| Neill Blomkamp | |
|---|---|
 Blomkamp at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International |
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| Born | September 17, 1979 Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Occupation | Director |
Neill Blomkamp (born 17 September 1979) is a South African-born, Vancouver-based director of feature-length and short films and advertisements. Blomkamp employs a documentary-style, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated effects. He is best known as the director of critically acclaimed District 9, his only feature film to date.
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Early life and career
Blomkamp was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He began as a professional animator at the age of sixteen, working for Deadtime under Simon Hansen and Sharlto Copley in South Africa. His family relocated to Vancouver when Blomkamp was 18, where he enrolled in Vancouver Film School. In 2003, Blomkamp was commissioned to illustrate photo-real future aircraft for Popular Science's "Next century in Aviation" and in 2004 was commissioned to illustrate "The Future of the Automobile".[1] Blomkamp worked as a visual effects artist at The Embassy Visual Effects in Vancouver as well as Rainmaker Digital Effects.
Breakthrough
In 2007, Blomkamp directed a trilogy of live-action short films (known collectively as Landfall) set in the Halo universe, to promote the release of Halo 3. In 2008, Halo: Combat, the second of the three installments, won the Cannes Lions 2008 – Film Lions Grand Prix.
Blomkamp was then slated to direct his first feature-length film, an adaptation of the Halo video game, before funding for that film collapsed.[2] Peter Jackson, the producer of that project, then decided to produce District 9 instead, an adaptation of Blomkamp's earlier short film Alive in Joburg (which had been produced by Hansen and Copley), and related to another Blomkamp short film created using LightWave 3D, titled Tetra Vaal. The film, directed by Blomkamp and starring Copley, was released in mid-August 2009, to rave reviews.[3]
Blomkamp is currently represented by SPY FILMS in Canada, Stink.tv in Europe[4] and by Ridley Scott's RSA in California.[5]
Filmography
Feature films
- District 9 (2009) (writer, director)
- Untitled Neill Blomkamp Project (2011) (director)
Short films
- Tetra Vaal (2004) (director, visual FX)
- Alive in Joburg (2005) (director, visual FX)
Yellow (2006) (director, visual FX)- Tempbot (2006) (director)
Commercials
- Nike - Crab (2003)[6] / Evolution (2004)[7]
- Citroën C4 - Alive with technology (2004)[8]
- Gatorade - Rain (2006)[9]
Other credits
- Stargate SG-1 (1998) (3D animator)
- First Wave (1998) (3D animator)
- Mercy Point (1998) (3D animator)
- Aftershock: Earthquake in New York (1999) (3D animator)
- Dark Angel (2000) (lead animator)
- Art of Dying music video - Day Survive (2001) (director, visual FX)[10]
- 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) (lead 3D animator)
- Smallville (2001) (3D animator)
- BV-01 (2005) (special thanks)
- Best Ever Ads 2 (2006) (himself)
- Crossing the Line (2008) (additional director)
Recognition
- 2004, First Boards Awards - "One of the top five directors to watch"
- 2004, Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival - "Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase"
- 2004, Shark Awards (shortlisted)
- 2005, VES awards "Outstanding VFX in a commercial" for Citroen - Alive with technology
- 2008, Cannes Lions 2008 - Film Lions- Grand Prix - Halo: Combat
- 2009, Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Director & Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay - District 9
- 2009, Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - District 9
References
- ^ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-district2-2009aug02,0,5378775.story
- ^ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/films/news/article.cfm?c_id=200&objectid=10585084&pnum=3
- ^ http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-tc-mov-district-9-director-0aug12,0,1897423.story
- ^ http://www.stink.tv
- ^ http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1885729
- ^ "Nike Crabs Play Football". The Inspiration Room. http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2006/nike-crab/. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ "Nike Air Huarache 2K4 in Evolution". The Inspiration Room. http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2006/nike-air-huarache-2k4-evolution/. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ "Dancing Citroen Transformers". The Inspiration Room. http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2005/citroen-transformer-dancing/. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ "Gatorade Rain – Birth of the New Cool". The Inspiration Room. http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2006/gatorade-rain-birth-of-the-new-cool/. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^ http://www.sunlikestar.com/news.epj?p_nuz=26
External links
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