John Ottman
Ottman in 2011
Background information
Born	(1964-07-06)July 6, 1964 (age 61) San Diego,California, U.S.
Genres	Film score
Occupations	Composer and film editor
Years active	1993–present
Website	www.johnottman.com

John Ottman (born July 6, 1964) is an American filmcomposer,director, andeditor. He is best known for collaborating with directorBryan Singer, composing and/or editing many of his films, includingPublic Access (1993),The Usual Suspects (1995),Superman Returns (2006),Valkyrie (2008) andJack the Giant Slayer (2013), as well as theX-Men film series. For his work on Singer's 2018Queen biopicBohemian Rhapsody, Ottman won theAcademy Award for Best Film Editing.

Ottman was born in San Diego, California. Growing up in San Jose, Ottman made many amateur films garnering local attention in the community. He attendedDe Anza College and then transferred to theSchool of Cinematic Arts of theUniversity of Southern California, where he graduated in 1988.^[1][2] One of his first assignments was to provide original music for the computer gameI Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. In 2007, Ottman appeared in the documentaryFinding 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 byJohn Williams),Valkyrie,Jack the Giant Slayer,X-Men: Days of Future Past andX-Men: Apocalypse. Other notable films he worked on as composer areSnow White: A Tale of Terror,the 2005 remake ofHouse of Wax,Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,Fantastic Four and its sequelFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,The Invasion, andAstro Boy.

He also directed (in addition to editing and scoring) the 2000 horror filmUrban Legends: Final Cut. He won aBAFTA Award for Best Editing forThe Usual Suspects, as well as twoSaturn Awards for Best Music forThe Usual Suspects andSuperman Returns. In 2019, he was nominated for aBAFTA Award for Best Editing and won theACE Eddie Award and theAcademy Award his work onBohemian 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. UponBohemian 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.^[3]

• 2023: HisX-Men scores fromX2 andX-Men: Days of Future Past were used for theMarvel Cinematic Universe filmThe Marvels.^[4]

• List of film director and composer collaborations
• List of film director and editor collaborations

• John Ottman atIMDb
• John Ottman's Official Website
• John Ottman's Official Facebook Profile
• Interviews with John Ottman on (July 2006)
• Interviews with John Ottman at FilmMusicSite

• 1964 births
• American film editors
• American male film score composers
• Best Editing BAFTA Award winners
• Best Film Editing Academy Award winners
• Film directors from California
• American gay musicians
• American LGBTQ composers
• Gay composers
• Living people
• LGBTQ film score composers
• Musicians from San Diego
• USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni
• Varèse Sarabande Records artists
• La-La Land Records artists

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