Richard Starzak | |
|---|---|
 Starzak in 2008 | |
| Born | April 1959 (age 64) Suffolk, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Richard "Golly" Goleszowski |
| Occupation(s) | Animator, screenwriter, film director |
| Notable work | Rex the Runt Creature Comforts Shaun the Sheep Shaun the Sheep Movie |
Richard Starzak, previously known as Richard "Golly" Goleszowski, [1] is an English animator, screenwriter, and film director. [2]
Starzak was born in Suffolk in 1959 [3] and grew up in Ipswich, [4] attending Northgate Grammar School. [4] After completing a degree in Fine Art at Exeter College of Art and Design specialising in animation, he experimented further with animation and DJing [3] before joining Aardman Animations in 1983 [5] as its first employee. [6] [7]
During his first nine-year [5] stretch at Aardman he worked on several short films and promos including "Morph", [8] "Sledgehammer" for Peter Gabriel, [6] Pee-wee's Playhouse in New York, [5] his own film Ident (1989), [6] which introduced the character Rex, [9] and two Rex the Runt pilot films. [6] [8] His commercial work includes Domestos Big Dom, Grolsch, Cadbury's Creme Eggs, Weetos and Maltesers and several European commercials.[ citation needed ]
In 1992, [5] Starzak left Aardman to pursue a freelance career during which time he worked in New Zealand as Production Adviser for Oscar and Friends , and wrote and directed 13 episodes of Rex the Runt for BBC2, winning the Carlton Award for International Animation at The Indies in 2000. [8]
He then directed Robbie the Reindeer in 1999 for BBC Animation Unit. [8] [10] Robbie went on to win 19 international awards including a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award (BAFTA). [8] [11] Following the success of Robbie, Starzak worked for two years on a project for Aardman's feature film department [5] [12] as well as directing and writing the second series of Rex the Runt. [8] [9] In 2002, Starzak was honoured with the Award for Best TV Special for Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire at the 3rd International Festival of Animated Feature Films and TV Specials. [13] From 2003, he directed two series of Creature Comforts – 2x13 episodes for ITV based on the Academy Award-winning Nick Park short film. [9] [14] The first series went on to win 17 awards, and both series were nominated for a BAFTA. The second series includes a half-hour Christmas special. In between these two series, he devised Shaun the Sheep , [9] writing and directing the pilot.[ citation needed ] In 2001 When the Production work of The Fimbles started the get in way he did Additional Character work with Sarah Hayes and Jacob Lunt (The Man who worked on Many Julian Kemp works) In July 2005, Starzak rejoined Aardman as creative director of the Broadcast and Development department, writing scripts, and overseeing new projects in development. [6] [8] Aardman's first children's TV series, Shaun the Sheep, was directed by Goleszowski who also wrote several episodes. [2] Shaun has sold to over 150 territories. [15] In 2015, he co-wrote and co-directed Shaun the Sheep Movie with Mark Burton. [16]
Wallace and Gromit is a British stop-motion animated comedy franchise created by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations. The main film series consists of four short films and one feature-length film, and has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The series centres on Wallace, a good-natured, eccentric, cheese-loving inventor, and Gromit, his loyal and intelligent anthropomorphic beagle. The first short film, A Grand Day Out, was finished and made public in 1989. Wallace was voiced by actor Peter Sallis until 2010 when he was succeeded by Ben Whitehead. Gromit is largely silent and has no dialogue, communicating through facial expressions and body language.
Aardman Animations Limited is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films and television series made using stop-motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring its plasticine characters from Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, and Morph. After some experimental computer-animated short films during the late 1990s, beginning with Owzat (1997), Aardman entered the computer animation market with Flushed Away (2006). As of February 2020, it had earned $1.1 billion worldwide, with an average $135.6 million per film.
Nicholas Wulstan Park is an English filmmaker and animator who created Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep, and Early Man. Park has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of six times and won four with Creature Comforts (1989), The Wrong Trousers (1993), A Close Shave (1995) and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).
Rex the Runt is a live-action stop-motion adult animated claymation pixilation comedy series, primarily consisting of a television show and two short films produced by Aardman Animations and Egmont Imagination for BBC Bristol, with EVA Entertainment co-producing the first series. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince.
Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave is a 1995 British stop-motion animated short film co-written and directed by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations with Wallace and Gromit Ltd., BBC Bristol and BBC Children's International. It is the third film featuring Wallace and Gromit, following A Grand Day Out (1989) and The Wrong Trousers (1993). A Close Shave won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. A Close Shave saw the first appearance of Shaun, who became the main character of the Shaun the Sheep spin-off series.
Robbie the Reindeer is a trilogy of three Christmas-themed animated comedy television specials that have been produced by BBC Bristol, Absolute Digital Pictures and Comic Relief. The three television specials have also been premiered on BBC One between 1999 and 2007. The three television specials have also been distributed by BBC Studios and have also been sold to more than 30 countries. The three television specials follow the title reindeer character who travels to the North Pole to follow in his father's footsteps and join Santa Claus's reindeer sleigh team. The first television special and the second television special were animated in stop motion by the BBC Bristol animation unit and originally Aardman Animations, while the third television special was animated in computer animation by Absolute Digital Pictures. Loosely based on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May, Robbie the Reindeer was created by Richard Curtis.
Shaun the Sheep is a British stop-motion animated silent comedy children's television series and a spin-off of the Wallace and Gromit franchise. The title character is Shaun, a sheep who previously appeared in the 1995 short film A Close Shave and the Shopper 13 short film from the 2002 Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraptions series. The series focuses on his adventures on a northern English farm as the leader of his flock.
Steven Royston Box is an English animator and director who works for Aardman Animations.
Purple and Brown is a British stop-motion animated short series made in collaboration with Nickelodeon and Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace and Gromit. The series was devised and directed by Rich Webber and edited by Mike Percival, who also offered the voices of the characters, and first aired in February 2006, on Nickelodeon's UK and Ireland channel, and then later became a staple on the US Nickelodeon network as part of its former Nick Extra short program.
"Hooves of Fire" is one of three animated BBC Christmas comedy television specials, filmed using stop motion techniques, and presented in 1999 in aid of Comic Relief.
Samuel Jason Fell is a British animator, director, screenwriter and voice actor.
Mark Burton is a British television writer, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, and film director.
Christopher Sadler 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.
David Max Freedman is an American writer, producer and director. He is well known as the co creator of the British animated adult comedy television series Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show! for the BBC.
Oscar and Friends is a New Zealand children's stop motion animated television series that aired from 1995 to 1996. The series was produced in Wellington, and was aimed at children aged 3 to 6. The series was produced by Gnome Productions Ltd., distributed by Southern Star Sales, and funded by NZ On Air and Southern Star Entertainment. Oscar and Friends has been screened all around the world including the UK (ITV), The United States, Australia (ABC), Taiwan, Germany, South Africa (M-Net) and Argentina
Shaun the Sheep Movie is a 2015 stop-motion animated adventure comedy film written and directed by Richard Starzak and Mark Burton. It is based on the British television series Shaun the Sheep, in turn a spin-off of the Wallace and Gromit film A Close Shave (1995). Starring the voices of Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, and Omid Djalili, the film follows Shaun and his flock navigating the big city to save their amnesiac farmer, while an overzealous animal control worker pursues the group. It was produced by Aardman Animations, and financed by StudioCanal in association with Anton Capital Entertainment.
Underdog is a character developed by The Gate London advertising agency and animated by Aardman Animations. The character is featured in advertisements for the personal injury claims company, National Accident Helpline, a UK-based provider of personal injury services.
Aardman Animations is an animation studio in Bristol, England that produces stop motion and computer-animated features, shorts, TV series and adverts.
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon is a 2019 stop-motion animated science fiction comedy film produced by Aardman Animations. The film is directed by Richard Phelan and Will Becher and written by Mark Burton and Jon Brown, based on an idea by Richard Starzak. It is a stand-alone sequel to Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) and is based on the claymation television series Shaun the Sheep, a spinoff from the Wallace and Gromit short film A Close Shave. It is the first sequel ever made by Aardman and in stop-motion in general. The film stars Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Kate Harbour, and Rich Webber reprising their voice roles from the series and the previous film, whilst new cast members include Amalia Vitale, David Holt and Chris Morrell. In the film, Shaun and the flock encounter a cute alien with extraordinary powers, who crash-lands near Mossy Bottom Farm. They have to find a way to return her home in order to prevent her falling into the hands of the Ministry for Alien Detection.
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