John McCarthy (composer)


John McCarthy is a composer for film and television. His music has been described as a hybrid of ‘acoustical and electronic’ elements. McCarthy’s background includes extensive experience in classical, jazz, rock and world music.

Life and career

McCarthy studied at The Royal Conservatory of Music and Humber College. He has recorded and toured with many bands including Ian Hunter and Frozen Ghost. McCarthy’s first film, Love and Human Remains, was directed by Academy Award winner Denys Arcand. The film is a dark comedy about a group of GenX twenty-somethings who are looking for love and meaning in a big city during the 1990s. McCarthy scored a pair of episodes of the 2015 David Shore/Vince Gilligan show Battle Creek. His other work in television includes scoring the CBS series Due South and the NBC series My Own Worst Enemy, starring Christian Slater.
In 2010, McCarthy scored the short film Local Change, Global Impact. The film was produced by the International Peace Institute, a division of the United Nations, and narrated by Patrick Stewart.
McCarthy is the younger brother of actress Sheila McCarthy. They have worked together on several movies including The Stone Angel, The Possession of Michael D and Virtual Mom.

Awards

McCarthy won the Genie Award in 2009 for Best Original Score for the feature film The Stone Angel, starring Ellen Burstyn and directed by Kari Skogland. In 2001, McCarthy received the Dale Melbourne Herklotz Award for Excellence in Music at the Marco Island Film Festival for Dischord. In addition, McCarthy was nominated for Gemini Awards in both 1995 and 1996 for Best Original Music Score for the television series Due South

Selected filmography

Film