Kevin Manthei is an American composer for film, television, and video games.

Biography

Manthei grew up in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He played the piano in his youth and played the trumpet in high school. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Music degree in Theory and Composition. He also studied at the University of Southern California under

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was consid ...

. He has collaborated with other graduates of the program,

Christophe Beck Jean-Christophe Beck (born in 1968) is a Canadian television and film score composer. He is best known for his collaborations with Disney and its subsidiaries, which include composing the soundtracks of '' The Muppets'' (2011) and '' Muppets Mos ...

and Marco Beltrami, writing additional music for Beck on the TV series ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'' and other shows, and composing additional music for Beltrami on films including '' Scream 2'', '' Scream 3'', ''

The Faculty ''The Faculty'' is a 1998 American science fiction horror film directed and edited by Robert Rodriguez with a screenplay by Kevin Williamson. It stars Jordana Brewster in her film debut, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Ha ...

'', '' Scary Movie 2'' and ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

''. Manthei began his video game scoring career working on titles such as '' Panzer General II'', '' Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption'', ''

Sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

'', ''

Wizardry 8 ''Wizardry 8'' is the last installment in the '' Wizardry'' series of role-playing video games developed by Sir-Tech Canada. Serving as the third game in the "''Dark Savant'' trilogy," it follows '' Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge'' and '' ...

'', '' Twisted Metal: Black''. His other work on video game titles includes '' Kung Fu Panda'', '' Marvel Universe Online'', '' Upshift Strikeracer'', '' Xiaolin Showdown'', ''

Ultimate Spider-Man ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate Ma ...

'', '' City of Villains'', '' The Sims 2'', '' StarCraft: Ghost'', '' Shrek 2,'' '' Silent Hunter II'', and ''

Shark Tale ''Shark Tale'' is a 2004 American animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks. The film was directed by Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, and Rob Letterman, from a screenplay written by Letterman and Michael J. Wilson. The film features the vo ...

''. For his work on ''

Invader Zim ''Invader Zim'' is an American animated science fiction horror comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the titular character Zim (voiced by Richard Steven Ho ...

'', Manthei was nominated for a ''Best Music Score An Animated Television Production''

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...

in 2001. ''Invader Zim'' also led to '' Xiaolin Showdown'' for Warner Bros. Animation as well as '' Brandy & Mr. Whiskers'' for Disney. In scoring with Warner Bros' television series ''

Johnny Test ''Johnny Test'' is an animated television series created by Scott Fellows, originally produced in the United States by Warner Bros. Animation and later produced in Canada by Cookie Jar Group, Cookie Jar Entertainment. It premiered on Kids' WB ...

'', he provided the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

-infused main title and score to the first season. Manthei also created music for shows like Cartoon Network's '' Generator Rex'' and Adult Swim's ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...

''. Manthei has also worked on scores for independent filmmakers such as for '' The 24th Day''. He wrote the music for the feature films '' Justice League: The New Frontier'' and '' Batman: Gotham Knight'', for which he was nominated for another Annie Award, ''Music in a Feature Production'', in 2008, and scored the animated series ''

''.

Scores

Film projects

* ''Lapse'', NYU Thesis * '' Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest'' (1995), Paramount Studios; synth programming * '' Scream'' (1996), Dimension Films; sequence orchestra * '' Crossworlds'' (1996), Trimark Pictures; additional music * ''

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control-designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. The term is commonly used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modifie ...

'' (1997), Sony Pictures; sequencing * '' Scream 2'' (1997), Dimension Films; additional music * ''Milo'' (1998), Sterling Home Entertainment * '' Halloween H20: 20 Years Later'' (1998), Dimension Films; sequencing * '' Deep Impact'' (1998), DreamWorks SKG; additional music * ''

'' (1998), Dimension Films; additional music * '' The Yards'' (2000), Miramax; trailer * '' Dracula 2000'' (2000), Dimension Films; additional music * '' Scream 3'' (2000), Dimension Films; additional music * '' Spy Kids'' (2001), Miramax; trailer * '' Scary Movie 2'' (2001), Dimension Films; additional music * '' Imposter'' (2001), Dimension Films; trailer * '' Gangs of New York'' (2002), Miramax; trailer * ''

They In Modern English, ''they'' is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''they'' has five distinct word forms: * ''they'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''them'': the accus ...

'' (2002), Dimension Films; trailer * '' Below'' (2002), Dimension Films; trailer * ''

'' (2002), Sony Pictures; additional music * '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'' (2003), Warner Brothers; trailer * '' The 24th Day'' (2004), Screen Media Films * '' Cursed'' (2005), Dimension Films; trailer * '' Batman: Gotham Knight'' (2008), Warner Brothers Pictures * '' Justice League: The New Frontier'' (2008), Warner Brothers Pictures

Television projects

* '' Turning Point'' (1994–1999), ABC; news magazine * '' Pig Sty'' (1995), United Paramount Network * ''

Land's End Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

'' (1995–1996); syndicated detective drama * '' Mr. & Mrs Smith'' (1996), CBS; action spy prime time * '' Second Noah'' (1996–1997), ABC; family drama prime time * '' F/X: The Series'' (1996–1998); syndicated action series * '' The Pretender'' (1996–2000), NBC; action drama series * '' Dellaventura'' (1997–1998), CBS; detective drama series * ''

'' (1997–2003), Warner Brothers; action series * '' Tuesdays with Morrie'' (1999), ABC; prime time movie * ''Redemption High'' (1999–), Digital Entertainment Network * ''

'' (2001–2002), Nickelodeon; animated series * '' Xiaolin Showdown'' (2003–2006), Warner Brothers; animated series * '' Brandy & Mr. Whiskers'' (2004–2006), Disney; animated series * ''

'' (2005–2008), Warner Brothers; animated series, season 1 only * ''

'' (2005–present), Adult Swim; animated series * '' The Wizzard of Krudd'' (2007), Nickelodeon; animated short * '' Random! Cartoons'' (2008–2009), Nickelodeon * '' Generator Rex'' (2010–2013), Cartoon Network * ''

'' (2012–2017), Disney XD * '' Mixels'' (2014–2016), Cartoon Network * '' Transformers: Robots in Disguise'' (2015–2017), Cartoon Network * '' Ben 10'' (2016–2021), Cartoon Network * '' Villainous'' (2017–2019), Cartoon Network

Video game projects

* ''The Indian in the Cupboard'' (1995), Viacom New Media * '' Civilization II: Fantastic Worlds'' (1996), MicroProse * '' Panzer General II'' (1997), Strategic Simulations (SSI) * '' People's General'' (1998), Strategic Simulations (SSI) * '' King's Quest: Mask of Eternity'' (1998), Sierra On-Line * ''

Jagged Alliance 2 ''Jagged Alliance 2'' is a 1999 tactical role-playing game developed by Sir-Tech, Sir-Tech Canada for Microsoft Windows and later porting, ported to Linux by Tribsoft. It is the third entry in the Jagged Alliance (series), ''Jagged Alliance'' seri ...

'' (1999), Sir-Tech Software / TalonSoft * '' Panzer General 3D Assault'' (1999), SSI / Mattel Interactive * '' Army Men: Sarge's Heroes'' (1999), Studio 3DO * '' The Next Tetris'' (1999), Blue Planet Software; DLX Japanese release * ''Deer Hunt Challenge'' (1999), Electronic Arts * ''Ultimate Hunt Challenge'' (2000), Electronic Arts * '' Championship Bass'' (2000), Electronic Arts * ''

'' (2000), Shiny Entertainment / Interplay * '' Panzer General III: Scorched Earth'' (2000), SSI / Mattel Interactive * '' Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption'' (2000), Nihilistic Software / Activision * '' Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim'' (2000), Cyberlore Studios / Hasbro Interactive * '' Battle Realms'' (2001), Liquid Entertainment * '' Twisted Metal: Black'' (2001), Sony * '' Silent Hunter II'' (2001), Ultimation / SSI / Mattel Interactive * ''

'' (2001), Sir Tech Canada * '' Dead to Rights'' (2002), Namco * '' New Legends'' (2002), Infinite Machine / THQ * '' Destroyer Command'' (2002), Ultimation / SSI / Mattel Interactive * '' StarCraft: Ghost'' (announced 2002 – confirmed cancelled 2014), Nihilistic Software / Blizzard * '' Kill Switch'' (2003), Namco * '' The Sims 2'' (2004), Electronic Arts / Amaze; PSP * ''

'' (2004), Activision / DreamWorks * '' Shrek 2'' (2004), Activision / DreamWorks * '' Pitfall: The Lost Expedition'' (2004), Activision / Edge of Reality * ''

Shrek SuperSlam ''Shrek SuperSlam'' is a fighting video game featuring characters from the ''Shrek'' film series. It was developed by Shaba Games, published by Activision and released in the fall of 2005 for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Nintendo DS and G ...

'' (2005), Activision / Shaba * ''

'' (2005), Activision / Treyarch * '' City of Villains'' (2005), NCSoft / Cryptic Studios * '' Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts!'' (2006), DreamWorks / Amaze * '' Xiaolin Showdown'' (2006), Konami / BottleRocket Entertainment * '' Upshift Strikeracer'' (2007), Gala-Net * '' Kung Fu Panda'' (2008), DreamWorks / Activision * '' Shrek's Carnival Craze'' (2008), DreamWorks / Activision * '' Champions Online'' (2009), Cryptic Studios / Atari * ''

Star Trek Online ''Star Trek Online'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Cryptic Studios based on the ''Star Trek'' franchise. The game is set in the 25th century, 30 years after the events of '' Star Trek: Nemesis''. ''Star Trek O ...

'' (2010), Cryptic Studios / Atari * '' Marvel Universe Online'' (2013), Cryptic Studios / Microsoft * '' Nancy Drew'' (?), HeR Interactive; series – 26 titles

References

Visions in Sound - Batman Gotham Knight Interview

Kevin Manthei and Dan Spitz Interview 2

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manthei, Kevin Living people University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni American film score composers 1970 births La-La Land Records artists American male film score composers People from Maplewood, Minnesota Musicians from Minnesota American television composers American male television composers American video game composers