Jed Kurzel

Jed Danyel Kurzel (born 1976) is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist and film composer. He is a founding member of The Mess Hall (from 2001), a blues rock duo. His older brother Justin Kurzel is a film director and screenwriter.

Early life Kurzel was born in 1976 and, with his older brother Justin Kurzel (born 1974), grew up in Gawler, South Australia. Their father, Zdzislaw Kurzel (1946–2006), was from Poland and had migrated to Australia in 1960, where he became a taxi driver. In the 1990s, Kurzel moved to Sydney, where Justin was studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). Kurzel recalled "When the clubs asked us where our bass player was, we used to lie and say he was sick." Their third album Devils Elbow (October 2007) won the Australian Music Prize.

In 2000 Kurzel composed the film score for the short subject, Sammy Blue, at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, with Kim Farrant directing. He worked for Farrant again: providing the score for Naked on the Inside (2006), a feature film documentary on body image.

In 2011 Kurzel provided the music score for the directorial debut feature film by Justin, Snowtown. At the APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards of 2011 Kurzel won Feature Film Score of the Year. It was nominated for Australian Film Institute Award for Best Original Music Score. The related soundtrack album was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album in that same year.

Kurzel also wrote the scores for Son of a Gun, Slow West and the documentary All This Mayhem. In 2015, he worked again with his brother on Macbeth, followed by Assassin's Creed in 2016. He replaced Harry Gregson-Williams as the composer of Alien: Covenant.

Filmography Film Year Title Director Studio(s)Notes 2011 Snowtown Justin Kurzel Screen AustraliaMadman Entertainment First collaboration with Justin KurzelSoundtrack released by Ivy League Records APRA Music Award for Feature Film Score of the Year Nominated — ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score 2012 Dead Europe Tony Krawitz See-Saw Films Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score 2014 Son of a Gun Julius Avery Screen AustraliaA24 First collaboration with Julius Avery Soundtrack released by Milan Records The Babadook Jennifer Kent Entertainment OneUmbrella Entertainment First collaboration with Jennifer Kent

Television

Documentaries Year Title Director Studio(s) Notes 2007 Naked on the Inside Kim Farrant Magic Real Picture Company 2014 All This Mayhem Eddie Martin Hopscotch Films AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score in a Documentary

Shorts Year Title Director Studio(s) 2000 Sammy Blue Kim Farrant AFTRS 2007 The Rose of Ba Ziz Aden Young 2009 Castor & Pollux Ben Briand Benah 2014 Dook Stole Christmas Jennifer Kent Smoking Gun Productions

Awards and nominations ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association. They commenced in 1987. 2011 Snowtown Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album