John Ottman

JOHN OTTMAN

Date of Birth: 1964

John Ottman spent his early years in San Jose, California, writing and recording radio plays on tape cassettes and playing clarinet for the school band. Inspired by his favorite movie soundtracks, he concentrated all his energy on creating films in his parents garage. By high school, his films had grown to hour-long movies, with large casts and big sets.

His efforts did not go unnoticed and the local television and newspapers even reported on his work. He attended the University of Southern California film school where he received a Student Academy Award for his film Summer Rain, and befriended director Bryan Singer.

Ottman found that beyond directing, he also had a passion for editing films and sound designs. Working with Singer, Ottman put aside his love of directing, and honed his other talents. He edited and wrote the score for Singer's first feature film, Public Access, while holding down a full-time job.

He continued to work on Singer's films, which rescued him from his nine-to-five job and garnered him a number of awards for his editing talent - including a British equivalent to the Academy Award. Ottman was soon in high demand and was hired by a number of directors to score their films. In fact, Singer's Apt Pupil was forced to wait while Ottman completed scores for the films Snow White and Incognito.

It was Apt Pupil that created a working relationship between Ottman and the studio Phoenix Pictures. Impressed by his work, the studio called him back to write the score for Lake Placid, and offered him the chance to direct, with the teen horror sequel Urban Legends: Final Cut. The decision to direct his own feature film was a difficult one because it meant he would have to forgo writing his dream score for Singer's next film, X-Men. He decided to not only to direct the film, but to edit and write the score.

Filmography (Director):

Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)

Filmography (Composer):

Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
Lake Placid (1999)
Goodbye Lover (1999)
Apt Pupil (1998)
Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998)
Incognito (1997)
Snow White (1997)
The Cable Guy (1996)
Night Train (1995)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Public Access (1993)