer |
| 2021 | Dune: Part One | additional music | Hans Zimmer |
| 2022 | Top Gun: Maverick | additional music | Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga and Hans Zimmer |
| The Son | additional music | Hans Zimmer | |
| 2023 | Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. | additional music | Hans Zimmer |
| 2024 | Dune: Part Two | additional music | Hans Zimmer |
| Award | Year | Category | Nominated Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IFMCA Awards | 2017 | Best Original Score for a Documentary Film | Blue Planet II | Nominated | [3] |
| Jerry Goldsmith Awards | 2018 | Best Documentary Score | Nominated | [4] | |
| ASCAP Screen Music Awards | 2024 | Composers' Choice: Television Score of the Year | The Last of Us | Won | [21] |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2024 | Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) | Mr. & Mrs. Smith (for "First Date") | Nominated | [22] |
| Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score) | Jim Henson Idea Man | Won | |||
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | 2024 | Best Original Score in a Documentary | Nominated | [23] |
