About the Composer

James L. Venable

James L. Venable ("Jim") has proven himself to be an exceptionally diverse composer.  With feature films ranging from Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back and Jersey Girl directed by Kevin Smith to The Powerpuff Girls Movie, he has had opportunity to explore many styles of writing.  He has been given excellent reviews in regard to his ethnic scores such as Samurai Jack and director Yuen Woo Ping's Iron Monkey, and had opportunities in Jay and Silent Bob to pay homage to some of his favorite composers.  Most recently he provided scores for Deuce Bigalow, European Gigolo, Scary Movie 4, and Clerks 2.

In the animation world, Jim is best known for scoring The Powerpuff Girls series on Cartoon Network, for which he won an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music.  He created a unique blend of classic film score writing and deeply textured techno that truly defined the sound of the show.  You can check out some of that score mixed into dance music on The City of Soundsville CD on Rhino Records.  Jim won his second Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music for the acclaimed series Samurai Jack on Cartoon Network, and his current work on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends earned him an Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music, as well as his 3rd Annie Award for outstanding individual achievment in music for an animated series.  Jim is also responsible for the music for Teenage Robot on Nickelodeon and Clone Wars on The Cartoon Network.

Jim has a Bachelor's Degree in Music from Cal State Long Beach (as a Percussion Major) but really credits his composing style and ability to Lyle Spud Murphy's 12 volume EIS course which he completed over six years.  He also studied composition and arranging with Jack Smalley and studied drums with John "Terry" Tirabasso.

Jim has also written scores for Clerks the Cartoon, 3 South (MTV), The Chimp Channel, Salty's Lighthouse, Entertainment Tonight, and Hard Copy.

On the personal side, Jim lives with wife Sophia, daughters Julia and Natalie, and their 100lb Golden Retriever named Big Red (yes, pictured above).  He's a Laker Fan and loves to shoot hoop with his buddies whenever he gets the chance.  He's also, of course, a huge fan of movies and of other film composers including John Williams, James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman, George Fenton, Bernard Herman, and Alex North.

Check-out Jim's Blog

Holding Space, Press Release