Michael Johnson

Personal Bio

Michael Johnson is a film, TV, and video game composer living and working near Los Angeles, known for his melodic, lush, and colorful orchestral scores.  Michael provided haunting, and intimate soundtracks for the short films “My Girl, Ava” starring Grant Gunderson and Chauncey Trask, “Protected” directed by Nika Khitrova and written by Jocelyn Wright, “Candy & Firecrackers” directed by Bobby Duncan, “Lost and Found” directed by Reigh Casimir and produced by Dawn Church, “Two People” directed by Nneka, and “The Dice of Destiny” starring Devid Scott and Erika Apelgren. He composed and conducted melodic orchestral arrangements for Grammy-nominated prog rock darlings the Decemberists’ iconic album Her Majesty as well as for his own bands Reclinerland and Parks & Recreation.

Michael earned a Master’s Degree in Music Education from Portland State University and studied alongside Andy Hill, former vice-president of music production at Disney, and Norman Ludwin, Hollywood orchestrator for Michael Giacchino, at the Film Scoring Academy of Europe, where he conducted a 52-piece orchestra and earned a post-graduate degree in Film Scoring. His playful rescore of the short animation Wing It! was a finalist in the 2024 ScoreRelief competition. His plaintive and sentimental folk song “Every Road I Travel” found pride of place among the top 36 finalists out of 5,000 entries in the 2024 Talent is Timeless songwriting competition. Michael has written and orchestrated two full-length musical plays, one of which he turned into a musical graphic novel, Success!

He brings over twenty years of experience writing, performing, and recording music to his collaborations with filmmakers around the world.

Resume / CV