Sylvain Chomet

Sylvain Chomet (born 1963) is a French animator and film director.

Biography

Born in Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris, he studied art at high-school until he graduated in 1982. In 1986 he published his first comic, "Secrets of the Dragonfly".

Chomet moved to London in 1988 to work as an animator at the Richard Purdum studio. In September of that year, he established a freelance practise, working on commercials for clients such as Principality, Renault, Swinton and Swissair.

In 1991, Chomet started work on his first animated film "La Vieille dame et les pigeons" ("The Old Lady and the Pigeons"), with backgrounds designed by Nicolas De Crécy.

The following year, he wrote the script for a science fiction comic called "The Bridge In Mud".

1993 saw Chomet writing the story for "Léon-la-Came", which was drawn by Nicolas De Crécy for "À Suivre" magazine. This was published in 1995 and won the René Goscinny Prize in 1996.

In 1993, Chomet moved to Canada. During 1995 and 1996, he finished work on "The Old Lady and the Pigeons". The short film won him a BAFTA, the Grand Prize at the Annecy Festival, the Cartoon d'Or prize, as well as the Audience Prize and Jury Prize at the Angers Premiers Plans Festival. It also received an Oscar nomination for best animated short film.

In 1997, Chomet published "Ugly, Poor, and Sick", again with Nicolas De Crécy. This won them the Alph-Art Best Comic Prize at the Angoulême Comic Strip Festival.

His feature-length animated film, "Les Triplettes de Belleville" ("The Triplets of Belleville", or "Belleville Rendez-vous" in the UK) was also nominated for two Oscars in 2003 (Best Animated Feature and Best Song), and introduced Chomet's name to a much wider audience.

Sometime around 2004 he founded an animation studio in Edinburgh, Scotland called Django Films.

In 2005 he directed a segment for the collaborative film "Paris, je t'aime" - he was assigned the 7th district (the Eiffel Tower). It was Chomet's first work in live action.

Chomet is currently working on the traditionally-animated feature film "The Illusionist", which is due to be completed in spring 2009, after many delays (it was first planned for release in 2007 [http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/latestnews/Drawing-on-the-spirit-of.2583447.jp] ) "The Illusionist", like Chomet's previous work, has its roots in mid twentieth century popular French culture; it will be based on an unproduced script that Jacques Tati had written as a personal letter to his estranged eldest daughter. [http://www.nonfiction.fr/article-807-la_posterite_de_m_hulot.htm] , and will be starring an animated version of Tati himself - it is estimated to cost around £10 million and is being funded by Pathé Pictures. It was originally conceived by Tati as a journey of love and discovery that takes two characters across western Europe to Prague. [http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/scotnews/061218_simpsons.html] Chomet says that “Tati wanted to move from purely visual comedy and try an emotionally deeper story”. [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article1380045.ece]

Another project, "Barbacoa", originally stated to be released in late 2005, was canceled because of lack of funding. Also, "The Tale of Despereaux" was to be Chomet's first computer-animated film, scheduled to come to American theaters Christmas 2008, but it is now being directed by Sam Fell and Gary Ross after the production studio dismissed Chomet. Chomet, for his part, says that he could not stand the creative environment. [http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/?p=4356]

Chomet has been critical of the standard of British art schools in their lack of ability to produce sufficiently skilled animators required for his Edinburgh Studio. [http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/scotnews/061218_simpsons.html]

Filmography

*"La Vieille dame et les pigeons" ("The Old Lady and the Pigeons") (short) (1998)
*"Les Triplettes de Belleville" ("The Triplets of Belleville", or "Belleville Rendez-vous") (2003)
*"Paris, je t'aime" (segment "VIIe arrondissement") (2006)
*"The Illusionist" (2009)

External links

*imdb name|id=0158984|name=Sylvain Chomet
* [http://mag.awn.com/index.php?article_no=1923 Sylvain Chomet interview]
* [http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=cat&category1=Business&newsitem_no=14927 More recent interview in which Chomet talks about his future plans (Sept. 19, 2005)]