Annabel Jankel (born 1 June 1955), also known as AJ Jankel, is a British film and TV director who first came to prominence as a

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

director and the co-creator of the pioneering cyber-character Max Headroom and as co-director of the film adaptation of '' Super Mario Bros.'' She is the sister of musician and songwriter

Chaz Jankel Charles Jeremy "Chaz" Jankel (born 16 April 1952) is an English musician and songwriter. In a music career spanning more than 50 years, he came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Ian Dury and the ...

, who is best known as a member of new wave band Ian Dury & The Blockheads, as well as the aunt of DJ and record producer Lewis Jankel, better known by his stage name Shift K3Y.

Early career

She started her career in the late 1970s at the UK-based film production company Cucumber Studios which she founded with her partner - fellow director Rocky Morton. Jankel and Morton specialized in creating music videos, TV commercials and TV title sequences using a combination of live action, animation and the then emerging art of computer graphics. In this period the duo directed several music videos for performers including Rush ("The Enemy Within"),

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

(" Accidents Will Happen"),

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

(" Blind"), Tom Tom Club (" Genius of Love", " Pleasure of Love", " Don't Say No"),

Donald Fagen Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who is the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker ...

New Frontier The term ''New Frontier'' was used by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech, delivered July 15, in the 1960 United States presidential election to the Democratic National Convention at the Los Angeles Memo ...

") and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

("Decoy"). In 1985, Jankel and Morton won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for their title sequence for the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

show '' Friday Night Videos''. And that same year their innovative TV commercial for the newly launched soft drink Quatro gained recognition at the British Television Advertising Awards. In 2003, their 1978 music video for

's " Accidents Will Happen" was one of only 35 videos selected for inclusion in the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

's prestigious "Golden Oldies of Music Video" exhibition. Their music videos are found in the permanent collections of the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and at the Victoria & Albert Museum in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1984, Jankel and Morton co-authored a book titled ''Creative Computer Graphics'' that detailed the history of the craft and essayed its future.

Breakthrough

Jankel co-created Max Headroom, a cult

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

character that evolved into multiple TV productions and became very influential in science fiction TV and impacted popular culture in the 1980s. Jankel and Morton first created and directed ''The Max Talking Headroom Show'' - an entertainment program that featured comedic sequences, interviews conducted by the Headroom cyber-character and music videos. (Channel 4 - UK and HBO - US). This led to the TV film '' Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future'', also directed by the duo. The TV film in turn inspired the ABC '' Max Headroom'' US TV series. Subsequent to the success of Max Headroom, Jankel and Morton moved to Los Angeles. They were considered to co-direct the 1988 horror film '' Child's Play'', the first film to feature the character of Chucky, before Tom Holland was hired. Together they worked on '' D.O.A'', a remake of the 1949 film of the same name, starring Meg Ryan and

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), '' The Big Easy'' (1986), '' Innerspace'' (1987), '' Great Balls of Fire!'' (1989), ' ...

. The film received critical acclaim in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

' and from film writers such as

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

who described it as "a witty and literate thriller". Following ''D.O.A.'', Jankel and Morton directed the film '' Super Mario Bros.'', loosely based on the video game of the same name, starring Bob Hoskins,

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (, ; ; born July 22, 1960 or 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and film producer. He has appeared in more than 100 films, produced more than 20 films and documentaries, made more than 30 televisio ...

and Dennis Hopper. The film was set in a dark post-apocalyptic interpretation of the Mushroom Kingdom, as distinct from the colorful cartoonish setting of the game. It was panned by critics, receiving almost universally negative reviews. As of April 2023, review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reports that 29% of critics gave positive reviews based on 43 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Despite flashy sets and special effects, ''Super Mario Bros.'' is too light on story and substance to be anything more than a novelty."

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' and

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' gave the film two thumbs down on the television program '' Siskel & Ebert at the Movies'', and the film was on their list for one of the worst films of 1993. Michael Wilmington of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' disapproved of the film's script. However, Hal Hinson of ''

'' gave a positive review, praising the film for its spirit and later went on to say, "In short, it's a blast."

Solo career

Jankel became a director of television commercials for clients, such as Sealy,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Bud Light Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in oth ...

, AOL, Bacardi,

Hallmark A hallmark is an official Mark (sign), mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''Wikti ...

and

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

, winning multiple advertising awards. Her ''Kiss'' spot for

was named "World's Best-Humor Commercial", "Best Directed Commercial" and "Best of Show" at the International Broadcast Awards. She was also awarded the Gold Award for "Best TV Commercial Campaign" at the Worldfest REMI Awards. In 2006, Jankel directed the 24-episode TV series ''Live from Abbey Road'' seen on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in the UK and on the Sundance Channel in the US. - working with over 72 major musical artists including

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

, Dave Matthews,

Norah Jones Norah Jones ( ; born Geethali Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has won several awards for her music and, , has sold more than 53 million records worldwide. '' Billboard'' named her the top jazz artist of ...

, Wynton Marsalis,

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

and Dr. John. Jankel directed the 2009

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of David Almond's novel '' Skellig'', a well received $5.3M Sky1 HD Easter Special feature-length production for television broadcast and subsequent international theatrical distribution. The film stars Tim Roth in the title role. In 2011, Jankel directed the 52-minute 3D show "Live on Air" shown on Sky3D Atlantic and Sky Arts, featuring the band Elbow, in rehearsal and performing at the 02 centre. In 2018, Jankel directed the

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

film '' Tell It to the Bees''.

References

External links

*
Annabel Jankel
at

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

(DGA) * Book
Annabel Jankel; Rocky Morton, ''Creative Computer Graphics''
(UK: Cambridge University Press, 1984) * Book
''Super Mario Brothers''
(US: Disney Pr, 1993) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jankel, Annabel 1955 births Living people English women film directors Primetime Emmy Award winners English film directors British expatriates in the United States Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts English television directors British television show creators

Early career

Breakthrough

Solo career

See also

References

External links