Mark Osborne
An animation buff for nearly his entire life, filmmaker Mark Randolph Osbourne parlayed his passion into an award-winning career with such films as "More" (1998) and "Kung Fu Panda" (2008). He first captured the attention of audiences with his college thesis, "Greener" (1994), which ushered him into the entertainment industry. The IMAX film "More" earned him an Oscar nomination and led to work as the live-action director on "Spongebob Squarepants" (Nickelodeon/Nicktoons Network, 1999- ). In 2004, he co-directed the DreamWorks animated feature "Kung Fu Panda," which became one of the studio's most successful efforts in that field, ushering Osbourne to the forefront of the mainstream animation industry.