BIO / FILMOGRAPHY / DISCOGRAPHY
An award winning composer, Tom McLeod's dynamic musical background spans many worlds, bringing a diverse range of influences to his work in film and television, theatre and orchestral projects.
After graduating, from the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington, where he majored in jazz piano, Tom spent several years performing at festivals around NZ with many acts – including his own comic persona Tommy Love, before going to work with composer/arranger Terry Gray – producing and arranging music for television.
Through this, Tom discovered a passion for narrative composing, and has since established a career composing music for numerous films and television shows, as well as stage musicals such as the large scale 2018 stage production City Of 100 Lovers, and his collaboration with composer Tim Finn for the opera project Ihitai ‘Avei’a – Star Navigator.
In 2021 Tom won Best Original Score for Fight For The Wild at the NZ TV Awards. He has been a multiple finalist at the APRA Awards, and has twice won the APRA Best Original Music in a Series award for TV comedy Girl Vs Boy. Other screen highlights include the new Netflix docu-drama series Blood, Sex and Royalty, comedy feature Dead, family film Kiwi Christmas, fantasy-adventure Into The Rainbow, true-life drama 3 Mile Limit, and the WWI 6-part epic When We Go To War.
Tom has also scored many feature documentaries which have garnered success at international festivals such as When The Cows Come Home, Camino Skies, Pecking Order, The Art of Recovery and Candyman. He composed the score and songs for several NZ/Germany tele-features with ZDF based on the Emilie Richards romance novels, and has scored many local children's television series' including super-hero show Amazing Extraordinary Friends and musical drama series Karaoke High, plus creating the theme music for NZ Story – a government-led campaign to promote NZ business internationally.
Tom has collaborated with leading New Zealand recording artists The Phoenix Foundation, Louis Baker and Tim Finn - with whom he is currently completing the recording of Ihitai 'Avei'a – Star Navigator with West Australian Opera and West Australian Symphony Orchestra. He has produced and arranged albums such as Tim Beveridge’s Come Rain Come Shine recorded with the Buddy Childers Big Band in Los Angeles (Sony Music), The Spirit Symphony with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and the soundtrack for cult hit kids show The Tribe.
Aside from composing, Tom had the privilege of co-writing a musical comedy-drama TV series for Prime called Tommy Love in 2006, starring in the pilot episode, and later performing the role for a talk-show style TV3 pilot in 2010. In 2022, Tom was asked to reprise the role, composing and performing the theme song for The Love Hour - with comedian Tom Sainsbury, for TV3's Three Comedy Pilots season.
filmography
composer:
Blood, Sex and Royalty - Netflix series (Nutopia) 2022
When The Cows Come Home - Feature Documentary (dir. Costa Botes) 2022
One Long Black - Short Film (dir. Dean Hewison) 2021
Song For Serbia - Short Film (dir. Rouzie Hassanova) 2021
Fight For The Wild - Documentary Series (dir. Peter Young) 2021
Peninsula - Short Film - [Title song] (dir. Fiona McKenzie 2021)
New Zealand Story "Global Ingenuity" - Web-Promo [commercial] 2020
DEAD - Feature Film (dir. Hayden Weal) 2020
Woman In Blue - Short Film (dir. Jack O'Donnell) 2020
Camino Skies - Feature Documentary (dir. Noel Smyth & Fergus Grady) 2019
Chips - Short Film (dir. Karen Kelly) 2019
City of 100 Lovers - Stage Musical Production (dir. Tony Stimac / creative dir. Vincent Ward) 2018
New Zealand Story "Global Film" - Web-Promo [commercial] 2018
Kiwi Christmas - Feature Film (dir. Tony Simpson) 2017
Monomoko "Love Your Lines" - Web-Promo [commercial] (dir. Tim Christie) 2017
Tama - Short Film (dir. Jared Flitcroft & Jack O'Donnell) 2017
Pecking Order - Feature Documentary (dir. Slavko Martinov) 2016
Into The Rainbow [aka The Wonder] - Feature Film (dir. Norman Stone) 2016
Hypothermia - Short Film (dir. Pavel Kvatch) 2015
The Art Of Recovery - Feature Documentary (dir. Peter Young) 2015
Act Of Kindness - Feature Documentary (dir. Costa Botes) 2015
When We Go To War - TV drama series (dir. Peter Burger) 2015
Jack & Chops - Web Series (dir. Andy Campion / Hayden J. Weal) 2014
Girl vs. Boy - TV drama/comedy SEASON 3 (dir. Thomas Robins/David Stubbs) 2014
Dancers - Short Film (dir. Louise Leitch) 2014
3 Mile Limit - Feature Film (dir. Craig Newland) 2013
Mitre 10 Dream Home - TV reality series SEASON 11 (dir. Leon Sefton) TVNZ, 2013
Girl vs. Boy - TV drama/comedy SEASON 2 (dir. Thomas Robins/David Stubbs) 2013
Blankets - Short Film (dir. Louise Leitch) 2013
The God Painter - Short Film (dir. Pavel Kvatch) 2013
The Present - Short Film (dir. Thomas Robins) 2012
Girl vs. Boy - TV drama/comedy series SEASON 1 (dir. Thomas Robins/David Stubbs) 2012
Spuren der Verganganheit - Tele-feature for ZDF (dir. Christoph Schrewe) 2012
The Gospel Of John - Booktrack score - New Testament (dir. Jacqueline Coats) 2012
Hot Rob - Short Film (dir. Andy Campion) 2012
Dr Grordbort presents: The Deadliest Game - Short Film (dir. James Cunningham) 2011
The Last Dogs Of Winter - Feature Documentary (dir. Costa Botes) 2011
Der Zauber von Neuseeland - Tele-feature for ZDF (dir. John Delbridge) 2011
Entscheidung des Herzens - Tele-feature for ZDF (dir. John Delbridge) 2011
Netherwood – Feature Film (dir. Cristobal Araus Lobos) 2011
Daytime Tiger - Feature Documentary (dir. Costa Botes) 2011
Sehnsucht nach Paradise Island - Tele-feature for ZDF (dir. Thomas Hezel) 2011
Whakatiki - Short Film (dir. Louise Leitch) 2010
Living With Ivy - Short Film 2010
Candyman: The David Klein Story - Feature Documentary (dir. Costa Botes) 2010
Alone Against The Tasman - TV Docu-drama for TV1 (dir. Roz Mason) 2010
One Night Only - TV talent show entertainment series for TV2, 2009
Lost In Wonderland - Feature Documentary (dir. Zoe McIntosh, prod. Costa Botes) 2009
The Amazing Extraordinary Friends - TV drama series for TV2 (Greenstone) 2006-2008 [3 SEASONS]
The Killian Curse 2 - TV drama series (TVNZ) 2007
Karaoke High - TV drama series (TVNZ) 2006
Karma - Short Film (dir. Damon Fepuleai) 2005
Tommy Love - TV comedy pilot (Prime) 2004
Maiden Voyage - Tele-feature (Carlton America, dir. Colin Budds) 2003
Secret Agent Men - TV drama series for TV3 (Greenstone) 2003-2004
music director:
Ihitai 'Avei'a - Star Navigator - Stage Musical Production 2021 - Musical Supervision
The Look Of Love - Stage Musical Production 2021 - Resident Music Director
City Of 100 Lovers - Stage Musical Production 2018 - Supervising Music Director
Tommy Love - Live Entertainment TV pilot (TV3) 2010
One Night Only - Live entertainment TV series (TVNZ) 2009
Revelations - TV drama series (Cloud 9) 2002
The Tribe - TV drama series (season 4) (Cloud 9) 2001
Atlantis High - TV drama series (Cloud 9) 2001
Young Entertainers - Live entertainment TV series (DSP) 1997-1999
Showcase - Live entertainment TV series (DSP) 1997-1998
Carols By Candlelight - Stage Show Production 1998-2012
The Gong Show - Live entertainment TV series (DSP) 1997
discography:
DEAD - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (composer / producer)
You Got My Love - Barnaby Weir / Tom McLeod - from "Kiwi Christmas" (single)
Kiwi Christmas - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (composer / producer)
Art Of Recovery - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (composer / producer)
A Hero's Tale - New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (composer) - SOUNZ recording
Happy Endings - The Phoenix Foundation (strings arranger)
Vesuvius - Luke Buda (strings arranger)
Karaoke High - soundtrack (unreleased) (composer / producer)
Come Rain Come Shine - Tim Beveridge (arranger / producer)
The Spirit Symphony - New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (arranger / producer)
Fever: A Peggy Lee Story - Sarah Lineham (arranger / producer)
The Tribe - Abe Messiah (second edition - 3 tracks - arranger / producer)
