Louis Febre (born June 21, 1959) is a Mexican born composer, best known for his work on the television series ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...

''. He also won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for his score to '' The Cape'' in 1997.

Life

Born in the city of

Saltillo, Mexico Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and highwa ...

, Febre composed his first works for the piano at age 8 while studying piano at a private academy in Northern Mexico. In 1973, his family moved to Los Angeles where he continued his study of the piano under the tutelage of Robert Turner and Françoise Régnat. Febre went on to formal composition study with Lorraine Kimball and Frank Campo. During this period, he wrote several chamber works and other large

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...

compositions. He is married to Lisa Febre, a Los Angeles-area multi-instrumentalist performer and teacher.

Career

In 1992, Febre was employed by B-movie company PM Entertainment, where he discovered his true compositional passion: film scoring. In 1996, he met his mentor

John Debney John Cardon Debney (born August 18, 1956) is an American composer and conductor of film, television, and video game scores. His work encompasses a variety of mediums and genres including comedy, horror, thriller, and action-adventure. He is a ...

, a partnership that would produce successful collaborative efforts such as the movie ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' in 1996 and led to Louis’ first television series '' The Cape'' which would earn him an Emmy in 1997 for Best Dramatic Underscore. Febre has enjoyed success with the movies '' Swimfan'' (2002), '' Tower of Terror'' (Disney) and a set of Scooby-Doo straight-to-video movies in 2001. He earned an Annie Award nomination for his score for ''

Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders ''Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders'' is a 2000 American direct-to-video animated science fiction romantic comedy mystery film. It is the third direct-to-video film based on ''Scooby-Doo'' Saturday morning cartoons. The film was produced by Hanna ...

''. That same year, he won a Pixie Award for the independent short film
Revenge of the Red Balloon
According to some critics, his score for ''

Alien Trespass ''Alien Trespass'' is a 2009 science-fiction comedy film based on 1950s sci-fi B movies, produced by James Swift and directed by R.W. Goodwin. It stars Eric McCormack and Robert Patrick. The film was shot in Ashcroft, B.C. Plot The story begins ...

'' transcended the tepid reviews of the film itself. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' compared it to the classic sci-fi scores of noted composer

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely re ...

. In 2001, Febre collaborated with

Steve Jablonsky Steve Jablonsky (born October 9, 1970) is an American composer for film, television and video games, best known for his musical scores in the ''Transformers'' film series. Some of his frequent collaboration partners include film directors Michae ...

on the first season of the hit television series ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

''. As an additional orchestrator, he worked again with John Debney on ''

Cats & Dogs ''Cats & Dogs'' is a 2001 spy-comedy film directed by Lawrence Guterman and written by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. It stars Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins and Alexander Pollock, with the voices of (among others) Tobey Maguire, Alec Bal ...

'', ''

Jimmy Neutron James Isaac Neutron is the titular and main character from the film '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'' and its spin-off Nickelodeon computer animated television series ''The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius''. Created by show runner John ...

'', the Disney film ''

Chicken Little "Henny Penny", more commonly known in the United States as "Chicken Little" and sometimes as "Chicken Licken", is a European folk tale with a moral in the form of a cumulative tale about a chicken who believes that the world is coming to an end ...

'', Disney World Tokyo, and with

Mark Snow Mark Snow (born Martin Fulterman; August 26, 1946) is an American composer for film and television. Among his most famous compositions is the theme music for science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. The theme reached no. 2 on the UK Si ...

on ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'' (1998).

Smallville

Febre is probably best known for his work on the hit television series ''

''. With the departure of Mark Snow from

, Febre became the credited composer in season seven. His score reflected the maturation of the series' protagonist,

Clark Kent Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publish ...

: "as Clark grew emotionally and intellectually more complex, efound a need to comment musically on his growth, and as he drew closer to his Superman persona, it became obvious that a 'Superman' theme would be required." Febre maintains a prominent presence in the ''Smallville'' fan community. He is a featured personality on

fan sites A fansite, fan site, fan blog or fan page is a website created and maintained by a fan or devotee about a celebrity, thing, or particular cultural phenomenon. Fansites may offer specialized information on the subject (e.g., episode listings, bi ...

where he blogs about his process for composing for the show, and several fan magazines have published interviews with him on the subject of score composition for Smallville. In 2011
Smallville: Score From The Complete Series Vol. 1
with Mark Snow, was released.

Awards

Filmography

Television

Feature Films

Video Feature Films

Cable Films

References

External links

Louis Febre
*
Louis Febre interview
in ''Durance Magazine''
Gorfane/Schwartz AgencyLouis Febre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Febre, Louis American television composers 1959 births Hispanic and Latino American musicians Living people American musicians of Mexican descent People from Saltillo Emmy Award winners Musicians from Coahuila