EDUCATION
Honorary MFA, Henry Cogswell College, Everett, Washington for exceptional achievements in animation (2002)
LSIA in Graphic Design, Typography and Illustration, East Ham Technical College, London, England: - with an additional year independent study in illustration under the supervision of award-winning illustrator, Ralph Steadman.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
* Halas &* Batchelor studio in London for 6 years (1966 – 1972) – starting as ‘Junior Background Artist’ and ending up as ‘Head of Design & Backgrounds’. Wrote and directed the short “Quartet” (winner of the Chicago Film Festival’s ‘Condition of Man’ competition) and “A Short, Tall Story” (festival award winner and used by the United Nations to promote peace around the world). Worked on TV Series, “Tom Foolery” and “Jackson Five”
* Apprenticed in London with Richard Williams (3 times Oscar winner and author of “The Animator’s Survival Kit”) (1972 - 1978) – where I was director/animator on many international award-winning commercials and wrote, directed, designed and animated the titles for “The Pink Panther Strikes Again” movie titles. (Winner of the prestigious British ‘D&AD Silver Award’.)
* British Academy Award for animated short film, “HOKUSAI ~ An Animated Sketchbook”.
* Owner/producer, Animus Productions - producing commercials, short films and television specials. (1978-1998) At Animus I directed/animated/produced over 200 Cinema & TV commercials - winning many Clio, Mobius, London International Advertising and/or Creative Circle awards. I also directed 10-part live action/CG TV drama series, “The Ink Thief”, starring ‘Rocky Horror Show’ creator, Richard O’Brien. I also won a US-based ‘Blue Ribbon Award’ for 30-minute animated TV Special for PBS, “Cathedral” - and also directed “Pyramid” immediately after that.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
DigiPen Institute of Technology: (2005 - current) Former Dean of Art & Animation Department (resigned to concentrate on teaching work) and currently Senior Lecturer & Program Advisor, teaching “Advanced Animation for Portfolio” classes, as well as supervisor of senior 2D & 3D film and game projects. Previously taught “2D Animation” and “Sprite animation” production classes. Familiarity with: Maya, ToonBoom Studio, Photoshop and all foundational/advanced hand-drawn (2D) Animation techniques.
Henry Cogswell College: (2001 until I was head-hunted by DigiPen Institute of Technology in 2005. Taught classes in “2D Animation”, “Direction”, “Storyboarding & Animatics” and “History of Animation”.
FILM FESTIVALS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Animaticus Foundation: (Established 2006) Founder and President. The Animaticus Foundation is a registered 501(c) 3 non-profit, the mission of which is to preserve, teach and evolve the art form of traditional 2D animation in our digital age.
“2D OR NOT 2D Animation Festival”: Seattle, Washington. (Just completed its 5th successful year.) Creator and Founder.
PUBLICATIONS
“The Animator’s Workbook” (Published 1986) Author. The classic textbook for schools and student animators worldwide. Has sold over 80,000 copies so far and is still going strong.
“Animation from Pencils to Pixels ~ Classical Techniques for Digital Animators”: (Published August 2006) Author. The ultimate book on traditional animation techniques, encapsulating an over 30 year, award-winning experience of 2D animation production. The book also includes a ‘work in progress’ disk copy of my latest film homage to the great, classical moments of animated film history, “Endangered Species”. Translated into a number of languages, including Spanish, Chinese, German and Korean.
“How To Make Animated Films”: (Published 2009) Author. The first half of the book is a 10-stage course on the traditional principles of animation. The second half of the book is the 22-stage production process of making animated films, using a great deal of DigiPen student work to illustrate the text. Voted in “Animation Magazine” as one of the ‘Ten Essential Books for Animation Students and Fans’ in their February 2010 edition.
“JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS: The Animation Job Coach: (2010) Author. The most up-to-date book on the subject of students getting a job in the animation industry. Researched in the summer of 2010 and written in the fall, all aspects of the industry were approached for feedback - large to small film & game studios, forensic animation studios, medical animation studios, online animation forums, etc.
“THE ANIMATOR’S NOTEBOOK” SERIES”: (2010 - 2011) 12 downloadable digital tutorials on key principles of animation, specifically: “Process and principles of animation”, “Generic walks”, “Stylized walks”, “Personality walks”, “Quadruped walks”, “Runs”, “Jumps”, “Weight”, “Arcs and anticipation”, “Overlapping action”, “Fluidity and flexibility” and “Basic dialogue”. Available online via the Focal Press website and the author’s own blogsite each tutorial is in the form of a 20-30 page digital, hand-written notebook, including illustrations and interactive animations that demonstrate the moving principles being explained.
To be published in September 2011: “The Animator’s Notebook” – the book of the online series.
Numerous published articles for such magazines such as “Imagine” (UK) and “Animation Magazine” (USA).
LECTURER
To international audiences including the Norwegian Film Institute -Oslo (1988), Swedish Film Institute - Stockholm (1989), Tri-be-ca Grill Guest Director - New York (1992), Israel Animation Guild - Tel Aviv, (1994) etc. Featured in multiple television and print interviews. Keynote guest lecturer at the Jilin Institute of Animation in Chanchun, China (2010) and the ISA Conference in Dublin, Ireland (2011).
STUDENT ASSISTED/GENERATED PROJECTS
“ENDANGERED SPECIES”: Producer/Director/Animator. A short, self-financed, 10-minute film on the 100-year history of animation - to accompany my book, “Pencils To Pixels ~ Classical Techniques for Digital Animators”. The film consists of my selecting my favorite key moments in classical animation history, researching and analyzing the techniques employed at the time and then my replicating them using my own characters in a digital environment. Includes my first ever scenes created in 3D animation - employing Softimage XSI to replicate a Buzz Lightyear lookalike sequence from “Toy Story”.
“FIRE GODS”: Producer/Director/Animator. A short, 10minute film for the Tacoma Museum of Glass on behalf of AnimaticusFoundation. This was a ‘labor-of-love’ animated account of the history of glass and glassmaking, embracing the talents of both my graduate students and exceptionally talented colleagues from the DigiPen Institute of Technology. The no-fee, not-for-profit film includes 2D, 3D, Flash and Stop-frame animation. ‘Fire Gods’ is on permanent exhibition in the museum theatre and has been distributed to schools in the region without cost.
PROJECT IN DEVELOPMENT
Currently directing a 2D-animated film trailer, “Bad Penguin”, funded by the Kickstarter community who all want to see a return of traditional 2D animation production. If financed, this intended movie project will provide me with the chance to enable talented young students to apprentice with master industry professionals on this and other ground-breaking 2D animated films.
AWARDS
2008, Park City Film Music Festival. ‘Bronze Medal’ award presented to composer Jazno Franceour, for his score and music on “Fire Gods”.
2007, Park City Film Music Festival. ‘Gold Medal’ award to Jamie Hall, for his score and music on “Endangered Species”.
1999, The New York Film and Television Festival, For “A Seafarer’s Tale 2” presented to Tony White, Animus Entertainments Limited, London.
1998, The New York Film and Television Festival, For “A Seafarer’s Tale,” presented to Tony White, Animus Entertainments Limited, London.
1991, The New York Festivals Finalist Award, presented to presented to Tony White, Animus Productions for "Hands On/Big Moments", 34th Annual New York Festivals Competition.
1990, The Mobius Advertising Awards, Certificate For Outstanding Creativity International Competition, for "Build A Cat", presented to Tony White, Animus Productions Limited, London.
1988, British Television Advertising Awards, Silver Award for film title, "Rousseau", presented to Animus Productions, Director: Tony White.
1988, British Television Advertising Awards, Silver Award for film title, "Picasso", presented to Animus Productions, Director: Tony White.
1988, British Television Advertising Awards, Craft Award for film title, "Rousseau", presented to Animus Productions, Director: Tony White.
1985, Creative Circle Honours, Silver, for Best Use of Animation, "Lamot Pils Lager and Volcano", presented to Tony White, Animation Partnership.
1985, London Film Festival, British Film Institute, "Potterton: This Ol' House", Directed by Tony White and selected as an outstanding film of the year.
1984, London Film Festival, "Lamot: Volcano", Directed by Tony White and selected as an outstanding film of the year.
1983, British Television Advertising Awards, Bronze Award for film title, "Swan Lake", presented to Animation Partnership, Director: Tony White.
1982, CLIO Awards. 1) Certificate Creative Excellence, for International TV/Cinema, Recognition: Animation, "Boar", by Animus Productions, London, Director: Tony White.
2) Certificate Creative Excellence, for International TV/Cinema, Recognition: Dentifrice/Pharmaceuticals, "Boar", by Animus Productions, London, Director: Tony White.
3) Certificate Creative Excellence, for International TV/Cinema, Recognition: Dentifrice/Pharmaceuticals, "Bear", by Animus Productions, London, Director: Tony White.
1982, U.S. Television Commercials Festival, for Outstanding Creativity in the production of Television Commercials entered in International Competition, awarded to "Swan Lake", Director: Tony White.
March 14-30, 1979, International Film Exposition, Los Angeles, Hollywood, U.S., for "Hokusai".
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, The British Academy Awards, certificate awarding the British Academy Award for 1978 to Tony White for The Best Short Factual Film "Hokusai - An Animated Sketchbook".
London's D&AD Award for "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" titles.
"Quartet", first place at the Chicago Film Festival.
"A Short Tall Story", used in international animation festivals and by the United Nations to promote peace.