Frank Ilfman

Frank Haim Ilfman (born March 18, 1970) is an Israeli/ German composer based in London and Los Angeles.
He studied trombone and piano at the Jaffa Conservatorium of Music in Tel Aviv and as a young teenager was playing lead trombone with the Tel Aviv Dixieland Band. The young composer became frustrated and bored with the structured methods of the Conservatorium and was eventually asked to leave for playing truant – Ilfman wanted to be more imaginative with how he created music, so went it alone. In 1984, during a visit to Berlin, Ilfman got introduced to German composer Klaus Doldinger, who happened to be scoring The NeverEnding Story at that time. A visit to the film’s recording sessions made Ilfman fall deeper in love with the art of film music and commit fully to his ambition. He worked on his first television production, when he was just 17 years old, with composer Jan Hammer on the acclaimed television series The Chancer, starring Clive Owen, and since then has scored more than forty films and numerous television shows.
Among his many talents is his ability to diagnose how music can best contribute to a film; from brooding melancholy to playful joviality, his work covers a wide spectrum of genres and has gained him much respect in the field.

Frank Ifman’s recent scores include the award-winning films Big Bad Wolves and Cupcakes, with scores performed by The London Metropolitan Orchestra at the legendary Air Studios. He has also scored: May I Kill U?, a dark comedy, directed by BAFTA award winner Stuart Urban and starring Kevin Bishop; Mercenaries, directed by Paris Leonti, starring Robert Fucilla and Billy Zane; the three-part documentaries The Iraq War and Putin, Russia and the West for BBC and the internationally acclaimed heartbreaking film Bitter Seeds, directed by Micha Peled. Forthcoming films include Apples and Oranges for director Richard Scobie and the romantic comedy Emotional Rescue, starring Heather Graham and Timothy Hutton.

On 28 January 2014, the album for the Big Bad Wolves Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released by MovieMediaScores / Kronos Records.

In 2008 Frank Ilfman was invited to join The European Film Academy (EFA) and The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Emotional Rescue
Freyja Films
Director: Beth Lauren
Producers: Beth Lauren, Sara Miller
Starring: Heather Graham, David Tennant, Timothy Hutton
(currently in pre production)

Big Bad Wolves
UCM Films LTD
Director : Navot Papushado and Aharon Keshales
Producers: Chilik Michaeli, Tami Leon
Starring : Lior Ashkenazi, Tzahi Grad, Rotem Keinan

Locked In
Peninsular Media
Director : Suri Krishnamma
Producers: Susie Brooks-Smith, Sarah Roemer
Starring : Ben Barnes, Sarah Roemer, Eliza Dushku and Johnny Whitworth

May I kill U?
Cyclops Vision Production
Director: Stuart Urban
Producers: Stuart Urban, Alan Jay
Starring : Kevin Bishop, Jack Doolan, Frances Barber

Cupcakes (AKA Bananot)
Gum Films
Director: Eytan Fox
Producers: Yoav Roeh, Lauranne Bourrachot
Starring : Dana Ivgy, Yael Bar-Zohar, Lior Ashkenazi

Coward
Director: Dave Roddham
Producers: Niel Corbould, Dave Roddham
Starring: Nick Moran, Martin McCann

Incessant Visions
Zygote Films
Director: Duki Dror
Producers: Yael Shavit, Duki Dror

Bitter Seeds
Teddy Bear Films, PBS
Director :Micah X. Peled
(Green Screen competition Award at IDFA, The Oxfam Global Justice Award.)

Mercenaries
Angry Badger Pictures
Director: Paris Leonti
Starring: Billy Zane, Kirsty Mitchell, Vas Blackwood

Rabies (Kalevet)
UCM
Directors: Navot Papushado and Aharon Keshales
Starting: Ofer Shecter, Anya bokstein, Henry David
(Best Feature Award Mile High Horror Film Festival 2011.Winner of the "Critics Award" at Fantasporto 2011. Special Mention at Puchon International Film Festival, 2011) Fifth Street
Warrior Films
Director : Dave Roddham
Starring : Roger Yuan, Sean Stewart, Karl Sullivan

The Ferryman
Atlantic Films, Revolver
Director : Chris Graham
Starring : John Rhys-Davies, Kerry Fox, Tamer Hassan

Nemesis Game
LionsGate Films
Director : Jesse Warn
Starring : Ian McShane and Adrian Paul

The Intruder
GFT Kingsborough Film
Director: David Bailey
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Nastassja Kinski, Molly Parker

The Iraq war
3 Part Series, BBC
Series Director : Paul Mitchell
Directors: David Alter, Paul Mitchell, Charlie Smith
Producers : Norma Percy, Brian Lapping

Russia’s Open Book
PBS, Wilton films
Narrated by Stephen Fry
Directors Sara Wallis, Paul Mitchell

Football Gladiators
Discovery
Director: Fabio Segatori

Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their Mothers
PBS
Director : Wanda Koscia

Putin, Russia And The West
Brook Lapping Productions, BBC
4 Part Series
Series Director : Paul Mitchell
Directors: David Alter, Paul Mitchell
Producers : Norma Percy, Brian Lapping

Different Life
T.T.V Productions Israel
Director: Arik Rotstein
Starring: Oz Zhavi, Yoram Chatav

The Wanders
Zygote Films
Director : Duki Dror

Here / Shapiro
Underground Films
Director: V. Colonna

• 2014 Saturn Award: Won Best Movie Score- Big Bad Wolves
• 2014 Grierson 2014, The British Documentary Awards- The Iraq War: Regime Change
• 2013 Sitges Film Festival: Jury Special Mention Best Music in a Movie 2013- Big Bad Wolves
• 2013 The Israeli Film Academy Awards: Winner Best Original Score- Big Bad Wolves
• The New Zealand Film & TV Awards: Best Soundtrack- Nemesis Game
• Israeli Film Academy: nomination for Best Score- Noodle
• Golden Genie: Two times Nomination Best Original Score

• The British Documentary Awards. "Grierson awards 2014". http://www.griersontrust.org/news/announcing-the-winners-of-grierson-2014.html. Retrieved 4 February 2015. 
• Schweiger, Daniel (15 January 2014). "Interview with Frank ilfman". Global Media Online Publication. Retrieved 4 February 2015. 
• Film Academy, New Zealand. "The New Zealand Film Academy Awards". http://www.nzfilmawards.co.nz/. Retrieved 4 February 2015. 

Frank Ilfman spends his time between London, Los Angeles and Spain. After the plane in which Ilfman was traveling was hit by lighting during a flight between London and Tel Aviv, he developed a phobia for flying although this doesn't stop him from sky diving, one of his great passions. Frank Ilfman is fluent in English, Hebrew and German.