History
Born in Czechoslovakia, Elia Cmiral is the son of an actress and a theater director, and grandson of one of Antonin Dvorak's pupils. A multi instrumentalist, Cmiral attended the Prague Music Conservatory, where he studied composition and double bass. Elia's first scoring opportunity came with his father's production of "Cyrano de Bergerac." From this experience he discovered his passion for writing for the stage.
By the early 80's, Cmiral had moved to Sweden. Throughout his time there he wrote scores for several European films, television shows and three ballets. In 1989, he moved to America for USC's Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program. His year at USC culminated with the scoring of his first American feature, "Apartment Zero."
Over the next decade, Elia continued building a reputation for himself in Sweden and in America. One highlight from this time is his score for the first season of Don Johnson's "Nash Bridges." In 1998, Elia scored his first studio feature, John Frankenheimer's suspense thriller "Ronin," starring Robert DeNiro. Cmiral's score earned him the Movieline Young Hollywood Award for Best Soundtrack of 1998.
In the last 10 years Elia has written over two-dozen scores for independent films, television and major studio productions. Some highlights include his scores for "Stigmata," "Wrong Turn," "Journey to the End of the Night," and "Pulse." Elia's musical style combines contemporary electronica with the modern orchestra, joining cutting edge technology and production with evocative and haunting melodic themes.
Last year, Cmiral's scores for "The Deaths of Ian Stone," produced by Stan Winston and Brian Gilbert, and "Tooth and Nail," directed by Mark Young, were featured in the After Dark Horrorfest and his score for "Splinter," a cutting-edge horror film with stunning visuals directed by Toby Wilkins, received the Best Score award at the Screamfest film festival in Los Angeles. Elia also scored the two sequels to "Pulse" ("Pulse: Afterlife" and "Pulse: Invasion"), completing the "Pulse" trilogy.
Most recently, Elia teamed with director Tyler Oliver on the thriller "Forget Me Not" and re-partnered with Mark Young on "The Killing Jar". He also joined forces once again with the producing, acting and directing team of Matt Farnsworth and his wife Diane Foster on "Sibling". In the fall, Elia will be working on Academy Award nominated Juraj Herz's German-produced WWII drama, "Habermann".
Elia Cmiral currently resides in Sherman Oaks, California with his wife and their two sons.