Biography
Elia Cmiral, also credited as Ilja David Cmíral, is a Czech composer of film, television and other media. Born on 1 October 1950 in Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia (now Zlín, Czech Republic), he studied composition and double bass at the Prague Conservatory. His first scoring opportunity came via his father’s theatre production of Cyrano de Bergerac.
Cmiral emigrated to Sweden in the 1980s, where he composed for European films, television and stage works including three ballets. He moved to the United States in 1987, studied film scoring at the University of Southern California, and scored his first American feature, Apartment Zero (1988). He later composed the theme and first season of the television series Nash Bridges.
His breakthrough came with the score for Ronin (1998), directed by John Frankenheimer. He is also known for his work on Stigmata (1999), Wrong Turn (2003), They (2002), Pulse (2006), Splinter (2008) and Piranha 3DD (2012). Cmiral won the Movieline Young Hollywood Award for Best Soundtrack for Ronin.
