Timothy Shortell is a Los Angeles-based composer working primarily in the fields of film and television. A native of Portland, Oregon, he honed his craft at Occidental College under Emmy Award–winning composer Adam Schoenberg, where he scored two feature films and numerous shorts. In 2022, he became the youngest composer to ever write custom music for a theatrical movie trailer at the age of 19.
After earning his Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition, Timothy joined the team of acclaimed composer James Everingham, contributing additional music to the BBC crime drama Virdee and serving as technical score engineer on Apple TV+'s Chief of War. In addition to scoring, he has composed, orchestrated, and produced hundreds of pieces of music in various genres for leading publishing labels including Universal Production Music, BMG, Cézame Music Agency, Phoenician Order Music, Avalon Zero, Tonal Chaos Music, Brash, Synchronic Sound, and 1107 Studios. His work has appeared in thousands of trailers, commercials, and television spots for clients such as Hulu, Paramount+, Prime Video, Riot Games, BBC, ESPN, ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX, CBS, Discovery, and various international networks.
In 2023, he composed and conducted a commissioned original 15-minute work for the combined Occidental College Symphony Orchestra and Occidental College Glee Club chorus. His other contemporary classical works have been premiered by ensembles and soloists worldwide, including Hub New Music and Vicki Ray. He has received a Production Music Award for Best Drama Score, the Thomas Bergersen Grant for Young Talent from the co-founder of Two Steps From Hell, and was three times awarded Occidental College’s Elinor Remick Warren Award for Significant Achievement in Musical Composition.
