James Cunningham (director)
Encyclopedia
]
James Cunningham is a New Zealand
film director and animator. He has directed eight award winning short films. He is based in Auckland
, New Zealand.
Das Tub is a live action/VFX short film - a submarine film of Domestic proportions. It won Best Short Short at Aspen Shorts Fest 2011, and Best Director at the Honolulu Film Awards 2011.
Poppy is a CGI drama film set in WWI. It premiered at Telluride in 2009 and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles 2010, and Best in Show at SIGGRAPH Asia in Seoul 2010. It also screened at Melbourne International Film Festival 2010, Hollyshorts 2010, Palm Springs 2010, SXSW 2010, Stuttgart's ITFS Animation Festival 2010. Back in New Zealand it won Best Technical Contribution at the Qantas Film Awards, and at Show Me Shorts it won Director, Editor and Jury Prize.
Infection competed at Cannes International Film Festival 2000, Sundance Film Festival
2001 and 20 other international Film Festivals. Infection is the most successful short ever made by the New Zealand Film Commission
in terms of sales and A-List Festival selection.
Delf was selected for the Saatchi & Saatchi
new directors Global showcase in 2000 and won numerous awards. Delf is an acronym for digitally engineered life forms.
Blinder was released theatrically in New Zealand with In the Company of Men
and also Godzilla
.
James is the 3D Course Leader at Media Design School, the premier Animation and Visual Effects new media school in New Zealand, where he produces and directs short films with his students. Prior to that he was Head of 3D at Digital Post working on Visual Effects for local and international TV Commercials, and he was a technical director
on The Lord of the Rings
at Weta Digital
. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts
in photography and a Master of Fine Arts
in digital animation from Elam School of Fine Arts (Auckland, NZ).
James has a film-making partnership with producer Paul Swadel
that spans 14 years. James and Paul are developing an indie performance capture driven CGI
film Marshal.
James Cunningham is based in Auckland
, New Zealand
.
Music Videos
James Cunningham is a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
film director and animator. He has directed eight award winning short films. He is based in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand.
Das Tub is a live action/VFX short film - a submarine film of Domestic proportions. It won Best Short Short at Aspen Shorts Fest 2011, and Best Director at the Honolulu Film Awards 2011.
Poppy is a CGI drama film set in WWI. It premiered at Telluride in 2009 and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles 2010, and Best in Show at SIGGRAPH Asia in Seoul 2010. It also screened at Melbourne International Film Festival 2010, Hollyshorts 2010, Palm Springs 2010, SXSW 2010, Stuttgart's ITFS Animation Festival 2010. Back in New Zealand it won Best Technical Contribution at the Qantas Film Awards, and at Show Me Shorts it won Director, Editor and Jury Prize.
Infection competed at Cannes International Film Festival 2000, Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
2001 and 20 other international Film Festivals. Infection is the most successful short ever made by the New Zealand Film Commission
New Zealand Film Commission
The New Zealand Film Commission is a New Zealand government agency formed to assist with creating and promoting New Zealand films...
in terms of sales and A-List Festival selection.
Delf was selected for the Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...
new directors Global showcase in 2000 and won numerous awards. Delf is an acronym for digitally engineered life forms.
Blinder was released theatrically in New Zealand with In the Company of Men
In the Company of Men
In the Company of Men is a 1997 Canadian/American black comedy written and directed by Neil LaBute and starring Aaron Eckhart, Matt Malloy, and Stacy Edwards...
and also Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
.
James is the 3D Course Leader at Media Design School, the premier Animation and Visual Effects new media school in New Zealand, where he produces and directs short films with his students. Prior to that he was Head of 3D at Digital Post working on Visual Effects for local and international TV Commercials, and he was a technical director
Technical director
The Technical Director or Technical Manager is usually a senior technical person within a software company, film studio, theatrical company or television studio...
on The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
at Weta Digital
Weta Digital
Weta Digital is a digital visual effects company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was founded by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk in 1993 to produce the digital special effects for Heavenly Creatures. In 2007 Weta Digital’s Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Joe Letteri, was...
. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in photography and a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
in digital animation from Elam School of Fine Arts (Auckland, NZ).
James has a film-making partnership with producer Paul Swadel
Paul Swadel
]Paul Swadel is a New Zealand film director and producer.He has directed and produced many successful short films which have screened in competition at Cannes, Venice, New York and Sundance film festivals to name but a few. Saatchi & Saatchi spotted his talent early in the commercials world for...
that spans 14 years. James and Paul are developing an indie performance capture driven CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
film Marshal.
James Cunningham is based in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Filmography
Director- Rotting Hill (2011): director, editor, producer
- First Contact (2010): director, editor, producer
- Das Tub (2010): director, editor, producer
- Time for Change (2010): director, editor, producer
- Slightly Fishy (2009): director, editor, producer
- Poppy (2009): director
- Infection (2000): writer, director
- Blinder (1998): writer, director
- Delf (1997): writer, director
Music Videos
- Drive, StrawpeopleStrawpeopleStrawpeople are a New Zealand band. They were created by Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney after they had met while working at the Auckland university radio station now known as 95 bFM....
(2000): director - It's Not Enough, StrawpeopleStrawpeopleStrawpeople are a New Zealand band. They were created by Paul Casserly and Mark Tierney after they had met while working at the Auckland university radio station now known as 95 bFM....
(2000): director - Signals, Elleven (2004): director