Sylvain Chomet
Encyclopedia
Sylvain Chomet is a French comic
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...

 and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

.

Early career

Born in Maisons-Laffitte
Maisons-Laffitte
Maisons-Laffitte is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the north-western suburbs of Paris from the center....

, Yvelines
Yvelines
Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...

, near Paris, he studied art at high-school until he graduated in 1982. Chomet moved to London in 1988 to work as an animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...

 at the Richard Purdum studio. In September of that year, he established a freelance practice, working on commercials for clients such as Principality, Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

, Swinton and Swissair
Swissair
Swissair AG was the former national airline of Switzerland.It was formed from a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero , in 1931...

.

In addition to his animation career, Chomet created many print comics, starting in 1986 with Secrets of the Dragonfly. In 1992 Chomet wrote the script for a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 comic called The Bridge In Mud. 1993 saw Chomet writing the story for Léon-la-Came, which was drawn by Nicolas De Crécy for À Suivre
À Suivre
or was a Franco-Belgian comics magazine published from February 1978 to December 1997 by the Casterman publishing house....

magazine. This was published in 1995 and won the René Goscinny
René Goscinny
René Goscinny was a French comics editor and writer, who is best known for the comic book Astérix, which he created with illustrator Albert Uderzo, and for his work on the comic series Lucky Luke with Morris and Iznogoud with Jean Tabary.-Early life:Goscinny was born in Paris in 1926, to a family...

 Prize in 1996. In 1997, Chomet published Ugly, Poor, and Sick, again with Nicolas De Crécy. This won them the Alph-Art Best Comic Prize at the Angoulême Comic Strip Festival.

The Old Lady and the Pigeons

In 1991, Chomet started work on his first animated film, The Old Lady and the Pigeons
The Old Lady and the Pigeons
The Old Lady and the Pigeons is a 1997 French animated short film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It tells the story of a hungry policeman who dresses up as a pigeon and tricks an old lady to feed him. It was Chomet's debut film...

(La Vieille Dame et les pigeons), with backgrounds designed by Nicolas De Crécy. In 1993, Chomet moved to Canada. During 1995 and 1996, he finished work on The Old Lady and the Pigeons. The short film won him a BAFTA, the Grand Prize at the 1997 Annecy International Animated Film Festival
Annecy International Animated Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring every two years, the festival became annual in 1998...

, the Cartoon d'or
Cartoon d'or
The Cartoon d’Or is the pan-European award for animation short films. It rewards every year the best one since only prize-winning films from Cartoon’s partner festivals can compete....

 prize, as well as the Audience Prize and Jury Prize at the Angers Premiers Plans Festival. It also received an Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 nomination for best animated short film.

The Triplets of Belleville

Chomet's first feature-length animated film, The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville, or Belleville Rendez-vous in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

) was also nominated for two Oscars
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is one of the annual awards given by the Los Angeles-based professional organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...

 in 2003 (Best Animated Feature and Best Song), and introduced Chomet's name to a much wider audience.

Upon the release of The Triplets of Belleville Nicolas De Crécy accused Chomet of plagarising his work, citing it as the reason for the dissolution of their collaboration. The visual style of Les Triplettes de Belleville
Les Triplettes de Belleville
The Triplets of Belleville is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as Belleville Rendez-vous in the United Kingdom...

closely resembles the earlier work of Nicolas De Crécy's 1994 graphic novel Le Bibendum Celeste.

The Illusionist

Chomet's next film was The Illusionist (L'Illusionniste), which premiered at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival
60th Berlin International Film Festival
The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 11 to February 21, 2010, with Werner Herzog as President of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama Apart Together, in competition, while the closing film is Japanese...

 in February 2010, after many delays (it was first planned for release in 2007) The Illusionist, like Chomet's previous work, has its roots in mid twentieth century popular French culture. It is based on an unproduced script that Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati was a French filmmaker, working as a comedic actor, writer and director. In a poll conducted by Entertainment Weekly of the Greatest Movie Directors Tati was voted the 46th greatest of all time...

 had written in 1956 as a personal letter to his estranged eldest daughter, and stars an animated version of Tati himself. It was originally conceived by Tati as a journey of love and discovery that takes two characters across western Europe to Prague. Chomet says that "Tati wanted to move from purely visual comedy and try an emotionally deeper story" and states that "It's not a romance, it’s more the relationship between a dad and a daughter". It cost an estimated £10 million to make, and was funded by Pathé Pictures.

According to the 2006 reading of The Illusionist script at the London Film School introduced by Chomet, "The great French comic
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

 Jacques Tati wrote the script of The Illusionist and intended to make it as a live action film with his daughter."

Other projects

Another project, Barbacoa, originally stated to be released in late 2005, was canceled because of lack of funding. Also, The Tale of Despereaux
The Tale of Despereaux (film)
The Tale of Despereaux is a 2008 computer-animated film directed by Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen. Loosely based on the 2003 fantasy book of the same name by Kate DiCamillo, the movie is narrated by Sigourney Weaver and stars Matthew Broderick and Emma Watson...

was to be Chomet's first computer-animated film, scheduled to come to American theaters Christmas 2008, but direction shifted to Sam Fell
Sam Fell
Sam Fell is a British film director, screenwriter, voice actor and animator.Sam started his career as director on the short film The Big Cheese for 3 Peach Animation...

 after the production studio dismissed Chomet. Chomet, for his part, says that he could not stand the creative environment.

In 2005 he directed a segment for the collaborative film Paris, je t'aime
Paris, je t'aime
Paris, Je t'aime is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements...

; he was assigned the 7th arrondissement (the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...

). It was Chomet's first work in live action.

Django Films

In the mid-2000s Chomet founded an animation studio in Edinburgh, Scotland, called Django Films
Django Films
Django Films is a film studio run by the Oscar nominated French animator Sylvain Chomet. The studio, named after the jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, is based in Edinburgh, Chomet's adopted home. produced The Illusionist, based upon a hitherto unproduced script by Jacques Tati. The Django Films...

. The Django Films studio was set up with the ambition to produce a number of films and establish itself in the film-making scene in both: animation and live action but now is being dismantled. In its life span Django was beset with production difficulties, first losing funding for what was to be its first animated feature, Barbacoa, failing to secure funding for what was labelled "A Scottish Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

" for the BBC then came the very public sacking of Chomet as Director from The Tale of Despereaux
The Tale of Despereaux (film)
The Tale of Despereaux is a 2008 computer-animated film directed by Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen. Loosely based on the 2003 fantasy book of the same name by Kate DiCamillo, the movie is narrated by Sigourney Weaver and stars Matthew Broderick and Emma Watson...

by Gary Ross. Django Films never got close to employing the 250 Artists that it would require, as reported by Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by The Scotsman Publications Ltd and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate The Scotsman...

in 2005. Chomet has been critical of the standard of British art schools in their lack of ability to produce sufficiently skilled animators required for his Edinburgh Studio.

Post-Django films

Chomet has said that he would like to do his next film either in 3D animation or in live action.

Filmography

  • The Old Lady and the Pigeons
    The Old Lady and the Pigeons
    The Old Lady and the Pigeons is a 1997 French animated short film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It tells the story of a hungry policeman who dresses up as a pigeon and tricks an old lady to feed him. It was Chomet's debut film...

    (La Vieille dame et les pigeons) (short) (1997)
  • The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville, or Belleville Rendez-vous) (2003)
  • Paris, je t'aime
    Paris, je t'aime
    Paris, Je t'aime is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements...

    (segment "Tour Eiffel (VIIe arrondissement)") (2006)
  • The Illusionist (L'illusionniste) (2010)

External links

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