Omar Fadel is an American composer for film, television, and video games. He is also a multi-instrumentalist, whose scores frequently feature him on a wide array of instruments, including guitar, piano, cello, drums and percussion. Omar's work can be heard in numerous films, television shows and video games, namely the global game franchise '' Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, The Dictator'', the

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

- nominated and Peabody-winning film ''The Judge'', the Emmy- and Peabody-nominated film ''

Belly of the Beast ''Belly of the Beast'' is a 2003 American action film directed by Hong Kong film director Ching Siu-tung in his American directorial debut, and starring Steven Seagal, who also produced. The film co-stars Byron Mann, Monica Lo and Tom Wu. Seaga ...

'', and the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-nominated film ''Day One.''

Career

Born in Houston, and raised between Texas and

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, Omar's global exposure is heard throughout his music. He is a graduate of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

where he studied film, music production and composition. Following graduation, Omar re-located to Los Angeles where he began working with Police drummer

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is an American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the British rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with the Polic ...

. Shortly thereafter, Omar began scoring shorts and feature films. In 2010, Omar composed the score to the award-winning feature film ''The Taqwacores,'' which premiered to a standing ovation at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. He then went on to score the critically acclaimed

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

documentary '' Just Like Us''. In 2011, Omar was selected to score the first ever Arabic-language, American studio feature film, ''The United'', produced by Walt Disney Motion Pictures. This was followed by Omar scoring the award-winning documentary ''In Search of Oil and Sand''. In 2012, Omar collaborated with composer Erran Baron Cohen on the score for ''The Dictator''. In 2016, Omar scored the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated short film ''

Day One Day One may refer to: Film * Day One (1989 film), ''Day One'' (1989 film), a 1989 television film * ''Day One'', also known as ''To Write Love on Her Arms (film), To Write Love on Her Arms'', a 2012 drama film * Day One (2015 film), ''Day One'' (2 ...

''. In 2017, he scored Erika Cohn's documentary ''The Judge'', which premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

and was eventually nominated for an Emmy and won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

. In 2018, Omar composed the score for ''

Yomeddine ''Yomeddine'' () (English: ''Judgement Day'') is a 2018 Egyptian drama film written and directed by Abu Bakr Shawky, in his directorial debut. Starring non-professional actors, it follows Beshay (Rady Gamal), an outcast shunned and condemned by ...

'', which premiered in competition at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

and won the

François Chalais Award François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; 16 ...

. In 2020, Omar scored the Peabody-nominated and critically acclaimed documentary ''

''. Also in 2020, Omar had the honor of composing the score for the series '' Six Windows in the Desert'', which was the first ever Saudi Arabian original programming for

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. In 2021, Omar entered the world of live streaming content composing the music for the widely popular ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

''-themed show ''

Critical Role ''Critical Role'' is an American web series in which a group of professional voice actors play ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The show started streaming partway through the cast's first campaign in March 2015. Campaign one ended in October 2017 aft ...

''. In addition to his film work, Omar has scored several television shows, most notably, the

Mike Judge Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for being the creator of the animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' (1993–1997, 2011, 2022–present). He ...

-produced ABC animated series ''

The Goode Family ''The Goode Family'' is an American animated sitcom that originally aired on ABC from May 27 to August 7, 2009. It follows the life of an environmentally responsible but obsessive family. Mike Judge created the show along with former ''King of ...

'', and NBC's ''

Phenomenon A phenomenon ( phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an observable Event (philosophy), event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be ...

.'' Omar's music is also frequently licensed to unscripted television programming including: ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

Dateline A dateline is a brief piece of text included in news articles that describes where and when the story was written or filed, though the date is often omitted. In the case of articles reprinted from wire services, the distributing organization is ...

,'' and ''

The Millionaire Matchmaker ''The Millionaire Matchmaker'' is an American reality television series on Bravo that premiered on January 22, 2008, and is hosted by Patti Stanger. ''The Millionaire Matchmaker'' follows Patti Stanger, owner of the Beverly Hills-based "Milliona ...

.'' In 2013, Omar entered the world of video games collaborating with composer

Brian Tyler Brian Theodore Tyler (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor and arranger, best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 26-year career, Tyler has scored seven installments of the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, ...

on one of the industry's largest franchises, '' Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag''. In 2016, Omar scored the award-winning virtual reality game '' The Argos File'', which competed at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

. That same year, the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

awarded Omar a prestigious Fellowship at their Film Music Composer's Lab.

Select Credits

(Selective works) *2008: ''

'' *2008: ''The Colours of Exile'' *2009: ''Camouflage'' *2009: ''

'' *2009: ''

Next Day Air ''Next Day Air'' is a 2009 American black comedy film that was released by Summit Entertainment on May 8, 2009. The film starring Donald Faison and Mike Epps was produced on an estimated budget of $3 million. Two criminals accidentally accep ...

'' *2010: '' Just Like Us'' *2010: ''

The Taqwacores ''The Taqwacores'' is the debut novel by Michael Muhammad Knight, depicting a fictitious Islamic punk rock scene. The title is a portmanteau of taqwa, an Islamic concept of love and fear for God, and Hardcore, the punk rock subgenre. Some o ...

'' *2010: ''Maydoum'' *2011: '' The United'' *2012: ''In Search of Oil and Sand'' *2012: ''Rafea: Solar Mama'' *2013: '' Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'' *2014: "In the Image" *2014: "

Meet the Patels ''Meet the Patels'' is a 2014 American romantic comedy documentary film directed by siblings Geeta Patel and Ravi Patel. The film explores the expectations surrounding marriage in the Patels' first-generation Indian immigrant family and in wider A ...

" *2014: "Undying Dreams" *2015: "

" *2017: "The Judge" *2018: "The Advocates" *2018: "Kiss Me not (Balash Tebusni)" *2018: "

" *2019: "

Breaking Fast ''Breaking Fast'' is a 2020 American romantic comedy film, directed by Mike Mosallam and released in 2020. An expansion of Mosallam's 2015 short film of the same title, the film stars Haaz Sleiman as Mo, a gay Muslim doctor in Los Angeles who is ...

" *2020: " Six Windows in the Desert" *2020: "

" *2021: " A Hard Problem" *2021: "

References

External links

Official websiteRepresentation
*
iTunesSoundtrack.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fadel, Omar 1977 births American male composers 21st-century American composers American people of Egyptian descent Living people 21st-century American male musicians