Christopher Sadler

Christopher Sadler (born 1970[1]) is a British animator, director and writer. He is primarily known for his work on Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, Rex the Runt, Cracking Contraptions, Creature Comforts and Shaun the Sheep.[citation needed]

He completed his secondary education at Codsall High School, Staffordshire, leaving in 1989 having passed four A levels. He then joined a one-year art and design foundation course at Stafford College before moving to Bristol and embarking on a Graphic Design degree at University of the West of England.[citation needed]

Although he originally focused on illustration, Sadler later turned his hand to stop motion animation. He graduated in 1993. He began his professional career as a freelance model/set builder before returning to animation. During the 1990s he worked for various film production companies including Bolex Brothers and Elm Road Studios in Bristol, Aaagh Animations in Cardiff and Gnome Productions in Wellington, New Zealand.[citation needed]

He first worked for Aardman Animations in 1994 as a freelance animator and model maker, working on several commercials and the pilot episode for Richard Goleszowski's Rex the Runt series. This led to him being given his first chance to direct when the second series went into production in 2001. In 1999 he was a member of the animation team on Robbie the Reindeer for the BBC, his last independent production before joining Aardman.[citation needed]

He became a full-time Aardman staff member in November 2000 and enjoyed several roles during his time there, including key/character animator on the stop frame feature film projects, "Chicken Run", "Curse of the WereRabbit" and "The Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists!" He joined the Shaun the Sheep team in late 2005, helping to develop the look and animation style of the series and was director of ten episodes.[2]

He was made series director for the second series of forty episodes, which completed production in March 2010. After the filming of "The Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists!" completed in December 2011, he returned to direct five more episodes of "Shaun the Sheep" series 3. He left Aardman Animations in August 2012.[3]

Awards and nominations

  • 2010 - International Emmy Awards - Winner of Children and Young People category for 'Shaun The Sheep'
  • 2010 - The Writers' Guild of Great Britain - Winner[4] Best Children's Television Drama/Comedy
  • 2010 - BAFTA Children's Awards - Winner[5] for Animation - Director: Richard Webber, Series Director: Chris Sadler; Producer: Gareth Owen
  • 2010 - British Animation Awards - Winner[6] for Best Children's Series for "Ewe've Been Framed" Director: Richard Webber, Series Director: Chris Sadler; Producer: Gareth Owen[7]
  • 2008 - International Emmy Awards - Winner of Children and Young People category for 'Shaun The Sheep' (Director with Richard Goleszowski and JP Vine)[8]
  • 2007 - Annecy Awards - Winner of Best TV Production - 'Still Life' from the 'Shaun the Sheep' (Director) [9]
  • 2007 - BAFTA Children's Award - Nominated for 'Shaun the Sheep' (Director, along with Julie Lockhart & Richard Goleszowski) [10]
  • 2007 - Rushes Soho Short Film Festival - Winner of The Era Animation Award - ‘Shaun the Sheep – Off the Baa’ (Director)[11]
  • 2005 - 33rd Annie Awards - Nomination for Best character animation 'Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' (with Jay Grace)[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "III International Animation Festival ANIMACOR'07". Archived from the original on 29 August 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
  2. ^ "Shaun the Sheep - Forum - Series 2 - Your New Series Director". Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  3. ^ Sadler, Christopher. "Linked In". Linked In.
  4. ^ "Writers' Guild Award winners". The Writers' Guild. 22 November 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  5. ^ "British Academy Children's Awards Winners in 2010". BAFTA. 28 November 2010. Archived from the original on 10 December 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  6. ^ "Aardman sweeps board at British Animation Awards". BBC News. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  7. ^ "British Animation Awards nominees announced". Forbidden Planet. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  8. ^ "UK Wins in Seven Categories including Best Performance by an Actor & Best Performance by an Actress". International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 24 November 2008. Archived from the original on 26 December 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  9. ^ Gordon, Joe (18 June 2007). "Brit animation steals the show at Annecy - Forbidden Planet Blog". Forbiddenplanet.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  10. ^ Dixon, Suzi (22 October 2007). "BAFTA Children's Awards: will Harry get the public vote?". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  11. ^ "Winners announced for the Rushes Soho Short Film Festival". Creativematch.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2016.