Tommy Pallotta

Last updated

Tommy Pallotta (born May 25, 1968, in Houston, Texas) is an American film director and producer.

Contents

Biography

Pallotta received a degree in Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. There, he met Richard Linklater and began his film career as an actor and production assistant on Linklater's directorial debut, Slacker (1991). After working on numerous films and commercials, Pallotta wrote, directed and produced his first film, The High Road (1997). He also produced several of Bob Sabiston's animated projects including: Roadhead (1999), which received the Best Animation award at the Aspen Film Festival; a series of interstitials for MTV; Snack and Drink (1999), a three-minute short about an autistic child in a 7-Eleven store, which is now part of the permanent collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art; and Figures of Speech (2000), a series of interstitials for PBS.

He then connected his animation experience with Linklater in Waking Life (2001). Waking Life was the first independently financed and produced computer animated feature. The film was subsequently nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Picture.

Pallotta also directed the first machinima produced music video, In the Waiting Line (2003), using the animation engine from the Quake 3 video game, and the rotoscoped MTV "Breakthrough Video" Destiny (2002), both for the band Zero 7. The Microsoft Research and Development team recognized Pallotta for his "penchant for innovation" where he helmed an interactive project based on Jonathan Lethem's novel Amnesia Moon (2004), which was an experiment that was not released to the public.

He then returned to the film industry with his frequent collaborator, Linklater, to produce A Scanner Darkly (2006) based on the novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick and starring Keanu Reeves. Pallotta's newest production is a transmedia thriller based around Energy and Peak Oil called Collapsus, directed by Tommy Pallotta and developed by Submarine Channel. [1] [2]

Selected filmography

Related Research Articles

<i>Waking Life</i> 2001 American film

Waking Life is a 2001 American animated film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, the meaning of life, free will, and existentialism. It is centered on a young man who wanders through a succession of dreamlike realities wherein he encounters a series of people who engage in insightful philosophical discussions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotoscoping</span> Animation technique

Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced over the image. This projection equipment is referred to as a rotoscope, developed by Polish-American animator Max Fleischer, and the result is a rotograph. This device was eventually replaced by computers, but the process is still called rotoscoping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Linklater</span> American film director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1960)

Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the Before trilogy of romance films, Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); and the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016).

<i>The Incredible Mr. Limpet</i> 1964 film by Arthur Lubin

The Incredible Mr. Limpet is a 1964 American live-action/animated comedy film produced by Warner Bros. and based on the 1942 novel Mr. Limpet by Theodore Pratt. It is about a man named Henry Limpet who turns into a talking fish and helps the U.S. Navy locate and destroy Nazi submarines. Don Knotts plays the title character. The live action was directed by Arthur Lubin, while the animation was directed by Bill Tytla, Robert McKimson, Hawley Pratt, and Gerry Chiniquy at Warner Bros. Cartoons. Music includes songs by Sammy Fain, in collaboration with Harold Adamson, including "I Wish I Were a Fish", "Be Careful How You Wish" and "Deep Rapture". The film received mixed reviews. It was the final project for Warner Bros. Cartoons prior to its closure in May 1963.

<i>A Scanner Darkly</i> (film) 2006 American film

A Scanner Darkly is a 2006 American adult animated psychological science fiction thriller film written and directed by Richard Linklater; it is based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick. The film tells the story of identity and deception in a near-future dystopia constantly under intrusive high-tech police surveillance in the midst of a drug addiction epidemic. It is a black comedy about drugs, hallucinations, paranoia, and surveillance.

Michel Gagné is a Canadian cartoonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Prynoski</span> American film and television producer

Chris Prynoski is an American film and television producer, animator, and director, known for his work on TV programs such as Downtown, Metalocalypse, Freaknik: The Musical, Motorcity and Megas XLR and films such as Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.

Bob Sabiston is an American film art director, computer programmer, and creator of the Rotoshop software program for computer animation. Sabiston began developing software as an undergraduate and then graduate researcher in the MIT Media Lab from 1986 to 1991. While at MIT, and also after moving to Austin, Texas, in 1993, Sabiston used his 2D/3D software to create several short films, including God's Little Monkey (1994), "Beat Dedication" (1988), and "Grinning Evil Death" (1990). "Grinning Evil Death" was widely seen on the first episode of MTV's "Liquid Television" show. "God's Little Monkey" won the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica award for 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Hahn</span> American film producer and director (born 1955)

Donald Paul Hahn is an American film producer who is credited with producing some of the most successful animated films in recent history, including Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

<i>Life Is Cool</i> 2008 South Korean film

Life Is Cool is a 2008 South Korean romance animated film, and is the first rotoscoped film from that country. This film's visual style was influenced from Richard Linklater's two films, Waking Life (2001) and A Scanner Darkly (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Potterton</span> British-Canadian animator and director (1931–2022)

Gerald Potterton was a Canadian director, animator, producer and writer. He is best known for directing the cult classic Heavy Metal and for his animation work on Yellow Submarine.

Femke Wolting is a Dutch independent new media producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collapsus</span>

Collapsus is a project that combines animation, interactive fiction, and documentary film. This story follows how the impending energy crisis affects ten young people, while international powers battle with political dissension and a fearful population during transition from Fossil fuel to alternative fuels. Set in the near future, Collapsus was initialized to raise awareness of the global issue of peak oil.

<i>Dream On Silly Dreamer</i> 2005 film by Don Lund

Dream On Silly Dreamer is a 2005 American documentary film directed by Dan Lund and produced by Tony West. Lund and West were both special effects animators at Walt Disney Feature Animation, and the film chronicles the rise and fall of traditional animation at The Walt Disney Company from 1980 to 2005.

Jason Archer and Paul Beck are a team of American music video directors, and animators. They specialize in the animation rotoscoping technique which have been used on their work for the films Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly. Archer and Beck also directed music videos for several performers including David Byrne, Juanes and Molotov. The duo won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the Latin Grammy Awards of 2003 for "Frijolero".

<i>Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker</i> 2014 American film

Poet Anderson: The Dream Walker is a 2014 American–Portuguese animated short film directed by Tom DeLonge, Edgar Martins, and Sergio Martins. The film focuses on the title character Poet, who discovers his guardian angel and destiny inside the Dream World, an alternate universe created by humankind's shared unconscious thoughts. The film features music from DeLonge's rock group Angels & Airwaves.

Jason Archer is an American artist living in Austin, Texas. He is the creator of a variety artworks as a director, animator, painter, and muralist both collaborative and solo. His work includes political satire and Texas inspired characters including Jesus Cornbread & the Alcoholics and Stray of the Dead. Archer’s early career in animation earned him a Grammy and an MTV Video of the Year Award for directing and animating "Frijolero", a music video for the Mexican rock band Molotov. Currently, Archer co-owns Show Goat Mural Works, a company that installs large scale murals such as Daniel Johnston’s ‘Love is the Question. Love is the Answer’ and his very own ‘Conservatorium of Infinite Wisdom, Sustenance and Guidance.’ Archer has participated in numerous art shows, exhibitions and events ranging from SXSW, East Austin Studio Tour and the inaugural Pop Austin International Art Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Jurevicius</span>

Luke Jurevicius is a director, producer, composer and voice actor from Adelaide, South Australia, who is best known for his TV series The Adventures of Figaro Pho. He frequently collaborates with his brother, artist Nathan Jurevicius.

<i>Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood</i> 2022 American film by Richard Linklater

Apollo 10+12: A Space Age Childhood is a 2022 American animated coming of age drama film set during the events preceding the Apollo 11 Moon landing, loosely based on the childhood of writer, director, and producer Richard Linklater. It presents a fictional tale of a fourth-grader who becomes the first person to land on the Moon and stars Glen Powell, Jack Black, Zachary Levi and Josh Wiggins.

Arthouse animation is a combination of art film and animated film.

References

  1. "Open Video Alliance: Tommy Pallotta (Waking Life, Scanner Darkly) joins speaker lineup | Drumbeat". Archived from the original on September 20, 2010. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
  2. "Transmedia Graphic Novel Darkness". March 3, 2010.