Chris Hajian

Born and raised in Queens, New York—yeah, Chris Hajian had music running through his veins since he was five. His dad, Edward, was a pro musician, so it’s not like he had much choice. Started out with the trumpet, then landed at New York’s legendary High School of the Performing Arts before diving into classical composition at Manhattan School of Music. But honestly, things got wild when the whole indie film scene exploded in the '90s and Chris found his groove scoring movies. “Ten Benny” with Adrian Brody? That one landed at Sundance in ’96. The next year, “Mr. Vincent” did the same, all moody and black-and-white. He’s not just a drama guy, though. Chris bounced between genres like it was nothing—think “Yonkers Joe” with Chazz Palminteri, “The Take” starring John Leguizamo and Rosie Perez (critics were all over that one), and then straight into family comedies for the big studios—“Inspector Gadget 2,” “Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2”—yeah, he did those too. Fast forward to 2016: Chris got back together with Brad Furman for “The Infiltrator,” a tense, synth-heavy thriller with Bryan Cranston chasing Pablo Escobar’s dirty money. That score? Pure tension, pure 80s, and critics loved it. He’s also cranked out music for TV—two seasons of Sony’s “Start Up”—and even tackled animation with “Woody Woodpecker The Red Menace.” “City of Lies” with Johnny Depp and Forrest Whitaker? That was him too. Lately, he’s been killing it with documentaries and teaching at NYU, still hustling, still passionate, and honestly, just stoked to watch his students rise.