John Sponsler

John has spent the last several years creating music for some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster films, including: Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Despicable Me, Rango, and the latest installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, On Stranger Tides. He worked with legendary composer John Williams on his academy award nominated scores for Memoirs of A Geisha and Munich. He has also scored more than 100 major motion picture advertising campaigns including The Green Lantern, 300, Batman Begins, The Matrix Trilogy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and all eight Harry Potter films. He is the founding creative director and co-owner of Brand X Music, a production music library for motion picture advertising. Brand X is widely regarded as one of the premiere music libraries for motion picture and entertainment advertising, and is represented in over 30 countries worldwide. John has scored national advertising spots for Boeing, Gatorade, Wendy’s, Scion, and the US Navy. John and creative partner Tom Gire maintain a writing facility at Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions in Santa Monica, CA, called Magic Box Music.

Raised in Southern California, John started playing the piano at the age of 5, and grew up writing songs and playing in bands. His earliest recordings pre-date his teenage years. In his early 20’s he led several bands frequenting the now legendary LA club scene. John also worked as a songwriter, arranger and producer for independent artists and these skills eventually led him into film and television scoring.

A big shift in John’s career occurred when he became fascinated with the sounds and styles of modern film music. He began writing instrumental pieces, and scoring music to scenes he imagined in his head. Upon hearing a collection of this music in 1995, veteran composer John Debney invited John to work with him on Fox TV's movie of the week, "Dr. Who". This began a long collaboration with Debney on many subsequent feature
films including, Spy Kids 1 & 2, Inspector Gadget, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The Tuxedo, The Replacements, Cats & Dogs, and the promotional music for The Passion of the Christ.

In addition to maintaining a highly successful music library, and contributing to major Hollywood movies, John has scored a number of “faith based” independent projects as well. Of special note is the award winning Final Solution for director Cris Krusen. This film tells the story of a privileged Afrikaner who concocts a plot to rid South Africa of all blacks once and for all, but a chance meeting with an idealistic student cause him to reevaluate his ideas. John is currently working on a beautifully animated biblical teaching series called Theo Presents created and produced by Mike Joens.

John is a full time husband and father of three sons. His wife Debbie is his best friend and confidant and helps him keep his heart grounded and His eyes on the prize. John also serves on the board of directors at Village Christian School and regularly leads worship at Village Church in Burbank.