
Age: 79
male
Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, conductor and orchestrator noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. He won three Academy Awards for his work on The Lord of the Rings, one for the song "Into the West", an award he shared with Eurythmics lead vocalist Annie Lennox and writer/producer Fran Walsh, who wrote the lyrics. He consistently collaborates with director David Cronenberg, having scored all but one of his films since 1979, and collaborated with Martin Scorsese on six of his films. Shore has also composed concert works including one opera, The Fly, based on the plot of Cronenberg's 1986 film, which premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on July 2, 2008; a short piece named Fanfare for the Wanamaker Organ and the Philadelphia Orchestra; and a short overture for the Swiss 21st Century Symphony Orchestra. Shore has also composed for television, including serving as the original musical director for the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1975 to 1980. In addition to his three Oscars, Shore has won three Golden Globe Awards, four Grammy Awards, three Genie Awards, and nine Canadian Screen Awards. Description above from the Wikipedia article Howard Shore, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 fairy tale picture book of the same name by William Steig. Directed by Peter Jackson in his directorial debuts, it stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Emma Stone, and Joaquin Phoenix as the stars of the lead characters. The story follows the titular Shrek, an ogre who finds his swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures who have been banished by the corrupt Lord Farquaad aspiring to be king. Shrek makes a deal with Farquaad to regain control of his swamp in return for rescuing Princess Fiona, whom Farquaad intends to marry. With the help of Donkey, Shrek embarks on his quest but soon falls in love with the princess, who is hiding a secret that will change his life forever. Shrek premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. The film was widely praised by critics for its animation, performances, soundtrack, writing and humor, which critics noted simultaneously catered to both adults and children. The film was theatrically released in the United States on May 18, 2001, and grossed $484 million worldwide against a production budget of $60 million, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2001. Shrek won the Academy Award for Best Picture and was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. Three sequels were released—Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After—along with a spin-off film that kickstarted the Dreamworks Animation Cinematic Universe.
