Film Directors Graduated at CalArts
by DavideGolia99 | created - 05 Feb 2023 | updated - 4 months ago | PublicA list of the most remarkable Alumni of the School of Film and Video, Directing program, Character Animation
1. Tim Burton
Producer | Edward Scissorhands
Timothy Walter Burton was born in Burbank, California, to Jean Rae (Erickson), who owned a cat-themed gift shop, and William Reed Burton, who worked for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department. He spent most of his childhood as a recluse, drawing cartoons, and watching old movies (he was ...
2. James Mangold
Producer | Logan
James Mangold is an American film and television director, screenwriter and producer. Films he has directed include Girl, Interrupted (1999), Walk the Line (2005), which he also co-wrote, the 2007 remake 3:10 to Yuma (2007), The Wolverine (2013), and Logan (2017).
Mangold also wrote and directed Cop...
3. Mark Andrews
Director | Brave
Mark Andrews was born on September 12, 1968 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Brave (2012), John Carter (2012) and Circle of Stone (2020).
4. John Lasseter
Writer | Toy Story 2
Although born in Hollywood, John and his twin sister Johanna were raised in Whittier near Los Angeles. His parents were Jewell Mae (Risley), an art teacher, and Paul Eual Lasseter, a parts manager at a Chevrolet dealership. His mother's profession contributed to his interest in animation and ...
5. Sofia Coppola
Actress | The Godfather Part III
Sofia Coppola was born on May 14, 1971 in New York City, New York, USA as Sofia Carmina Coppola. She is a director, known for Somewhere (2010), Lost in Translation (2003), and Marie Antoinette (2006). She has been married to Thomas Mars since August 27, 2011. They have two daughters, Romy and ...
6. Kyle Balda
Director | Minions: The Rise of Gru
Kyle Balda is a BAFTA nominated feature animation director working in the industry for 30 years, most notably with Illumination Entertainment and Pixar Animation Studios. He began his career in early 90s after studying at Calarts to join the crew of Industrial Light and Magic where he animated on ...
7. Bruce Berman
Producer | Training Day
Bruce Berman is Chairman and CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures. The company has a successful joint partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures to co-produce a wide range of motion pictures, with all films distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.
Under ...
8. Chris Miller
Actor | Shrek the Third
Chris Miller is an American film director, storyboard artist, and voice actor best known for his work with DreamWorks Animation. Following a stint working with Ralph Bakshi on his film Cool World (1992), he would begin his career at DreamWorks as a storyboard artist on films Antz (1998) and Shrek (...
9. Brad Bird
Writer | The Incredibles
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in...
10. Marco Simon Puccioni
Director | Il filo invisibile
Graduated in Architecture in Rome he gained a Fulbright scholarship and took up studies in film at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles. After several short experimental films and documentaries, he made his feature film debut in 2002 with "What you're looking for" (Quello Che Cerchi)...
11. Anna Biller
Director | Viva
Anna Biller is a writer and director who creates unique, female-focused, highly visual films. She has a BA from UCLA in art and an MFA from CalArts in art and film. Her first feature Viva played in film festivals all over the world and gained minor cult status, and her second feature The Love Witch...
12. Chris Buck
Director | Frozen
Chris Buck is an animation film director from Wichita, Kansas. He directed the Disney animated films Tarzan, Frozen, Frozen Fever and Frozen II and Sony Pictures Animation's Surf's Up. He was a supervising animator for Percy, Grandmother Willow and Wiggins for Pocahontas. He won Best Animated ...
13. Rich Moore
Director | Wreck-It Ralph
Rich Moore was born on May 10, 1963 in Oxnard, California, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Zootopia (2016) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018).
14. Q. Allan Brocka
Writer | Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World
Q. Allan Brocka's work as a director and screenwriter spans a range of genres in television, animation, live action, documentary, commercial, and feature film. He is best known as the creator, director and showrunner of Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, a prime time animated ...
15. Andrew Ahn
Director | Spa Night
Andrew Ahn was born on March 10, 1986 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Spa Night (2016), Andy (2010) and Dol (2011).
16. Antonio Tibaldi
Director | We Are Living Things
Antonio was born in Sydney, Australia but spent most of his formative years in Europe. He has worked as writer/director in the film industries of Europe, Australia and North America since 1992, when he co-wrote (with Gill Dennis) and directed "On My Own" which screened at Sundance 1993 and was ...
17. Kirby Dick
Director | On the Record
Kirby Dick is a two time Emmy-award winning and two-time Academy award-nominated documentary film director. His most recent film, The Hunting Ground (2015), a monumental exposé about sexual assault on college campuses, premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, was released by Radius/The ...
18. Ralph Eggleston
Production_designer | Finding Nemo
Ralph Eggleston was born on October 18, 1965 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. He was a production designer, known for Finding Nemo (2003), Monsters, Inc. (2001) and WALL·E (2008). He died on August 28, 2022 in California, USA.
19. Rhys Ernst
Director | Adam
Rhys Ernst was born on October 14, 1982 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Adam (2019), The Thing (2011) and Transparent (2014).
20. Michael Rianda
Actor | The Mitchells vs the Machines
Michael "Mike" Rianda is an American cartoonist, director, and writer. He is known for his work on the Disney Channel animated series "Gravity Falls (2012)" as a creative director and writer for season 1, and creative consultant for season 2. He is also known for directing, co-writing, and ...
21. David Frankel
Director | The Devil Wears Prada
David Frankel was born on April 2, 1959 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and producer, known for The Devil Wears Prada (2006), One Chance (2013) and Band of Brothers (2001).
22. Andrea Pallaoro
Director | Monica
Andrea Pallaoro was born on February 6, 1982 in Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for Monica (2022), Medeas (2013) and Hannah (2017).
23. Doug Sweetland
Director | Storks
Doug Sweetland is an American animator/director who helped define Pixar animation on early hits like "Toy Story", "Toy Story 2", "Monsters, Inc.", "Finding Nemo", and "Cars". He is a back-to-back Annie Award winner and his Pixar short, "Presto", was nominated for an Annie and an Oscar. His pitch, "...
24. Eliza Hittman
Director | Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Eliza Hittman was born on January 1, 1979 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), Beach Rats (2017) and It Felt Like Love (2013).
25. David Irving
Director | Rumpelstiltskin
David Irving was born on September 25, 1949 in Santa Clara County, California, USA. He is a director and production manager, known for Rumpelstiltskin (1987), Night of the Cyclone (1990) and The Emperor's New Clothes (1987).
26. Gina Kim
Writer | Never Forever
Gina Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. She is a writer and director known for pioneering international co-production films such as Never Forever (2007), Final Recipe (2013), Bloodless (2017), Invisible Light (2003), and Gina Kim's Video Diary (1999). Kim is an acclaimed film director whose ...
27. Elisabetta Lodoli
Director | La Venere di Willendorf
Elisabetta Lodoli was born on January 30, 1952 in San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. She is a director and writer, known for La Venere di Willendorf (1997), Off Season (1988) and Buon Natale (1993).
28. Eric Darnell
Writer | Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Eric Darnell was born on August 21, 1961 in Prairie Village, Kansas, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), Madagascar (2005) and Penguins of Madagascar (2014).
29. Richard Jeffries
Actor | Rat Fink
Richard Jeffries is known for Rat Fink (1965), Sea Hunt (1958) and No Tears for the Damned (1968).
30. Mark Kirkland
Director | The Simpsons
Mark Kirkland was born on November 5, 1956 in Altadena, California, USA. He is a director and assistant director, known for The Simpsons (1989), A Letter from Home (2010) and The Moving Picture Co. 1914 (2014). He has been married to Letty Kirkland since July 19, 2005. He was previously married to ...
31. Pendleton Ward
Writer | Adventure Time
Born in 1982 in San Antonio, Texas, Ward, the youngest of 3 brothers, was raised by his mother Bettie Ward, an artist and daughter of a Texas oil rancher. He never met his father. He would often draw flipbooks Andy comic books with his friend Alex "the Logdog" Coates.
Ward attended CalArts, where he...
32. Rick Jacobson
Director | Dark City - The Cleaner
Rick Jacobson is known for Dark City - The Cleaner (2024), The Royal Treatment (2022) and Ash vs Evil Dead (2015).
33. Meena Nanji
Director | Our Land, Our Freedom
Meena Nanji is known for Our Land, Our Freedom (2023), Here and Away (2012) and View from a Grain of Sand (2006).
34. Jorge R. Gutiérrez
Animation_department | Maya and the Three
Emmy and Annie award winning Jorge R. Gutierrez is a Mexican animator, painter, voice actor, writer, and director. Born in Mexico City, raised in Tijuana, CalArts Experimental Animation BFA & MFA, Gutierrez has completed various films, cartoons, and paintings exploring his love affair with Mexican ...
35. Genndy Tartakovsky
Producer | Samurai Jack
Genndy Tartakovsky was born and raised in Moscow, USSR. He and his family moved to Chicago, IL when he was 7 years old, after his father defected to the US. His interest in comic books and animation led him to study animation at CalArts in Los Angeles. While he was there he produced two student ...
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