Film & Theatre Music

Over the past decade DAVID ALLEN has composed for feature films, documentaries, adverts, corporate videos, short films, animations, and the theatre; and he has written the music for award-winning and award-nominated films, as well as receiving specific award recognition for his film music. His original score for TOOTH FAIRY won the BEST SCORE AWARD at the Screentest Festival 2017, and his alternative score and sound design for OMA was nominated for the WDR FILM SCORE AWARD and the EUROPEAN TALENT AWARD IN SOUND DESIGN at SoundTrack_Cologne 2015. In addition to his film and media work, he also won the 1ST GIROLAMO ABOS INTERNATIONAL COMPOSITION PRIZE at the Malta International Choir Festival in 2015.

David's work combines an eclectic mix of orchestras and electronics, acoustic instruments and synthesisers, as well as sound design and custom recorded effects, to create scores that are highly dynamic, colourful, and narrative-driven. Ensuring that the music blends perfectly with the rest of the soundtrack, David often incorporates ambient sound design into his scores in a way that allows each film score to be unique and interesting while supporting the drama onscreen. Scores vary from those written for full symphony orchestras (such as WILD SIDE) to those for folk bands (CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR) to those designed purely for electronic instruments and sound design (BEDLAMITE) and more.

Working from his studio just outside London, David composes for a wide variety of film, media, and theatre productions, utilising top-of-the-range virtual instruments and sample libraries for mock-ups and personally conducting live recording sessions in London's historic studios. World-class musicians combined with internet video-conferencing allow him to create exciting new scores for filmmakers based all over the world.

Films featuring David's music have played at the festivals around the world, including at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Screentest (BEST SCORE AWARD winner, 2017), Worldfest-Houston 2017 (REMI AWARD winner, 2017), Dingle International Film Festival 2017, SoundTrack_Cologne (WDR FILMSCORE AWARD nominee, 2015; EUROPEAN TALENT AWARD IN SOUND DESIGN nominee, 2015), Miami Short Film Festival, Festival Mondial de l’Image Sous-Marine (PRIX DE JURY winner, 2014), East End Film Festival (BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE nominee, 2013), Festival Cinerail Paris, MUBI Dialogue of Cultures International Film Festival, Open City Docs London (BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT nominee, 2013), Tehran Short Film Festival, and the International Documentary Festival Colombia.

David studied music composition and film music theory at the University of Oxford before continuing on to specialise in Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music in London, where he was tutored by Vasco Hexel and Francis Shaw, and from which he graduated with a Masters Distinction.

Film Music by Genre

  • Orchestral/Epic/Traditional
  • Electronic/Action/Modern
  • Acoustic/Ambient/World
  • Comedy/Exciting/Quirky