Press release from the USA Film Festival:

DALLAS, TX -- The USA Film Festival will present its Great Director Tribute to Peter Lord in conjunction with a special preview screening of his new film The Pirates! Band of Misfits on Thursday, April 12, 2012, at AMC NorthPark theatres. The evening will include a film-clip compilation tribute featuring clips from some of his works with Aardman Animations and an on-stage Q&A session with Peter Lord.

“The Festival is honored to be able to host Peter Lord in Dallas with this special screening and tribute” said Ann Alexander, Managing Director for the USA Film Festival. “The works of Aardman Animations are among the most magical and beloved contemporary film classics for audiences of all ages.”

About the USA Film Festival’s Great Director Tribute -- Since 1971, the Festival has regularly paid tribute to artists who have made enduring contributions to the film arts. Previous honorees include George Cukor, Frank Capra, George Stevens, Sydney Pollack, Michael Powell, Norman Jewison, John Cassavetes, Arthur Penn, Stanley Donen, Robert Altman, John Frankenheimer, Martin Ritt, Richard Brooks, Sidney Lumet, Mervyn LeRoy, William Wyler, Raoul Walsh, King Vidor, Alan J. Pakula, Budd Boetticher, Robert Benton, Michael Apted, Wim Wenders, Claude Lelouch and William Friedkin.

About the Film The Pirates! Band of Misfits -- Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas. With a rag-tag crew at his side, and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to gain the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London. Along the way they will battle a diabolical queen (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a haplessly smitten young scientist (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure! Directed by Peter Lord. Produced by Peter Lord, David Sproxton, and Julie Lockhart. Screenplay by Gideon Defoe. Based upon his book. The Pirates! Band of Misfits is rated PG and opens nationwide on April 27th.

Peter Lord (Director/Producer) is co-owner and Creative Director of Aardman, which he co-founded with his long-time collaborator David Sproxton in 1972. As a director, Lord has been honoured with two Academy Award® nominations for Best Animated Short, the first in 1992 for Adam, and again in 1996 for Wat’s Pig. He has also earned BAFTA nominations for Adam, The Amazing Adventures of Morph, and War Story.

In 2000, Lord teamed up with Nick Park to co-direct Aardman’s first full-length feature Chicken Run, starring the voice of Mel Gibson, which was a commercial and critical smash. Lord also produced the Oscar®-winning first feature length film starring Wallace and his faithful canine sidekick Gromit. Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was released in 2005. He most recently produced Aardman’s CG-animated Arthur Christmas, which was released November 2011. The film has been nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

Lord first met David Sproxton in the late 1960s at school, where they started experimenting with animation techniques on their kitchen table. They tried a range of methods before settling on plasticine/clay model animation. While they were still in their teens, a BBC children’s television producer offered them the chance to make short animated films for his program Vision On. Their first character as professionals was Morph, who later starred in his own series, The Amazing Adventures of Morph. As a testament to Morph’s enduring appeal, he still appears in new productions today.