J. Todd Anderson is a storyboard artist who has worked with a number of filmmakers, including the

Coen brothers Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...

. He also, along with film archivist and friend George Willeman and

WYSO WYSO (91.3 FM) is a radio station in Yellow Springs, Ohio, near Dayton, community owned and operated; formerly licensed and operated by Antioch College. It is the flagship National Public Radio member station for the Miami Valley, including the ...

D.J. Niki Dakota, produces ''Filmically Perfect''. He made his directorial debut in 1998 with the film '' The Naked Man''. A few years later, he served as

second unit director Second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming stag ...

on the Coen brothers' ''

Intolerable Cruelty ''Intolerable Cruelty'' is a 2003 American romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen, and produced by Brian Grazer and the Coens. The script was written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone and Ethan and Joel Coen, with th ...

'', which earned him membership in the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

. Anderson received credit for appearing in '' Fargo'' as "Victim in Field". Instead of his name being used, he was credited with the symbol for the artist formerly known as Prince, which was turned on its side and a smiley face drawn in the circle. In addition, his name was used in the 2010 film ''

True Grit True Grit may refer to: Fiction * ''True Grit'' (novel), a 1968 novel by Charles Portis ** ''True Grit'' (1969 film), a film adaptation by Henry Hathaway, starring John Wayne ** ''True Grit'' (2010 film), a film adaptation by the Coen Brothers, ...

'' as one of the many aliases for the outlaw Tom Chaney.

Storyboard

Anderson has stated that his role as storyboard artist is "less creative than interpretive". When working with Ethan and Joel Coen, the Coens go through the movie shot by shot, and Anderson works to "establish the scale, trap the angle, ID the character, get the action". Afterwards he sits and does a more polished drawing from the sketches drawn with the directors. After getting feedback from the filmmakers and adding several details, such as facial expressions, necessary props and arrows depicting actor and camera movement, the drawings are photocopied and given to everyone on the set. Thus, the storyboards Anderson creates are vital to the smooth process and good communication on the film set. Anderson has contributed to and been credited for the storyboards of the following films:

Pop opera

Anderson has written the words and music for a pop opera entitled ''Nativity''. It tells the story of the birth of Jesus through the eyes of angels. First performed in Dayton, Ohio in 1995, the show was not performed again until 2008. Anderson cites his influences on the piece being rock operas such as ''

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

'' and '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' as well as

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

musicals.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, J. Todd Living people American storyboard artists Year of birth missing (living people)