Justin Paul

Justin Paul
Justin Paul (right) and Benj Pasek
Background information
Born	(1985-01-03) January 3, 1985 (age 32) St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Occupation(s)	Composer, lyricist, singer
Associated acts	Pasek and Paul

Justin Paul (born January 3, 1985) is an American theater and television composer and lyricist.

Paul was born in Missouri, but raised in Connecticut. He attended Music Theatre of Connecticut School of Performing Arts, Coleytown Middle School, and Staples High School, both in Westport, Connecticut. He graduated from the University of Michigan in December 2006 with a BFA in Musical Theatre.

He is the co-creator, with Benj Pasek of the song cycle Edges. Also with Pasek, he is one of the songwriters for the Disney Channel show Johnny and the Sprites.Pasek and Paul won the Jonathan Larson Award in 2007. He also co-wrote and co-composed the musical Dogfight, which opened Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre in July 2012. He also composed the musical James and the Giant Peach with Benj Pasek.

Most recently, they have created and written the score for the stage musical Dear Evan Hansen which premiered at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. in July 2015. The musical, which has been called "striking for its moral complexity as well as its musical ambition", which opened on Broadway in December 2016.

Pasek and Paul wrote the lyrics for the film musical La La Land. The film was written and directed by Damien Chazelle, and stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. The film was the opening film at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, on August 31, 2016. The duo won the 2017 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "City of Stars." The pair received two Best Original Song nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, for "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" and "City of Stars," alongside composer Justin Hurwitz. "City of Stars" won the award.