Shane Acker – Invited Animator at Anim'est 2011

American director, writer and visual effects creator, Shane Acker is the Invited Animator of Anim’est 2011. On Sunday 9 October, at 8:30 p.m., he will show his first feature 9 (USA, 2009) in cinema Patria,  Bucharest. This Focus Features super production, branded by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov), stars Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau. On Monday 4 October, at 2:00 p.m., Acker will have an informal meeting with the public of the festival at the National University of Dramatic and Cinematographic Art (str. Matei Voievod, nr. 55-57), and Friday 14 October, at 7:00 p.m., at the Sala ArCuB, he will deliver the lecture From School to Hollywood (entrance free). This lecture will offer spectators an opportunity to learn more about animation film production, the visual effects used in Hollywood, and about the professional progression of the director, startingwith his schooldays up until his stardom in the Hollywood system.

Before turning to cinema, Shane Acker received first his bachelor’s and then his master’s degree from the Architecture Faculty of the prestigious University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Later, he also received a master’s in animation from the same university . He was quickly recognised as being one of the most promising directors of his generation, working in the visual effects  team of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003, d. Peter Jackson). He became internationally known for his short 9, which was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Animated Short. This short had its world premiere in the Sundance Film Festival Competition, winning the Oscar for student film and Best in Show at the SIGGRAPH Electronic Theatre. Here he met Tim Burton, who suggested he make a feature film with the same title, further developing the characters and the story of the short. Together with Greg Little, Jack Mitchell and the Brown Bag studios from Dublin, Shane recently set up an animation production company in Los Angeles, called Isopod. Currently he directs Isopod’s first production, Deep. In addition to participating at events specifically dedicated to him, Shane Acker is a jury member of the Short and Feature Competitions at Anim’est 2011, together with two young animation directors: Anna Solanas from Spain and Gerlando Infuso from Belgium.