Interview by Paul Salfen
BAFTA-nominated composer Anthony Willis has taken a running leap into the Neverland of film scoring, quickly becoming one of the most highly sought after new voices in Hollywood. Anthony composed the score to Oscar-winning writer/director Emerald Fennell’s drama thriller Promising Young Woman starring Carey Mulligan, which was nominated for Best Picture and earned Anthony a BAFTA nomination for Best Original Score. He is responsible for the music for Gerard Johnstone’s hit M3GAN for Blumhouse and Universal starring Allison Williams, as well as Nate Parker’s upcoming drama Solitary. Anthony’s previous works include NBC/Universal’s How To Train Your Dragon: Homecoming holiday special, Sony Playstation’s video game Knack II, Michelle Morgan’s ‘Sundance Selection’ comedy It Happened in L.A., David Yarovesky’s thriller The Hive, where he collaborated with renowned DJ Steve Aoki, and Anthony Sabet’s nostalgic comedy One Last Night.
As protege of Oscar-nominated composer John Powell, Anthony has contributed additional music to many of Hollywood’s major franchises including: How to Train your Dragon, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Jason Bourne and Rio. Working alongside composers such as Henry Jackman, Harry Gregson-Williams, Alex Heffes, Dominic Lewis, Mark Isham and Heitor Pereira, in addition to Powell, his work can also be heard in Jumanji, Pirates of the Caribbean, Wreck it Ralph 1& 2, The Smurfs, Despicable Me, The Elephant Queen, Monster Trucks, Papa: Hemingway in Cuba, The King’s Man, My Spy, The Martian, Birth of a Nation, Pan, Ferdinand, Ron’s Gone Wrong and Papa: Hemingway in Cuba.
Willis grew up in London, and began his musical training as a chorister of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, England. He went on to study Composition at Marlborough College, Wilshire and the University of Bristol, before earning his graduate degree from the University of Southern California. He currently resides in Venice Beach.
