Park, Nick 1958–

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Park, Nick 1958–

(Nicholas Park)

PERSONAL

Full name, Nicholas Wulstan Park; born December 6, 1958, in Preston, Lancashire, England; son of Roger (a photographer and amateur inventor) and Celia (a seamstress) Park. Education: Sheffield City Polytechnic (now Sheffield Hallam University), B.A., 1980; also attended National Film and Television School, England. Avocational Interests: Following Preston North End football games.

Addresses: Office—Aardman Animations, Gas Freey Rd, Bristol BS1 6UN, England.

Career: Director, writer, animator, and producer. Aardman Animations, Bristol, England, managing director, 1985–; created claymation commercials for Burger King restaurants and other clients. Previously worked at a slaughterhouse.

Awards, Honors: Film Award nomination (with Sara Mullock), best animated film, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, British Animation Awards, best film under fifteen minutes and best use of humor, and nomination for Grand Prize, Ottawa International Animation Festival, both 1990, Academy Award, best short animated film, Cartoon d'Or, Cartoon Forum of Europe, and Special Jury Award, Annecy International Animated Film Festival, all 1991, and Audience Award, best short film, Sydney Film Festival, 2003, all for Creature Comforts; Film Award, best animated film, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1990, British Animation Award, best film over fifteen minutes, 1990, Academy Award nomination, best animated short film, 1991, and Jury Award, Munich International Festival of Film Schools, 1991, all for A Grand Day Out with Wallace & Gromit; Golden Hugo Award, Chicago International Film Festival, 1993, Jury Special Prize, short film category, Valladolid International Film Festival, 1993, Academy Award, best animated short film, Film Award (with Christopher Moll), best animated film, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Grand Prize, World Festival of Animated Films, Golden Space Needle Award, best short film, Seattle International Film Festival, Grand Prize and Audience Award, both Ottawa International Animation Festival, Grand Prix, Tampere International Short Film Festival, Audience Award in international competition, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, Grand Prize, Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films, and Cartoon d'Or, all 1994, for Wallace & Gromit in "The Wrong Trousers"; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, best animation, 1996, for A Grand Day Out with Wallace & Gromit, Wallace & Gromit in "The Wrong Trousers," and Wallace & Gromit in "A Close Shave"; honorary D. Arts, University of Bath, 1996; Academy Award, best animated short film, Film Award (with Carla Shelley and Michael Rose), best animation, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Children's Jury Award, best animated short film or video, and Animation Jury Award, outstanding director, both Chicago International Children's Film Festival, British Animation Awards, best film over fifteen minutes and best scenario, International Emmy Award, best popular arts program, Jury Award, best short film, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, Audience Award, Anima Mundi Animation Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival Award, outstanding animated production especially produced for television and not part of a series, and voted Internet favorite, both World Festival of Animated Films and Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films, all 1996, winner of World Animation Celebration, best stop-motion animation produced by a professional, Audience Awards, both Aarhus Film Festival and Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and Grand Prize of the City of Portimao, Algarve International Film Festival, all 1997, all for Wallace & Gromit in "A Close Shave"; decorated commander, Order of the British Empire, 1997; National Board of Review Award, best animated film, Annie Award nomination (with Peter Lord), outstanding individual achievement for directing in an animated feature production, International Animated Film Society, European Film Award nomination (with others), best film, Golden Satellite Award, best animated or mixed-media film, International Press Academy, Los Angeles Film Critics Award and New York Film Critics Circle Award, both best animated film, and Broadcast Film Critics Award, best animated feature, all 2000, nomination for Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film (with others), British Academy of Film and Television Arts, nomination for Bodil Award (with Lord), best non-American film, Empire Award nominations (with Lord), best British director and best debut, London Critics Circle Film Award nomination (with others), British producer of the year, Peter Sellers Award for Comedy (with Lord), Evening Standard British Film Awards, nomination for Robert Award (with Lord), best non-American film, Robert Festival, Goya Award nomination (with Lord), best European film, Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematograficas de Espana, and Norwegian Amanda Award nomination (with Lord), best foreign feature film, all 2001, and British Animation Award (with Lord), best European feature film, 2002, all for Chicken Run; Television Award nomination (with others), best comedy program or series, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 2004, for "Cats or Dogs," an episode of Creature Comforts; Academy Award (with Steve Box), best animated feature film of the year, Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film (with others), Golden Laurel Award (with Claire Jennings), animation motion picture producer of the year, Producers Guild of America, Annie Awards, best character design in an animated feature, best directing in an animated feature production (with Box), and best writing in an animated feature production (with others), Broadcast Film Critics Choice Award, best animated feature, Toronto Film Critics Award, best animated film, Los Angeles Film Critics Award, best animated film, Empire Award (with Box), best director, and nomination for Bodil Award (with Box), best non-American film, all 2006, and Blimp Award, favorite animated movie, Kids' Choice Awards, 2007, all for Wallace & Gromit in "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"; Special Award, Evening Standard British Film Awards, 2006; Special Award (with Aardman Animations), British Academy of Film and Television Arts, for original contribution to television.

CREDITS

Animated Film Work:

Animator, Babylon, 1985.

Animator, War Story (also known as Conversation Pieces: War Story), Expanded Entertainment, 1989.

Director and animator, Creature Comforts, 1990.

Director, animator, and cinematographer, A Grand Day Out with Wallace & Gromit (also known as A Grand Day Out and Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out), 1992.

(As Nicholas Park) Producer, director and animator, Wallace & Gromit in "The Wrong Trousers" (also known as The Wrong Trousers), Alta Films, 1993.

Director and animator, Wallace & Gromit in "A Close Shave" (also known as A Close Shave), 1995.

Director, Wallace & Gromit: The Aardman Collection, 1995.

Director, Wallace & Gromit: The Best of Aardman Animation (collection; also known as Wallace & Gromit and Wallace & Gromit: The First Three Adventures), Northern Arts Entertainment, 1996.

Director, Wallace & Gromit: The Aardman Collection 2, EDKO Film, 1996.

Executive producer, Stage Fright, Manuel Salvador, 1997.

(With Peter Lord) Producer and director, Chicken Run (also known as C:R-1), DreamWorks, 2000.

Producer and director, Wallace & Gromit in "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," DreamWorks, 2005.

Film Appearances:

Voice of first slug, Flushed Away (animated), DreamWorks, 2006.

Television Work; Series:

Creator, executive producer, director, and animator, Creature Comforts (animated), BBC America, 2003.

Also contributor of animation to the series Pee-wee's Playhouse.

Television Work; Specials:

Director, animator, and cinematographer, Archie's Concrete Nightmare (animated), BBC, 1975.

Animator, The Making of "The Wrong Trousers," PBS, 1995.

Television Appearances; Specials:

The Making of "The Wrong Trousers," PBS, 1995.

The 100 Greatest TV Ads, Channel 4, 2000.

Poultry in Motion: The Making of "Chicken Run," NBC, 2000.

The Hatching of "Chicken Run" (also known as HBO's "The Hatching of Chicken Run"), HBO, 2000.

The 100 Greatest Kids TV Shows, Channel 4, 2001.

Top 50 Greatest Celebrity Animals, Sky, 2005.

Best Ever Ads, ITV, 2005.

The 100 Greatest Family Films, Channel 4, 2005.

The 78th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 2006.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

"Chicken Run," HBO First Look, HBO, 2000.

"Wallace & Gromit Go Chicken," Omnibus, BBC, 2000.

The Panel, 10 Network, 2000.

The Film Programme (also known as Film 2005 and Film 2006), BBC, 2005, 2006.

Rove Live, 10 Network, 2005.

"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," HBO First Look, HBO, 2005.

Magacine, 2005.

Richard & Judy, Channel 4, 2006.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

The Amazing World of Wallace and Gromit, 1999.

"Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit:" On the Set—Part 1, 2005.

Provided claymation and animation for the music video "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel, 1986.

WRITINGS

Animated Film Scripts:

(Uncredited) Creature Comforts, 1990.

(With Steven Rushton) A Grand Day Out with Wallace & Gromit (also known as A Grand Day Out and Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out), 1992.

(With Bob Baker) Wallace & Gromit in "The Wrong Trousers" (also known as The Wrong Trousers), Alta Films, 1993, published by Bantam, 1996.

(With Baker) Wallace & Gromit in "A Close Shave" (also known as A Close Shave), 1995, published by Bantam, 1996.

Books:

Wallace & Gromit: Cheese Lover's Yearbook, Andrews & McMeel, 1997.

Contributor to books, including foreword, 3D Animation: The Aardman Book of Filmmaking, by Peter Lord and Brian Sibley, Thames & Hudson, 1998.

Video Scripts:

"Shopper 13" and "Showmantron" segments, Wallace & Gromit's "Cracking Contraptions," AtomFilms, 2002.

ADAPTATIONS

Animated films based on stories or characters by Park include Chicken Run (also known as C:R-1), released by DreamWorks in 2000, and Wallace & Gromit in "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," released by Dream-Works in 2005.