Kirk DeMicco | |
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Born | [1] Wyckoff, New Jersey, U.S. | May 15, 1969
Alma mater | University of Southern California |
Occupations | |
Years active | 1998–present |
Notable work | Space Chimps The Croods Vivo Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken |
Kirk DeMicco (born May 15, 1969) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on animated films, such as writing and directing Space Chimps (2008), The Croods (2013), Vivo (2021), and Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023).
Raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey and a former resident of Franklin Lakes, DeMicco attended Ramapo High School. [2] [3]
After graduation in 1991 from the University of Southern California, where he double majored in economics and political science, [4] he spent three years in Italy, where he worked as a journalist, interviewing individuals involved in the Italian movie industry for an Italian film-business magazine. After returning to the United States, he worked for the William Morris Agency in New York City, before relocating to the firm's office in Los Angeles in a transfer arranged by talent agent Lee Stollman. [5]
DeMicco's first script sale was called "A Day in November" which he sold to Warner Bros. and producer Arnold Kopelson for $1 million before signing to write Quest for Camelot . [6] Later he wrote and co-produced Racing Stripes for director Frederik Du Chau. John Cleese and DeMicco co-wrote the film adaptation of the Roald Dahl's children classic The Twits . [7] He also wrote "Splitting Adam" a movie that was set up at United Artists. [8] He then worked as a writer on Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie and later worked on Casper's Scare School . While working at Warner Bros., he and Du Chau also wrote a script for the upcoming live-action–animated film based on the Hanna-Barbera character, Hong Kong Phooey, which they sold to Alcon Entertainment. He adapted the Jack Kirby comic New Gods, and collaborated with filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld on an adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel. [9] He has also done many production rewrites for Disney, Warner Bros., DreamWorks and Spyglass. In television, he is the creator and executive producer of the Discovery Channel documentary HALO: Freefall Warriors. [10]
In 2008, he wrote and directed the movie Space Chimps for John H. Williams and his company Vanguard Animation; the film is inspired by the first chimpanzee to go to space, Ham.
In 2013, DeMicco co-wrote and co-directed DreamWorks Animation's The Croods with Chris Sanders, which they also both co-wrote the film’s theme song Shine Your Way. [11] DeMicco began writing the film with John Cleese in 2005. [12] The Croods grossed over $582 million worldwide at the box office, [13] and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. [14] It was also nominated for a Golden Globe. [15] DeMicco and Sanders then worked on The Croods sequel for three and a half years, before its cancellation in late 2016, until it was revived a year later. [16] [17]
In December 2016, it was reported that DeMicco was directing Vivo for Sony Pictures Animation released on August 6, 2021. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote new songs for this musical animated feature. [18] [19] Lin-Manuel Miranda reported that Vivo has been 10 years in the making and that it's in amazing shape. And that and Quiara [Alegría Hudes], my cowriter on [In the] Heights, is working on the screenplay with Kirk [De Micco], our director." [20] In May of 2021, it was reported that Netflix has licensed all global rights, sans China, to Sony Pictures Animation’s Vivo. The movie, directed by Oscar nominee DeMicco, was written by DeMicco and Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes, who wrote the book for Miranda’s Tony-winning Broadway musical In the Heights. Said Miranda, “Bringing Vivo to life has been an incredible artistic journey. I couldn’t ask for better creative partners than Kirk, Quiara, Alex and the entire team at Sony Animation. I’m so excited Vivo will have a home at Netflix, where kids of all ages will be able to enjoy the film’s songs and adventures again and again.” [21]
In March 2023, DeMicco was announced as the director for Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (replacing the film's original director Paul Tibbitt), which was released on June 30, 2023. [22]
Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. Most of the studio's films are distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing under their Columbia Pictures label, while all direct-to-video releases are released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Christopher Michael Sanders is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. His credits include Lilo & Stitch (2002) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010), both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with Dean DeBlois, The Croods (2013) with Kirk DeMicco, and The Call of the Wild (2020). He is also known for creating the story behind Lilo & Stitch and for creating and voicing its latter title character in the film and its franchise.
Simon Finlay Wells is an English film director of animation and live-action films. He is the great-grandson of author H. G. Wells, and is best known for directing The Prince of Egypt with Brenda Chapman and Steve Hickner.
Laurence Mark is an American film and television producer. His works include The Greatest Showman (2017), Julie & Julia (2009), Dreamgirls (2006), I, Robot (2004), As Good as It Gets (1997), and Jerry Maguire (1996).
Space Chimps is a 2008 animated comic science fiction film directed by Kirk DeMicco, who wrote the screenplay with Rob Moreland. It features the voices of Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Patrick Warburton, Kristin Chenoweth, Kenan Thompson, Zack Shada, Carlos Alazraqui, Omid Abtahi, Patrick Breen, Jane Lynch, Kath Soucie, and Stanley Tucci.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals In the Heights (2005) and Hamilton (2015), and the soundtracks for the animated films Moana (2016), Vivo, and Encanto. He has received numerous accolades including three Tony Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for two Academy Awards.
Byron P. Howard is an American animator, character designer, story artist, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as the director of the Walt Disney Animation Studios films Bolt (2008), Tangled (2010), Zootopia (2016), and Encanto (2021). He is the first LGBT director to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature twice for his work on Zootopia and Encanto.
Quiara Alegría Hudes is an American playwright, producer, lyricist and essayist. She is best known for writing the book for the musical In the Heights (2007), and screenplay for its film adaptation. Hudes' first play in her Elliot Trilogy, Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. She received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Water by the Spoonful, her second play in that trilogy.
Christopher Shannon Tindle, known professionally as Shannon Tindle, is an American animator, storyboard artist, television writer, screenwriter, and film director. Tindle's work on the television series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends received an Annie Award nomination in 2005 for Best Character Design in an Animated Television Production. Later, at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006, he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for "Go Goo Go", while the episode was also nominated for Outstanding Animated Program.
The Croods is a 2013 American animated adventure comedy-drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was written and directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, and stars the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman. The film is set in a historically inaccurate prehistoric Pliocene era known as "The Croodaceous" when Grug, patriarch of the Croods, is threatened by the arrival of a genius named Guy, who comes up with revolutionary new inventions as they trek through a dangerous but exotic land in search of a new home.
Frederik Du Chau is a Belgian film director, screenwriter and animator.
The Croods: A New Age is a 2020 American animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to The Croods (2013) as well as the second and final installment of The Croods franchise, it was directed by Joel Crawford from a screenplay by Paul Fisher, Bob Logan, Dan and Kevin Hageman, based on a story by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders. The film features the returning voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke and Cloris Leachman. The film also makes new additions to the cast, including Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann and Kelly Marie Tran. The film follows The Croods, Guy and their pets Belt, Chunky and Douglas, as they discover an idyllic, walled-in paradise that meets all of their needs. Unfortunately, they must also learn to live with the Bettermans, a family with a couple of steps above the Croods on the evolutionary ladder.
The Croods is an American media franchise by DreamWorks Animation. The franchise began with the 2013 film The Croods, and has since grown to include a sequel, The Croods: A New Age; two television series, Dawn of the Croods and The Croods: Family Tree; and two video games. Set in the fictional prehistoric "Croodaceous" time period which is roamed by a series of bizarre hybrid animals, the franchise follows the eponymous cavepeople family as they travel through the dangerous but exotic lands in search of a new home after their previous home was destroyed.
Jared Bush is an American screenwriter, producer and director. He is best known for co-writing and co-directing the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Zootopia (2016), writing the film Moana (2016), and writing, directing, and winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for the film Encanto (2021), besides co-creating and executive producing the Disney XD animated series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero.
Vivo is a 2021 American animated musical comedy film directed by Kirk DeMicco and co-directed by Brandon Jeffords, from a screenplay written by DeMicco and Quiara Alegría Hudes. Based on an original idea by Hudes and Peter Barsocchini, the film is produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, with songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also serves as an executive producer and voices the title character. The film also features the voices of Zoe Saldaña, Juan de Marcos, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Rooker, Nicole Byer, Gloria Estefan, and introduces Ynairaly Simo in her film debut as Gabi. Vivo marks Sony Pictures Animation's first musical film. The story follows Vivo (Miranda), a music-loving kinkajou, who embarks on the journey of a lifetime to fulfill his destiny and must deliver a love song to Marta Sandoval (Estefan), a retiring singer.
Joel Crawford is an American storyboard artist and director best known for his work on several DreamWorks Animation films, including The Croods: A New Age (2020) and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022).
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is a 2023 American animated action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Kirk DeMicco, co-directed by Faryn Pearl, and written by Pam Brady and the writing team of Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi. The film stars the voices of Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Annie Murphy, Sam Richardson, Liza Koshy, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, Jaboukie Young-White, Blue Chapman, and Jane Fonda. The film follows a shy 16-year-old anthropomorphic kraken girl named Ruby Gillman (Condor) who is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High. When she breaks her mother's (Collette) rule by going into the ocean with any would-be friends, she discovers that she is a direct descendant of battle-hardened krakens who have protected the sea from evil mermaids for generations, and is also destined to inherit the throne from her grandmother (Fonda).
Vivo (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2021 film of the same name. The soundtrack consisted of eleven songs (with reprise versions of two of the tracks) written and co-composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and performed by the film's cast, with twelve instrumental tracks from the film's score composed by Alex Lacamoire, Miranda's longtime collaborator. The soundtrack was led by the single "Keep The Beat" released on July 22, 2021, and the album in its entirety was released on August 6, 2021 through Atlantic Records, coinciding with the film's release through Netflix. A separate album for Lacamoire's score was released on August 20.
At 43, DeMicco a Sicomac Elementary School, Eisenhower Middle School and Ramapo High School alum has returned back to his original cave to wow his old pals with his latest creation.