Alexander Janko

An award-winning filmmaker, Alexander Janko's creative repertoire spans the music, literary, stage, TV and film industries. Classically trained as a cellist, his first single "Omniscient Woman" won Billboard's Best Original Song competition in 1991. After graduating Princeton, he moved to Hollywood where he proceeded to work on more than 65 major motion pictures. Tommy Boy (1995) launched his career as David Newman's orchestrator. Mike Mills of R.E.M. hired him to arrange and conduct the music for Man on the Moon (1999). A career milestone, he scored My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), the highest grossing romantic comedy in history. His soundtrack won BMI's Film Music award. Expanding into theatre, Mr Janko composed the music for Oren Safdie's off-Broadway premiere of Private Jokes, Public Places. The libretto of his first stage musical, Emerging From The Night, is based on the lost love letters of two 12th century icons: the powerful abbess, Heloise, and great philosopher, Abelard. As a writer, Mr Janko has penned a one-act stage play and five film scripts, including Home Town (based on Tracy Kidder's national bestseller), which became a semifinalist in Final Draft's "Big Break" screenwriting competition. Mr Janko's directorial debut,Year by the Sea (2016) (based on Joan Anderson's NYT best-selling memoir) won 16 festival awards (including Best Film, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Music and multiple Audience Choice) before its national release.