# John Ottman

John Ottman (born July 6, 1964) is an American film composer, director, and editor. He is best known for collaborating with director Bryan Singer, composing and/or editing many of his films, including Public Access (1993), The Usual Suspects (1995), Superman Returns (2006), Valkyrie (2008) and Jack the Giant Slayer (2013), as well as the X-Men film series. For his work on Singer's 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, Ottman won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing.

## Life and career

Ottman was born in San Diego, California. Growing up in San Jose, Ottman made many amateur films garnering local attention in the community. He attended De Anza College and then transferred to the School of Cinematic Arts of the University of Southern California, where he graduated in 1988. One of his first assignments was to provide original music for the computer game I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. In 2007, Ottman appeared in the documentary Finding Kraftland for his agent Richard Kraft.
He is best known for his multi-tasking as editor and composer for Bryan Singer's films, and on a few occasions, producer roles to boot. The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, X2, Superman Returns (including adapting themes originally composed by John Williams), Valkyrie, Jack the Giant Slayer, X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse. Other notable films he worked on as composer are Snow White: A Tale of Terror, the 2005 remake of House of Wax, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Fantastic Four and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, The Invasion, and Astro Boy.
He also directed (in addition to editing and scoring) the 2000 horror film Urban Legends: Final Cut. He won a BAFTA Award for Best Editing for The Usual Suspects, as well as two Saturn Awards for Best Music for The Usual Suspects and Superman Returns. In 2019, he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Editing and won the ACE Eddie Award and the Academy Award his work on Bohemian Rhapsody, a film Ottman saw through on his own after both directors' departure (Bryan Singer being fired and Dexter Fletcher beginning pre-production on "Rocketman" shortly after finishing the shoot.) Ottman navigated the film's development in post and the tricky waters between film-maker and studio, working with producer Graham King and Dennis O'Sullivan. Upon Bohemian Rhapsody getting nominated for, and winning its Best Editing awards, a scene of the band outside a pub went viral online after a post by Youtuber Thomas Flight, who was critical of the editing style. Ottman, aware of the clip, explained that for a test screening, a heightened pace for the first act was asked for by the studio. After the test, Ottman returned the scene to its original pace and design. Ottman regretted that he missed returning the scene outside the pub closer to his original version. The scene (directed by Fletcher) contained no master shot of the band at the table.

## Filmography
### Composer

Discography :
| Feature films |||||
| Year | Title | Director | Notes | Distributed by |
| 1993 | Public Access | Bryan Singer | | Occidental Studios Cinemabeam |
| 1995 | The Usual Suspects | Bryan Singer | | Spelling Films International Gramercy Pictures PolyGram Filmed Entertainment |
| 1995 | Night Train | John Coven | Short film | |
| 1995 | The Antelope Chess Game | Lance Tracy | | |
| 1996 | The Cable Guy | Ben Stiller | | Columbia Pictures |
| 1997 | Snow White: A Tale of Terror | Michael Cohn | | PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Interscope Communications |
| 1997 | Incognito | John Badham | | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 1998 | Goodbye Lover | Roland Joffé | | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 1998 | Halloween H20: 20 Years Later | Steve Miner | Themes by: John Carpenter | Miramax Films |
| 1998 | Apt Pupil | Bryan Singer | | TriStar Pictures |
| 1999 | Lake Placid | Steve Miner | | 20th Century Fox |
| 2000 | Urban Legends: Final Cut | Himself | Also director | Columbia Pictures |
| 2001 | Bubble Boy | Blair Hayes | | Buena Vista Pictures |
| 2002 | Pumpkin | Anthony Abrams Adam Larson Broder | | United Artists |
| 2002 | Eight Legged Freaks | Ellory Elkayem | | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2002 | Trapped | Luis Mandoki | | Columbia Pictures |
| 2003 | X2 | Bryan Singer | | 20th Century Fox Marvel Entertainment |
| 2003 | Gothika | Mathieu Kassovitz | Composed with: Lior Rosner | Warner Bros. Pictures Columbia Pictures |
| 2004 | Cellular | David R. Ellis | | New Line Cinema |
| 2004 | Imaginary Heroes | Dan Harris | Main theme only | Sony Pictures Classics |
| 2004 | Lonely Place | Kevin Ackerman | Short film | |
| 2005 | Hide and Seek | John Polson | | 20th Century Fox |
| 2005 | House of Wax | Jaume Collet-Serra | | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2005 | Kiss Kiss Bang Bang | Shane Black | | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2005 | Fantastic Four | Tim Story | | 20th Century Fox |
| 2006 | Superman Returns | Bryan Singer | Themes by: John Williams | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2007 | Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | Tim Story | | 20th Century Fox |
| 2007 | The Invasion | Oliver Hirschbiegel James McTeigue | | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2008 | Valkyrie | Bryan Singer | | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| 2009 | Orphan | Jaume Collet-Serra | | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2009 | Astro Boy | David Bowers | | Summit Entertainment |
| 2010 | The RRF in New Recruit | David Bowers | Short film | Summit Entertainment |
| 2010 | Astro Boy vs. The Junkyard Pirates | David Bowers | Short film | Summit Entertainment |
| 2010 | The Losers | Sylvain White | | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2010 | Halloween: The Night He Came Back | Eric Iyoob Darla Rae | Short film | Film It Productions |
| 2011 | The Resident | Antti Jokinen | | Image Entertainment |
| 2011 | Unknown | Jaume Collet-Serra | Composed with: Alexander Rudd | Warner Bros. Pictures Optimum Releasing |
| 2013 | Jack the Giant Slayer | Bryan Singer | | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2014 | Non-Stop | Jaume Collet-Serra | | Universal Pictures |
| 2014 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | Bryan Singer | | 20th Century Fox |
| 2016 | The Nice Guys | Shane Black | Composed with: David Buckley | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| 2016 | X-Men: Apocalypse | Bryan Singer | | 20th Century Fox |
| Television |||||
| Year | Title | Director | Notes | Distributed by |
| 1998 | Fantasy Island | Michael Dinner | TV series theme and pilot score | Columbia TriStar Television |
| 2002 | Brother's Keeper | John Badham | Television film | USA Network |
| 2002 | Point of Origin | Newton Thomas Sigel | Television film | HBO Films |
| 2015 | Battle Creek | Bryan Singer | Episode: "The Battle Creek Way" | CBS Television Studios Sony Pictures Television |
| 2017 | The Gifted | Bryan Singer | | 20th Television |
| Video documentaries |||||
| Year | Title | Director | Notes | Distributed by |
| 2002 | Round Up: Deposing The Usual Suspects | | | MGM Home Entertainment |
| 2003 | Evolution in the Details: The Design of X2 | | Short | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
| 2003 | The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men! Making X2 | | | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
| 2004 | Celling Out | Jeffrey Schwarz | Short | New Line Home Entertainment |
| 2004 | Dialing Up Cellular | Jeffrey Schwarz | Short | New Line Home Entertainment |
| Video games |||||
| Year | Title | Director | Notes | Distributed by |
| 1995 | I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream | David Mullich | | Cyberdreams MGM Interactive |

### Other credits

Editor :
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1988 | Lion's Den | Bryan Singer | |
| 1993 | Public Access | Bryan Singer | |
| 1995 | The Usual Suspects | Bryan Singer | |
| 1998 | Apt Pupil | Bryan Singer | |
| 2000 | Urban Legends: Final Cut | Himself | With Rob Kobrin |
| 2003 | X2 | Bryan Singer | With Elliot Graham |
| 2006 | Superman Returns | Bryan Singer | With Elliot Graham |
| 2008 | Valkyrie | Bryan Singer | |
| 2013 | Jack the Giant Slayer | Bryan Singer | With Bob Ducsay |
| 2014 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | Bryan Singer | |
| 2016 | X-Men: Apocalypse | Bryan Singer | With Michael Louis Hill |
| 2018 | Bohemian Rhapsody | Bryan Singer | Academy Award Winner - Best Film Editing / BAFTA Award Nomination - Best Editing |
| Director ||||
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1988 | Lion's Den | Himself | Directed with: Bryan Singer |
| 2000 | Urban Legends: Final Cut | Himself | Also composer |
| Producer ||||
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1998 | Apt Pupil | Bryan Singer | Associate producer |
| 2008 | Valkyrie | Bryan Singer | Executive producer |
| 2013 | Jack the Giant Slayer | Bryan Singer | Associate producer |
| 2016 | X-Men: Apocalypse | Bryan Singer | Co-producer |

### Miscellaneous

* 2023: His X-Men scores from X2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past were used for the Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Marvels.