Variety Names Top Upcoming Animators

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VARIETY [1] posted a list of ten animators that are on the brink of stardom. The list includes:

David O'Reilly
O'Reilly gains fame on the Net via his OCTOCAT series, which he made under the guise of nine-year-old Randy Peters. He went on to win awards for his shorts RGB XYZ and PLEASE SAY SOMETHING. He started his animation career at 15 working for Cartoon Saloon, moving on later to work for Shynola and Studio AKA.

Read VFXWorld's interview with O'Reilly about the animation he produced for SON OF RAMBOW [2].

Chris Butler
Butler served as head of story on Laika's CORALINE. Currently he is working on his first feature PARANORMAN. The stop-motion film follows a 13-year-old boy who thwarts a zombie take over of his small town.

Arthur de Pins
De Pins won prizes at Annecy and 50 other festivals for his film THE CRAB REVOLUTION. He is working on a feature version of the short, as well as a graphic novel.

View THE CRAB REVOLUTION on AWNtv! [3]

Read ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE's review. [4]

Adria Garcia, Victor Maldonado and Alfredo Torres
The trio formed Headless Prods. to produce 2D animated features using new computer techniques to keep costs down. Their first feature was 2007's NOCTURNA. Their THE STRANGE CASE OF DAD'S MISSING HEAD is in development at French studio Neomis.

Patrick Jean
Jean made waves on the Net with his short PIXELS, which features classic videogame graphics invading NYC. Now he's developing a feature version with Adam Sandler's Happy Madison. Additionally, he is repped for commercials by Passion Pictures.

Michael Langan
Langan is best know for his Student Academy Award finalist short DOXOLOGY. The pixilation filmmaker now works in commercials, while creating new short films.

Watch DOXOLOGY. [5]

Stephen Neary
Neary drew attention on the Web with his NYU graduation film COWBOY CHICKEN. Now the filmmaker works at Blue Sky, animating on ICE AGE 4 and RIO.

Teddy Newton
Newton began working at Pixar on character designs for THE INCREDIBLES and RATATOUILLE. Now his first Pixar short, the 3-D DAY AND NIGHT, will play before TOY STORY 3.

Hear from Newton about the making of DAY AND NIGHT [6].

View a clip and tests from DAY AND NIGHT on AWNtv! [7]

Mamoru Hosoda
Hosoda started work on the DIGIMON series, but has gained great acclaim for his features THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME and SUMMER WARS.

Pendleton Ward
Ward's CalArts graduation film landed him a deal with Frederator Studios for a short called ADVENTURE TIME. After huge success on the Web, the short has been adapted into a series on Cartoon Network.

Read ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE's interview with Ward. [8]