Clinton Shorter

Biography:

Canadian film and television composer Clinton Shorter was born on March 18, 1971. His soundtrack for Neill Blomkamp’s film District 9 is especially well-known. Additionally, he has written music for more than 300 TV shows. In Vancouver, Shorter composed the music for the independent movie Come Together. He then composed music for a number of other Vancouver-based movies, such as Neill Blomkamp’s short film Alive in Johannesburg.

Shorter was asked to compose “something ‘raw and dark’ but which maintained its [South] African roots” for Blomkamp’s 2009 science fiction picture District 9. Reviewers have characterized the resulting music as “magnificent” and “rhythmic,” as well as “mournful ethnic-action strains” and “pseudo-exotic ambiance as a post-modern theme of loss.” A separate CD containing the soundtrack was made available. Shorter composed the music for the action movie Pompeii in 2014. Later on, he wrote music for the television shows Colony and The Expanse.