Annabel Jankel

Annabel Jankel is an award-winning British film and TV director who first came to prominence as the co-creator and director of the cyber-character Max Headroom [http://www.studiodaily.com/main/news/feed.rss/8422.html]

Early career

She started her career in the late 1970s at the UK-based film production company Cucumber Studios which she founded with her partner - fellow director Rocky Morton. Jankel and Morton specialized in creating music videos, TV commercials and TV title sequences using a combination of live action, animation and the then emerging art of computer graphics. In this period the duo directed music videos for artists such as Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Donald Fagen and Miles Davis.

In 1985, Jankel and Morton won an Emmy Award for their title sequence for the NBC show "Friday Night Videos". [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165583/awards] In 2003, the music video they directed in 1978 for Elvis Costello's "Accidents Will Happen" was one of only 35 videos selected for inclusion in the Museum of Modern Art's prestigious "Golden Oldies Of Music Video" exhibition. [http://moma.org/exhibitions/film/2003/oldies.html] Their music videos are found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

In 1984, Jankel and Morton co-authored a book titled "Creative Computer Graphics" that detailed the history of the craft and essayed its future. [http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Computer-Graphics-Annabel-Jankel/dp/0521262518]

Jankel and Morton created and directed "The Enemy Within" music Video for the Canadian trio Rush.

Breakthrough

Jankel co-created Max Headroom, a cult cyberpunk character that evolved into multiple TV productions and became very influential in science fiction TV and impacted popular culture in the 1980s. Jankel and Morton first created and directed "The Max Talking Headroom Show" - an entertainment program that featured comedic sequences, interviews conducted by the Headroom cyber-character and music videos. (Channel 4 - UK and HBO - USA). This led to the TV film "" also directed by the duo. The TV film in turn inspired the ABC Max Headroom US TV series.

Subsequent to the success of Max Headroom, Jankel and Morton moved to Los Angeles and together directed a remake of the film noir thriller "D.O.A", starring Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid. The film received critical acclaim in the Washington Post [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/doarhinson_a0c90c.htm] and from film writers such as Roger Ebert who described it as "a witty and literate thriller" [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19880318/REVIEWS/803180302/1023]

Following "D.O.A.", Jankel and Morton directed the film, Super Mario Bros., starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper. The film was set in a dark post-apocalyptic interpretation of the Mushroom Kingdom, as distinct from the colorful cartoonish setting of the game. The film received largely negative reviews and is widely considered to be a flop; it lost a large amount of money at the box office. [ [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=supermariobros.htm Super Mario Bros. (1993) ] ] Although the film boasted several big stars, the screenplay was criticized for lacking any sort of coherent plot. On the television show "Siskel & Ebert", the film received two thumbs down. [ [http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/ebertandroeper/index2.html?sec=6&subsec=Super+Mario+Bros. Siskel & Ebert] ] . However, Hal Linson in the Washington Post described it as "sweet and funny and full of bright invention. In short, it's a blast." [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/supermariobrospghinson_a0a81b.htm] . Other reviews such as the New York Times' Janet Maslin praised the film's direction but diagnosed flaws emanating from the script: "This film's two directors and three screenwriters have clearly tried hard to breathe life into their nonstory... ...its special effects are well executed even when their purpose is less than clear." [http://movies2.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CEFDE1E39F93AA15756C0A965958260]

Creation of the MJZ production company

After directing a number of high-profile TV commercials in 1990, Jankel and Morton founded a production company Morton/Jankel/Zander (sometimes abbreviated to MJZ) with partner David Zander. Jankel and Morton were the company's first directors. The company's primary focus was in making TV commercials with some music video production. At this point, Jankel and Morton started to work as individual directors rather than as co-directors.

As one of the three owners of the company, Jankel was one of the triumvirate responsible for the growth of MJZ from a small unit in 1990 to becoming one of the world's largest and most successful commercial production houses. The company has produced multiple award-winning commercials - including recognition by Britain's D&AD Awards, the Cannes Lions Awards, the Clio Awards and the One Club Awards for advertising. MJZ has been named "Top Commercials Production Company" for two consecutive years by Creativity Magazine.

In 2005, Jankel sold her one-third partnership in Morton/Jankel/Zander- though the company retains her name as an integral part of its established identity.

Solo career

Jankel became in-demand as the director of TV commercials for blue-chip clients such as Coca-Cola, Bud Light, AOL, Bacardi, Hallmark and Greenpeace winning multiple advertising awards. Her "Kiss" spot for Hallmark was named “World’s Best-Humor Commercial”, “Best Directed Commercial" and "Best of Show” at the International Broadcast Awards. She was also awarded the Gold Award for “Best TV Commercial Campaign” at the Worldfest REMI Awards. [http://www.studiodaily.com/main/news/feed.rss/8422.html]

In 2006, Jankel directed the 18-episode TV series "Live From Abbey Road" seen on Channel 4 in the UK and on the Sundance Channel in the US. [http://www.sundancechannel.com/livefromabbeyroad] - working with over 30 major musical artists including Paul Simon, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews, Nora Jones, Wynton Marsalis John Mayer and Dr. John. [http://www.sundancechannel.com/livefromabbeyroad#/episodes]

References

* Book: Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton "Creative Computer Graphics" (UK: Cambridge University Press, 1984) ISBN 0-521-26251-8 [http://www.bookfinder.com/dir/i/Creative_Computer_Graphics/0521262518/]
* Book: "Super Mario Brothers" (US: Disney Pr, 1993) ISBN 1-56282-471-6 [http://www.bookfinder.com/dir/i/Super_Mario_Brothers/1562824716/]

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0417708/ Annabel Jankel on IMDb]