ROGER MAINWOOD

director of animated films

and freelance animator, designer, and storyboard artist

Art Education: MA in Film & TV - Royal College of Art, and BA HONS (1st) in Graphic Design - London College of Printing

with Alan Bennett (left) during the recordings for Meg and Mog.

Alan Bennett played the voice of Owl in the BAFTA nominated series for cITV

from Meg and Mog the TV series

I started work in the animation industry at Halas and Batchelor studios in 1979.

It was there that I animated my first short, Autobahn. This was an animation to Kraftwerk’s famous piece of music, and the film went on to win various prizes at animation festivals, and was shown at the London Film Festival in 1979.

I then freelanced for a number of studios, from the Educational Film Centre to Richard Williams Animation, and eventually got involved with producer John Coates and his TVC studio in 1982. I was privileged to animate on most of the studio’s classic animations, starting off with The Snowman, and going onto When the Wind Blows, Father Christmas, Granpa, and Oi Get Off Our Train.

I later became an animation director for the studio on The Tailor of Gloucester, Wind in the Willows, and Willows in Winter, and then moved on to directing my first half hour special, The Tale of Two Bad Mice and Johnny Town Mouse. This was one of nine episodes for the Beatrix Potter series called “The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends” which was first broadcast on the BBC, and featured the voice talents of Felicity Kendal, Rik Mayall, Hugh Laurie, and Alan Bennett.

Other directing jobs have included episodes of the adult animation series Stressed Eric for BBC2 (produced by Absolutely Productions), and Mill Times (2000) for the PBS network in the US.

In 2003-4 I was series director on the BAFTA nominated Meg and Mog (52x5 minute pre-school for cITV), and I worked closely with Jan Pienkowski, the illustrator of the books, to achieve a smooth translation of his work from page to screen.

More recently I have been helping to develop the pre-school series Claude ( with Red and Blue and Dot to Dot productions), The Glugs (with ASD Lionheart), and Tune Town (with the Chicken Shed Theatre company), and have also been working as animation director on The Little Princess series (based on the books by Tony Ross) for The Illuminated Film Company.

from the pilot for pre-school series Claude

(Red and Blue and Dot to Dot productions )

character designs for TUNE TOWN (Chicken Shed Theatre Company)

co-production)

RECENT TV WORK

THE LITTLE PRINCESS ( 2005-6 ) – animation director on 30x10 minute episodes. Produced by The llluminated Film Company using Celaction for broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK.

CLAUDE – director on a 1 minute pilot for a pre-school series based on the books by David Wojtowycz ( a Red and Blue/Dot to Dot co- production).

THE GLUGS - director on a 2 minute pilot (for ASD Lionheart)

DUSTY AND MUSTY (2004-5) – storyboarding on 26x12mins TV series – ( for COG/APPLUS /HIT ENTERTAINMENT LTD)

HORRID HENRY (2004)– directed a 1 minute pilot for TV series proposal based on the famous books by Francesca Simon. – Novel Entertainment Ltd.

TRACTOR TOM – Series 2 (2004) – HRA/The Contender Entertainment Group – storyboarding

METALHEADS - character designs for BBC children's TV series set in the Middle Ages first broadcast in 2003. Telemagination and TV Loonland (London).

MEG AND MOG (2003 - 2004) - Nominated for a Children’s BAFTA in 2005. Series Director, 52 X 5min pre-school series for childrens' ITV - co-production between Absolutely productions London, Happy Life studio in Stockholm, and Varga studios in Budapest. Series based on the Meg and Mog books by Jan Pienkowski and Helen Nicoll. With the voice talents of Fay Ripley as Meg, Phil Cornwell as Mog, and Alan Bennett as Owl.

STRESSED ERIC (Series 2) - 1999/2000 - Episode Director on “Bursting” and “Team” - for HRA and Absolutely Productions. Best animated TV series award - PACT 2001.

SOMETHING ELSE ( 2002) - Storyboarding and title sequence animation for TV series "Something Else" - Telemagination/Loonland (London) and Studio B (Canada)

TV SPECIALS

THE SNOWMAN -1982 - Sequence Animator - TVC London (BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee)

GRANPA - 1989 - Sequence animator - TVC London

FATHER CHRISTMAS - 1991 - Sequence animator - TVC London

THE TALE OF TOM KITTEN and JEMIMA PUDDLE-DUCK - 1993 - Storyboard and sequence animator - Jumping Jack Animation Ltd

THE TAILOR OF GLOUCESTER - 1993 - Animation Director - TVC London - with the voice of Ian Holm – shown in the UK on BBC and Ch 5.

THE TALE OF TWO BAD MICE AND JOHNNY TOWN MOUSE - 1995 - Director - for TVC London.With the voice talents of Rik Mayall, Felicity Kendal, Alan Bennett, Hugh Laurie, and Niamh Cusack - shown in the UK on BBC and Ch 5.

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS - 1995 - Animation Director -TVC London

THE WILLOWS IN WINTER - 1996 - Animation Director - TVC London

THE CANTERBURY TALES - 1997 - Co-director of Development - aka Pizzaz

THE BEAR - 1997-8 - Sequence Animator -TVC London

BABY BLUES - Christmas Special - animation - 1998 - Warner Bros. TV - Varga Studios, Budapest

OI ! GET OFF OUR TRAIN! -1998 - Sequence Animator - Varga-TVC – London

FAERIES - 1999 - Key Character Layouts - Cartwn Cymru – Cardiff

WAR GAME - 2001 - animator - for Illuminated Films, London.

MILL TIMES - 2000/1 - Director of 22 minutes of animation for combined live action and animation documentary based on David Macauley’s book MILL. With the voice talents of Derek Jacobi and John Sessions. Produced by Unicorn Projects Inc.Washington, and Animation Partnership (London) for Public Service Broadcasting in the US. Animation by Two Rivers Films Ltd., and Jumping Jack Animation Ltd (London).

"Viewers embark on a whirlwind journey through the industrial revolution, beginning with the founding of America’s first textile mill in the 1790s and ending in modern times.
Live-action documentary segments set the scene for this fictionalized but historically representative story told through beautiful, cinema-quality animation that brings the historical period “to life.” - Review from University of Michigan Public Television:

THE SNOWMAN 20th ANNIVERSARY OPENING SEQUENCE - 2002 - Director/animator on a 30 second special introduction sequence, featuring Father Christmas (voiced by Mel Smith)

SHORT FILMS

CAGE - Directed/animated - London Film Festival 1977 -distributed by British Council
AUTOBAHN - co-directed/designed/animated for Halas & Batchelor studios - London Film Festival and Varna Festival 1979. Won third prize at Zagreb Animation Festival, Special Jury Prize at Moscow Film Festival.

a still from Autobahn

FIRST STEPS - Directed/scripted/animated for Educational Film Centre - London. Narrated by Dame Judi Dench . Moscow Film Festival (1981), Zagreb (1982), won Gold Plaque for Educational Films - Chicago (1981).
GROWING UP - A Guide To Puberty. Directed/Scripted/Animated for Educational Film Centre (1984)
PLAYERS - Animator. Educational Film Centre. London Film Festival 1982. Won Special Jury Award at Chicago Film Festival.
BARNEY’S CHRISTMAS SURPRISE - Animator - TVC London
FROG and RED RIDING HOOD Director for Two Rivers Films Ltd. 1993. Won Silver award for best programme and Gold award for best animation and graphics at the 1994 IVCA ceremony.

FEATURE FILMS

HEAVY METAL - Columbia Pictures - 1981 - Animator - Halas and Batchelor Studio,
WHEN THE WIND BLOWS - 1986 - animator - TVC London.

COMMERCIALS

Directed: Royal Caribbean Cruises, Bahlsen biscuits, Fido-Dido chocolate
Animated on: Boots, Aquafresh, Toys ‘R’ Us, London Transport, Cadbury’s, Legal and General, Metamucil, Eastern Daily Press, Care Bears, Johnson’s Glade, Playtex, Poulain chocolate, Cote D’Or, Conte crayons, Melitta, Splugen, Iglo frozen foods, Fernet Branca, Fanta, KKB Bank, Sanders dog and cat food, Bimbo cakes, Lever - Coral, Labello, Rama cheeses, Sunbeam, Frucht-Bombe, Rougette cheese, Kelloggs Smacks, Sloggi, Beconase, Wrigleys Orbit, Charmin toilet rolls, Picon Cheese, Horrible Histories

TV TITLES

Dark Ages - Carlton TV - 1999 - Giant studio London
Globo - (Brazilian TV) Olympic coverage, - 2000 - HRA studio - London