Known for his wide-ranging talents, Mark Mancina's film scores traverse almost every genre: drama, action, comedy, suspense, and period epic. His dark, edgy music for the Oscar-winning Training Day, is a benchmark score that expanded the boundaries of scoring street-wise drama, and is widely used as a temp track, while his breakout score for Speed, another innovative work, influenced the sound of subsequent action movies. Mancina's orchestral originality on Return to Paradise, reflecting the hauntin gloom of its subject, and his score for the period epic Moll Flanders, which appeared on Billboard's Classical Crossover Chart, further point to Mancina's considerable compositional range. Other films include Twister, Bad Boys, Con Air, Domestic Disturbance, Tarzan, Brother Bear, The Haunted Mansion, and Sony's 3-D animated short, Early Bloomer.

 

But Mancina's achievements as composer for some of the top-grossing films of recent years comprise only one aspect of his diverse career. Composer, producer, songwriter and three-time Grammy winner, he has also added Broadway to his list of accomplishments by writing, producing and arranging the score for Disney's Tony-winning stage production of The Lion King. The foundation for this expansion into theatre was set in the early 1990's when Mancina produced three Elton John songs for what would become the enormously successful original film version of The Lion King. Mancina's efforts on "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," "I Just Can’t Wait To Be King," and "Hakuna Matata" were rewarded with a multi-platinum record that has sold over ten million copies worldwide, and earned him a Grammy for Best Musical Album for Children and twoAmerican Music Awards for Best Pop Album.

 

On the heels of The Lion King's success, Mancina went on to write and produce additional songs for a Lion King follow-up album entitled Rhythm of the Pridelands featuring South African artist Lebo M. One of Mancina's original songs, "He Lives In You," became a thematic centerpiece for the Lion King