Mark Mancina

Known for his stylistic versatility, composer Mark Mancina has scored everything from blockbuster action films to period pieces to animated Disney musicals. Mancina started his musical education as a youth, studying classical guitar, piano, and composition. After graduating from Cal State Fullerton he worked with the Prog-Rock bands Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Scoring jobs on a string of B-action flicks in the late '80s and early '90s led to his breakout gig on the 1994 Keanu Reeves hit, "Speed." The action flick helped Mancina take his career to the next level, and he found himself working on bigger budget shoot-'em-ups such "Bad Boys," "Assassins," "Speed 2: Cruise Control," and "Con Air." Sensing the risk of being typecast as an action film composer, Mancina landed a job on Pen Densham's adaptation of Daniel Defoe's novel "Moll Flanders." The film gave the ambitious musician a chance to flex his classical chops by scoring for a large orchestra. Mancina has also been a part of Disney's "The Lion King" franchise, writing and arranging songs for the film and serving as Music Producer for the Broadway stage version. He has also worked with Phil Collins on the Disney films "Tarzan," "Brother Bear," and "Tarzan II." In 2001 he was tapped to score Antoine Fuqua's crime-flick tour-de-force, "Training Day," and again in 2007 for Fuqua's "Shooter." Mancina is known for his collection of rare instruments from around the world, which he uses in his scores.