Graham Annable

A tribute to the launching powers of videogame creation into the world of filmmaking, gaming animator and cartoonist Graham Annable made his mark on the big screen with the Laika films "ParaNorman" (2012) and "The Boxtrolls" (2014). Fifteen years working outside of Hollywood's reach helped Annable find an aesthetic voice that didn't quite conform to the industry's standard, rendering his Laika contributions refreshingly original animated features. Graham Annable was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada on June 1, 1970. He began his pursuit of a career in the visual arts at Sheridan College, finding a one-off feature film gig contributing clean-up animation to "A Goofy Movie" (1995). Annable discovered more consistent work animating computer and videogames at LucasArts shortly afterward, building up a formidable résumé working with the company over the decade and a half to follow. Annable lent his talent to titles of note including "Full Throttle" (1995) and "The Curse of Monkey Island" (1997). All the while, Annable began bringing his original creations to life through the Alternative Comics label, beginning with Grickle (2001), which he eventually translated to animation via his own YouTube channel. Annable maintained a presence at LucasFilms, playing lead animator on the "Star Wars" videogames "Obi Wan" (2002) and "Revenge of the Sith" (2005), and working in the "Sam and Max" videogame series. In 2009, Annable returned to the world of cinema under the roof of blossoming animation studio Laika, working as a storyboard artist on the acclaimed feature "Coraline" (2009). He maintained a relationship with the studio, graduating to an animation position on its follow-up film "ParaNorman" (2012). Annable made his directing debut behind Laika's third movie, "The Boxtrolls" (2014), which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.