Johnny Klimek

Johnny Klimek (born 1962) is an Australian film and television composer, currently based in Los Angeles. He is known by association with German filmmaker Tom Tykwer, with whom he and longtime partner Reinhold Heil have collaborated on several films, including Run, Lola, Run (1998), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (film) (2006), and Cloud Atlas, an adaptation of the 2004 David Mitchell novel, written, produced and directed by Tykwer with Andy and Lana Wachowski. Klimek is represented by Amos Newman at William Morris Endeavor.   Klimek relocated from Australia to Berlin in 1983, and with his siblings, Alf Klimek and Jayney Klimek, formed The Other Ones, whose single, "Holiday," entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #29 on October 17, 1987. Following the breakup of the band, Klimek became heavily involved with Berlin's musical underground and electronica scene, and with Paul Browse (formerly of Clock DVA), formed SYSTEM 01. Not long after, Klimek and Heil formed their lasting creative association with Tykwer, and together crafted their first feature film score for his Winter Sleepers (1997). Their breakthrough, however, occurred two years later with the international success of their propulsive electronica score for Run, Lola, Run.   Klimek and Heil continued their collaboration for more than a decade, creating scores for projects such as One Hour Photo, The International, the cable series Deadwood, and most recently, the Robert De Niro film remake of Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite. In 2011, the pair reached a mutual decision to continue collaborating on selected projects but to develop their signatures as individual composers. Their next project with Tom Tykwer was 2012's Cloud Atlas.   Klimek is a member of the fourth generation of leading film, television and interactive media composers. In common with contemporaries such as Clint Mansell, Trent Reznor, Gustavo Santaolalla, Craig Armstrong, and The Chemical Brothers, his approach to film scoring is shaped by a background in eclectic pop and electronic music rather than the experience of the conservatory. Many of his scores are characterized by an instinctive and seamless integration of electronic elements into the body of a classic orchestral score. In practice, this means that non-linear and modular techniques generally more associated with the realm of electronica and the world of the D.J. are making their way into film music.