Paul Swadel
Encyclopedia
]
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 their New Directors Showcase at Cannes in 2000. As a TV Commercial director he has done award-winning work for Sony
, Nike
and had his PlayStation
work picked up globally.
He has nurtured a filmmaking partnership with James Cunningham (Director)
that spans 15 years and four globally successful short films Their Film Infection competed at Cannes International Film Festival 2000, Sundance Film Festival
2001 and 20 other international Film Festivals. Paul and James have been developing an indie performance capture driven CGI
film Marshal with Mark Ordesky
, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
. Their proof of concept short film Poppy, was shot on the Weta Digital
motion capture
soundstage. Poppy features Matthew Sunderland
Winner of Best Actor Award at the 2008 NZ Screen Awards. Poppy was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at SIGGRAPH
in Los Angeles 2010, and Best in Show at SIGGRAPH
Asia in Seoul 2010.
Swadel has also developed and co-directed projects with his brother Marc Swadel, whose reel includes work with The Strokes
, Sonic Youth
and Iggy Pop
, and his TVC work was featured in the Saatchi & Saatchi
New Directors Showcase at Cannes.
Swadel was a Co-Executive Producer of Headstrong with Ant Timpson and Leanne Saunders. Their feature film The Devil Dared Me To
had its world premiere at SXSW and screened at over 20 International Film Festivals. It has sold to Wild Bunch for the United Kingdom, Vivendi
for the United States and Boll AG for rest of world. Their second feature film A Song Of Good began its festival run with a World Premiere at Rotterdam Film Festival where it sold out all of it’s screenings. It garnered 5 nominations at the 2008 New Zealand Screen Awards, and won a Best Picture Award.
Swadel has also directed a significant number of award-winning art documentaries around the world. These range in subject from Placido Domingo
at the NY Metropolitan Opera
– The Understudy, to an award winning six-hour series on the history of New Zealand Art – The Big Picture presented by Hamish Keith
, which garnered 3 nominations at the 2008 New Zealand Screen Awards, and won Best Series and Best Music Awards.
Swadel recently filled the role of Development Executive at the New Zealand Film Commission
in Wellington
, New Zealand
.
He is currently Executive Producing a cinema documentary on the 2010 /11 Christchurch Earthquakes
(in post-production).
His partner is filmmaker Kirstin Marcon
.
in Film from the University of Canterbury
and a Master of Fine Arts
with First Class Honours in Intermedia
, from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland
.
DIRECTOR
Paul Swadel 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 producer.
He has directed and produced many successful short films which have screened in competition at Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Sundance
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...
film festivals to name but a few. 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...
spotted his talent early in the commercials world for their New Directors Showcase at Cannes in 2000. As a TV Commercial director he has done award-winning work for Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
and had his PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
work picked up globally.
He has nurtured a filmmaking partnership with James Cunningham (Director)
James Cunningham (director)
]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...
that spans 15 years and four globally successful short films Their Film 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. Paul and James have been 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 with Mark Ordesky
Mark Ordesky
Mark Lowell Ordesky is an American film producer and film studio executive. He is best known for executive producing the Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings trilogy.- Personal life :...
, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
. Their proof of concept short film Poppy, was shot on the 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...
motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
soundstage. Poppy features Matthew Sunderland
Matthew Sunderland
Matthew "Matt" Sunderland is a New Zealand actor. He performed the lead role of David Gray in the feature film Out of the Blue, based on the events of the Aramoana Massacre...
Winner of Best Actor Award at the 2008 NZ Screen Awards. Poppy was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. The first SIGGRAPH conference was in 1974. The conference is attended by tens of thousands of computer professionals...
in Los Angeles 2010, and Best in Show at SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. The first SIGGRAPH conference was in 1974. The conference is attended by tens of thousands of computer professionals...
Asia in Seoul 2010.
Swadel has also developed and co-directed projects with his brother Marc Swadel, whose reel includes work with The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
and Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, and his TVC work was featured in 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 Showcase at Cannes.
Swadel was a Co-Executive Producer of Headstrong with Ant Timpson and Leanne Saunders. Their feature film The Devil Dared Me To
The Devil Dared Me To
The Devil Dared Me To is a New Zealand film written by and starring Chris Stapp and Matt Heath. The film revolves around a fictional stuntman, Randy Cambell, who aspires to be the greatest living New Zealander in that profession...
had its world premiere at SXSW and screened at over 20 International Film Festivals. It has sold to Wild Bunch for the United Kingdom, Vivendi
Vivendi
Vivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...
for the United States and Boll AG for rest of world. Their second feature film A Song Of Good began its festival run with a World Premiere at Rotterdam Film Festival where it sold out all of it’s screenings. It garnered 5 nominations at the 2008 New Zealand Screen Awards, and won a Best Picture Award.
Swadel has also directed a significant number of award-winning art documentaries around the world. These range in subject from Placido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
at the NY Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
– The Understudy, to an award winning six-hour series on the history of New Zealand Art – The Big Picture presented by Hamish Keith
Hamish Keith
Hamish Keith, OBE is a writer, art curator, arts consultant and social commentator who lives in Auckland, New Zealand. He is married to the costume designer Ngila Dickson. He was awarded the OBE for services to the arts in 1981...
, which garnered 3 nominations at the 2008 New Zealand Screen Awards, and won Best Series and Best Music Awards.
Swadel recently filled the role of Development Executive at 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 Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, 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...
.
He is currently Executive Producing a cinema documentary on the 2010 /11 Christchurch Earthquakes
(in post-production).
His partner is filmmaker Kirstin Marcon
Kirstin Marcon
Kirstin Marcon is a New Zealand screenwriter and film director.Her debut 35mm short film as writer & director, She's Racing was made in association with the New Zealand Film Commission in 2000. It screened in competition at Edinburgh Film Festival, Torino Film Festival, and Chicago International...
.
Education
Paul Swadel has a Bachelor of Fine ArtsBachelor 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 Film from the University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
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...
with First Class Honours in Intermedia
Intermedia
Intermedia was a concept employed in the mid-sixties by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe the ineffable, often confusing, inter-disciplinary activities that occur between genres that became prevalent in the 1960s. Thus, the areas such as those between drawing and poetry, or between painting...
, from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
.
Filmography
PRODUCER- Poppy (2009): Producer
- A Song Of Good (2008): Executive producer
- The Devil Dared Me To (2007): Executive producer
- No Ordinary Sun (2004): Executive producer
- Water (2004): Executive producer
- Ride (2004): Executive producer
- The French Doors (2002): Executive producer
- Beautiful (2002): Executive producer
- Junk (2001): Executive producer
- Infection (2000): Producer
- Like An Angel (1999): Producer
- Blinder (1998): Producer
- Delf (1997): Producer
- Supercollider (1996): Producer
- Zerographic (1992): Producer
DIRECTOR
- The Big Picture (2007): Director
- The Understudy (2005): Director
- Colin McCahon: I Am (2004): Director
- Accidents (2000): Director
- Like An Angel (1999): Director
- Supercollider (1996): Director
- A Little DeathA Little Death: A Modern Day FairytaleA Little Death is a 16mm short film made by Simon Perkins and Paul Swadel in 1994. The project evolved from an earlier idea called Into The Void, involving a male character walking in on his lover in bed with another...
(1994): Co-Director - The Erotric Frigidaire (1987): Director