Paul
Hepker
Composer
Born in Zimbabwe and raised in South Africa, Paul Hepker trained as a concert pianist under Adolphe Hallis. He worked as a Musical Director at the National Theatres in Pretoria and Cape Town (The Rocky Horror Show, Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) and has performed or recorded with a number of prominent South African and international artists such as Shirley Bassey, Miriam Makeba, Ice Cube, Juluka, Just Jinjer, Yvonne Chaka-Chaka,
Vicky Sampson, Marcalex and Vusi Mahlasela. He produced the first solo album of Just Jinjer frontman, Ard Matthews.
Hepker wrote the voter education theme “Make Your Mark” for the first democratic elections in South Africa, which gave birth to a National TV gameshow of the same name. In the mid-1990’s he toured the world as a member of Grammy-nominated band Johnny Clegg and Savuka (Juluka) before moving to Los Angeles in 1997 to pursue a career in composing for stage and screen.
Whilst in Hollywood, Hepker composed the music for numerous Discovery, History and National Geographic Channel series, including Deadliest Catch, IRT Deadliest Roads, Crash Files, Impact, America’s Deadliest Season, Into the Firestorm, Raw Nature, Iditarod, Herrings and Shark Taggers (NBC) – all for Original Productions.
A member of acclaimed Los Angeles theatre company Circle X, Hepker garnered an Ovation Award, two LA Weekly Awards, and numerous nominations for his work as composer or Musical Director on productions such as Grendel, Laura Comstock’s Bag-Punching Dog and Romeo & Juliet: Antebellum, New Orleans, 1839.
In 1999 he was a Finalist in the inaugural John Lennon Songwriting Competition and has had songs featured in, and included on the soundtracks for Eye In The Sky, Tsotsi, Permanent Midnight, Soul Survivor, The Bird Can’t Fly and Into The Light.
Hepker co-composed the music for Tsotsi (which won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film), Rendition (Jake Gylenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep), Eye In The Sky (Helen Mirren), Official Secrets (Kiera Knightley), and The Bird Can’t Fly (Barbara Hershey). Since returning to South Africa from Los Angeles in 2012, Hepker scored the live action remake of the anime classic KITE, (Samuel L. Jackson) and Shepherds And Butchers (Steve Coogan) for famed South African producer, Anant Singh.
Selected Credits
FILMS
Hell Camp (Upcoming)
Film Afrika Worldwide
Director: Mark Vicente
Producers: Bronwyn Berry, Lynsey Jones
Official Secrets
Classified Films
Director: Gavin Hood
Producers: Even Berntsen, Claudia Bluemhuber, Ged Doherty
Starring: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Matthew Goode
Shepherds and Butchers
Distant Horizon
Director: Oliver Schmitz
Producers: Brian Cox, Anant Singh
Starring: Steve Coogan, Andrea Riseborough, Robert Hobbs
Eye in the Sky
Entertainment One
Director: Gavin Hood
Producers: Ged Doherty, Colin Firth, David Lancaster
Starring: Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, Helen Mirren
* 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
Kite
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Director: Ralph Ziman
Producers: Gerardo Gatica, Brian Cox, Alberto Muffelmann
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, India Eisley, Callan McAuliffe
Where the Water Meets the Sky (Documentary)
MercuryMedia International
Director: David Eberts
Producers: Helen Cotton, Fiona Eberts, David Freeman
Ex Men (Short)
Brave Films
Director: Brendan Pollecutt
Producers: Justin Cohen, Larissa Pollecutt, Howard Sacks
Starring: Brendan Pollecutt, Naomi West, J. Richey Nash
Rendition
New Line Cinema
Director: Gavin Hood
Producers: Steve Golin, Mark Martin, Marcus Viscidi
Starring: Omar Metwally, Reese Witherspoon, Aramis Knight
FILM (CONTINUED)
The Bird Can’t Fly (Co-Composer)
Gravitas Ventures
Director: Threes Anna
Producers: Tom Maguire, Joel Phiri, Anton Scholten
Starring: Tina Ajaxa, Claire Berlein, Yusuf Davids
Blind (Additional Music)
Klas Film
Director: Tamar van den Dop
Producers: Petra Goedings, Erwin Provoost, Rossitsa Valkanova
Starring: Joren Seldeslachts, Halina Reijn, Katelijne Verbeke
Tsotsi
Miramax Films
Director: Gavin Hood
Producers: Peter Fudakowski, Paul Raleigh
Starring: Presley Chweneyagae, Terry Pheto
Surfacing (Short)
Two Zero One
Director: Bradley W. Ragland
Producers: Beverly Hynds
Starring: Beverly Hynds, Keith Baker, Mario Margott
White Like the Moon (Short, Additional Score)
Director: Marina Palmier
Producers: Richard Pierce, Patrick Welborn
Starring: Diana Burbano, Crystal Leah Chacon, Christel Khalil
SERIES
After the Catch
Discovery Channel
Producers: Tim Mann, Mark Fortgang, Douglas Bruce
IRT: Deadliest Roads History Channel
Producers: Jeff Conroy, Thom Beers, Maxim Holland
Shark U
Unknown Productions
Producers: Marc Carter, Rosie Sharkey, Jerry Whitworth
Shark Taggers
NBC
Producers: Thom Beers, Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun
SERIES (CONTINUED)
Deadliest Catch
Discovery Channel
Producers: Doug Stanley, Matt Renner, Ethan Prochnik
Iditarod
Discovery Channel
Producers: Tara Hunter, Adrian Maher, Steven Robillard
Raw Nature
Discovery Channel
Producers: Anneli Gericke, Mitchell Tanen, Matt Renner
Into the Firestorm
Original Pictures
Producer: Sarah Whalen
Impact: Stories of Survival
Discovery Channel
Producers: Keren Markuze, Christopher Poole, Chris Shelton
Crash Files: JFK, Jr. (TV Movie)
Discovery Channel
Producers: Janice Engel, Dan Jackson
Don’t Look Under the Bed (TV Movie, Additional Score)
Disney Channel
Director: Kenneth Johnson
Producers: David Lancaster, Jeff Morton, Don Schain
Starring: Erin Chambers, Eric ‘Ty’ Hodges II, Robin Riker
Crash Files (Documentary)
Discovery Channel
Director: Dan Jackson
Thirst (TV Movie)
NBC
Director: Bill L. Norton
Producers: Paul A. Kaufman, Robert T. Megginson, Anthony Santa Croce
Starring: Adam Arkin, Joely Fisher, Giancarlo Esposito
Legion of Fire: Killer Ants! (TV Movie, Additional Score)
Fox
Directors: James Charleston, George Manasse
Producers: Kirt Eftekhar, George Manasse
Starring: Eric Lutes, Julia Campbell, Mitch Pileggi