Commercials & Productions

Francesco composed music for over 300 commercials and international productions, working across advertising, film, television and media.

Awards & Selected Works

In 2012, he composed the soundtrack for the documentary “Jet Set – Quando l'aeroporto sembrava Via Veneto” by Antonello Sarno for Mediaset, winning first prize at the Rome Film Festival 2012. The documentary was screened on all Alitalia flights from March 2013.

In 2012, he won first prize at the Contursi Film Festival with the soundtrack for the short film “Faccia da Ladro” by Alessandro Palminiello, produced by Rossellini Production of Rome.

In 2015, he won First Place “Best of Fest” at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival with the BBC documentary “Time Capsule” by Chris Summerfield.

Education & Training

From his early childhood, Francesco de Donatis showed a strong musical sensibility and a unique talent as a composer. In 2003, he studied Composition and Vocal Performance at the Conservatory “Nino Rota” in Monopoli.

In 2006, he won a scholarship to attend the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, studying Composition for Film with Oscar-winning composer Maestro Luis Bacalov.

Francesco graduated in Film Scoring with a minor in Video Game Music at Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA, under scholarship, and in Composition at the University of Salford in Manchester, UK, also under scholarship.

He studied orchestration and film scoring with internationally renowned composers and orchestrators including Richard Davis, Conrad Pope, Norman Ludwin, George S. Clinton, Sheldon Mirowitz, Dario Eskenazi and Michael Sweet.

He also completed advanced studies in Film Scoring, Music for Video Games and Sound Design for Film at Italian conservatories, graduating with 110 e lode.

Current Roles

Francesco de Donatis currently works as a film composer with several American production music companies, including Gratitude Sound, GMP and John Arms Production Music.