Simon Porter

Showreel

I am a freelance composer for film and television.

I most recently scored the Emmy, Grierson and Jackson Wild-nominated natural history series Evolution Earth, for PBS, Sky and Arte, as well as forthcoming sci-fi comedy-thriller feature Time Travel is Dangerous, starring Stephen Fry, Sophie Thompson and Johnny Vegas.

I scored my first feature film, Inmate Zero, in 2018, recording more than 50 minutes of music with the Sofia Session Orchestra and Choir in Sofia, Bulgaria. I co-scored my first prime-time television documentary also in 2018 - the RTS award-winning Drowning in Plastic, which premiered on BBC1 in October. At the beginning of 2019 I wrote the music for Alien Containment - one of six short films set in the official Alien universe - as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of Ridley Scott's 1979 original. I wrote the music for indie feature documentary The Unknown Masterpiece in March of that year, and at the end of 2019 I scored my second feature film, the dark comedy-thriller Get Luke Lowe. In 2020 I scored the romantic comedy feature Much Ado - a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s popular play - as well as the dark comedy Western short When the West is Done with You, and Rosie Gaunt-Mathieson’s comedy short Just Delivered. In 2021 I have scored a number of shorts, including Riyadh Haque’s drama Shear, steampunk sci-fi thriller Fieldtrip, and quirky time-travel adventure Timebus.

I also score commercials, with clients including Booking.com, Betway, and L'Oreal, and in October 2021 I wrote the music for the new advertising campaign from Dreams - Sleep Like Log - voiced by John Goodman and featuring some 11 TV spots and a radio jingle.

When I'm not scoring to picture, I write production music for libraries including EMI, BMG, and BAM, and I have had music synched in such television programmes as The Apprentice, Panorama, and WWE, as well as for film trailers, including Dumbo, Logan Lucky, and Live by Night.

Through scoring to picture and writing production music, I have enjoyed recording my music at Abbey Road and Angel Studios in London, as well as studios abroad in Budapest and Sofia.

I gained my Bachelor of Music from City, University of London in 2007, specialising in instrumental and electroacoustic composition, as well as the study of ethnomusicology. While I am continuing the former professionally through writing for film and television, I keep up my pursuit of the latter between projects, travelling as much as I can, and learning about the music of the places I visit. My travels so far have enabled me to take percussion lessons in Cuba, Belize, Colombia, India and Panama, building upon my 30 years as a classically-trained drummer and percussionist.

I was one of the Pandemonium Drummers who performed at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

I have been a member of the BAFTA Crew talent development programme since 2019.