“Tim Kelly was orchestrating for Steve Bernstein and he turned out to be a wonderful composer.”
—Richard Stone, supervising composer: Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, etc.

For over thirty years, Tim Kelly has composed and orchestrated music for film and television, including Warner Bros. animated shows Steven Spielberg Presents: Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Batman: The Animated Series and Watchmen Chapters 1 & 2. Tim has composed scores for live-action movies, a diverse range of television shows, commercials and more. He has been nominated for Emmys five times, winning in 1999 for Animaniacs, 2000 for Histeria! and 2019 for Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash.

A native of Washington state, Tim began classical piano instruction at the age of four, eventually studying clarinet and violin along the way. In high school, he received several NAJE awards for his arranging and compositions for the jazz band and vocal jazz choir, while playing keyboards and synths with local rock bands. After moving to Los Angeles, he earned his Bachelor of Music degree in composition at California State University, Northridge, graduating with honors, and completed commercial composition and performance programs at the Grove School of Music. Additionally, Tim studied conducting with Lucas Richman, Music Director for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, and the techniques of scoring to picture with veteran film and television composer Earl Hagen.

His big break came from the late Shirley Walker who—based on her reaction to his demo tape—hired him to orchestrate for Batman: The Animated Series. This soon led to work with Richard Stone, another late, great composer for Warner Bros. Animation. With Stone’s incredibly talented team of studio musicians, composers and orchestrators, Tim thrived as he honed his conducting and composing skills. He continues to compose for animated projects, including a recent series of Lego DC Comics movies for Warner Home Video.

In the mid 90’s, Tim was captivated with the sound of electronic dance music, which had exploded across the international music scene. Having a life-long love for synthesizers and groove oriented music, he began producing tracks in this style and has become savvy at infusing electronic elements with traditional scoring. His techno-influenced music was used in the feature film The Taking of Pelham 123 and in a variety of movie trailers. The recently released animated movie version of Watchmen (2024) features a moody, analog synth score he composed to match the brooding style of the story, which is set in the 1980s. The score has been receiving many positive reviews.