John Powell is an English composer, best known for his scores in motion pictures. He has been based in Los Angeles since 1997 and has composed the scores to over fifty feature films. He is particularly known for his scores for animated films, including Antz, Chicken Run, Shrek, Robots, Happy Feet, Happy Feet Two, three Ice Age sequels, Bolt, Rio, Rio 2, and the How to Train Your Dragon film series. He has also scored many live-action films, of which his collaborations with directors Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass are perhaps the best known. These include the first three and the fifth Bourne films, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, United 93, Jumper, Green Zone and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
His work on Happy Feet, Ferdinand and Solo: A Star Wars Story has earned him 3 Grammy nominations. He was nominated for an Academy Award for How to Train Your Dragon.
Powell was a member of Hans Zimmer's music studio, Remote Control Productions, and has collaborated frequently with other composers from the studio, including Harry Gregson-Williams and Zimmer himself.