The production company, Hibbert Ralph Animation, has hired two feature
film animators, expanding its directors’ roster to six.
Caron Creed and Andrew Painter, who met while working together on the
Disney film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, have most recently been operating
as a freelance duo.
They have worked together on a variety of projects, including the
surreal ‘fantastic journey’ Le Shuttle commercial, through Passion
Pictures. They were previously with the production house,
Klactoveesedstene, where they worked for the animator, Oscar Grillo.
The pair are currently working on a Kellogg’s Cornflakes ad for
J. Walter Thompson, and Creed is also set to direct the next Frosties ad
for the same agency. They are available both individually and
collectively for bigger jobs.
Jerry Hibbert, a partner at Hibbert Ralph, claimed that both directors
had considered offers from companies including Warner Brothers, Disney
Features and Dreamworks, Steven Spielberg’s new operation.
‘We’re delighted to get them,’ he said. ‘We had to beat off some pretty
stiff competition to do so.’
But Creed and Painter, who were already doing a lot of work through
Hibbert Ralph before agreeing to join the roster, said the atmosphere,
coupled with an investment in state-of-the-art animation systems such as
Animo, had won them over.
‘Features work is fascinating and it was very flattering to be pursued
by some of the major studios,’ Creed said, ‘but commercials offer
greater freedom and a faster turnaround.’
Creed and Painter join Hibbert, Graham Ralph, Pat Gavin and Kim Burdon
as principal directors at the animation house.
