Batu Sener
Batu Sener is a Los Angeles-based composer, orchestrator, and arranger, known for his work on the Ice Age franchise, Harold and the Purple Crayon, and Better Man.
He actively works alongside Oscar-nominated composer John Powell and has written additional music for films including Pan, Jason Bourne, Ferdinand, Solo: A Star Wars Story, as well as How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Migration and most recently Wicked and the live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon.
His recent works include the studio album Lugano Impressions, an a cappella choir single titled 'LII Dies Tenebrarum,' and the score for the film Better Man, which earned him his AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score. He was a nominee for Breakthrough Composer of the Year in 2022 at IFMCA Awards.
Early life and education
From the age of 3, he trained as a pianist for 17 years at Bilkent University Faculty of Music and Performance Arts and Anadolu University State Conservatory before moving to the United States to study film scoring at Berklee College of Music and composition at Columbia College Chicago. Once in Los Angeles, he met John Powell and has been his collaborator on every single film score and project since 2014.Career
Sener's first feature length score was in the Ice Age franchise titled The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild. A few months later, in the same franchise, Sener scored Ice Age: Scrat Tales, a mini TV series produced by Blue Sky Studios, which turned out to be the last project they released before the studio closed. Sener had collaborated with director Carlos Saldanha via John Powell on the animated feature film Ferdinand. This relationship led to his next feature score Harold and the Purple Crayon. He continues working out of John Powell's 5 Cat Studios and Powell is credited as Score Consultant on this score.Meanwhile, in Turkey and Europe, Sener scored Atatürk, a two-part Turkish epic biographical historical drama film directed by Mehmet Ada Öztekin and written by Necati Şahin. The film follows the life of the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. This project was initially intended to be a 6-episode television series. It stars Aras Bulut İynemli in the title role. The first part of the film, titled Atatürk 1881 - 1919 premiered on October 29, 2023 and the second one, Atatürk II 1881 - 1919 premiered on January 5, 2024, both in Turkey and across Europe. Both films and the television version were later released on Amazon Prime Video.
In 2024, he released an album of arrangements of some of the most recognized traditional pop songs, Reset, by Ben Fuller. Sener is credited as a performer and producer on the album as well. He later scored Michael Gracey's Better Man, a biographical jukebox musical drama film based on the life of the English singer Robbie Williams.
In his work with John Powell, Sener has supplied compositions, arrangements, and orchestrations for over 15 films, along with a wide range of additional recording projects, including Jason Bourne, Solo: A Star Wars Story, How to Train Your Dragon franchise, Don't Worry Darling, Wicked and Wicked: For Good. Sener is also credited as producer on multiple albums including Ferdinand, The Call of the Wild and archival soundtracks from 5 Cat Studios. He has performed on soundtrack festivals and film music concerts across the world. He also worked as an arranger on Home, a single by Nick Jonas for the animated film Ferdinand.