David Fine (born September 13, 1960) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

filmmaker, who works in animated film alongside his British wife

Alison Snowden Alison Snowden (born 4 April 1958) is an English animator, voice actress, producer, and screenwriter best known for ''Bob and Margaret'' alongside her Oscar-winning short ''Bob's Birthday'' which was also co-directed by her husband David Fine (f ...

Wyndham Wise Wyndham Paul Wise is a Canadian film historian, critic, editor and publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of the film magazine '' Take One: Film & Television in Canada'' (1992-2006). Career Born in London, England, Wyndham Wise was rais ...

"David Fine and Alison Snowden"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

'', January 17, 2012. The couple are best known as the creators of the Nelvana animated television series ''

Bob and Margaret ''Bob and Margaret'' is an adult animated television series created by David Fine and Alison Snowden and produced by Nelvana. The series was based on the Academy Award-winning short film ''Bob's Birthday'', featuring the same main characters, wh ...

'', and as the directors of several animated short films which have won or been nominated for

Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

and

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

."Vancouver filmmaking pair nominated for Oscar with short animation Animal Behaviour"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

British Columbia, January 22, 2019. Fine originally worked in film alongside documentarian

Ron Mann Ronald Mann (born June 13, 1958), credited professionally as Ron Mann, is a Canadian documentary film director. His work includes the films ''Imagine the Sound'' (1981); ''Comic Book Confidential'' (1988); ''Grass'' (1999) and ''Go Further'' ( ...

, receiving his first Genie Award nomination when ''The Only Game in Town'' was shortlisted for Best Theatrical Short Film at the

4th Genie Awards The 4th annual Genie Awards were held March 23, 1983, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. The ceremony was hosted by comedian Dave Thomas."Thomas goes genteel for Genies". ''The Globe and Mail'', March 19, 1983. ''The Grey Fox'' was the ev ...

in 1983. He then spent time studying at the

National Film and Television School The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repor ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he met and married Snowden. Fine assisted Snowden on her 1985 short film ''Second Class Mail''. They then worked together on ''

George and Rosemary ''George and Rosemary'' is a 1987 animated short co-directed by Alison Snowden and David Fine, about two "golden agers" who prove that passion is not exclusively for the young. Storyline George, an old dreamer, has a secret love for the woman dire ...

'', which was an Academy Award nominee for

Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year 1 ...

at the

60th Academy Awards The 60th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on April 11, 1988, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PDT. During the ceremon ...

and won the Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film at the

9th Genie Awards The 9th annual Genie Awards were held March 22, 1988, and honoured Canadian films released in 1987.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . The ceremony was hel ...

. Their 1989 film '' In and Out'' was a nominee for the Genie Award for Best Theatrical Short Film at the

11th Genie Awards The 11th annual Genie Awards were presented March 20, 1990, and honoured Canadian films released in 1989. For this year, CTV had negotiated to serve as broadcaster and the academy formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, ACCTV Productions, to independe ...

. In 1994 they wrote the screenplay for J. Falconer's animated short film ''Deadly Deposits'', and released their own animated short film ''

Bob's Birthday ''Bob's Birthday'' is a 1993 Canadian-British animated short by Alison Snowden and David Fine, winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 67th Academy Awards, and serves as the pilot to the animated series '' Bob & Margare ...

''. The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the

67th Academy Awards The 67th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) took place on March 27, 1995, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the cer ...

, was a Genie Award nominee for Best Theatrical Short Film at the

15th Genie Awards The 15th Genie Awards were held in 1994. Nominees and winners The Genie Award nominees, with winners in each category shown in bold text: References External links Genie Awards 1994 on imdb {{Canadian Screen Awards 15 Genie Genie J ...

, and formed the basis for the television series ''Bob and Margaret''. After production of ''Bob and Margaret'' was ended production in 2001, Snowden and Fine created and worked on the animated television series '' Ricky Sprocket: Showbiz Boy'' and ''

Shaun the Sheep ''Shaun the Sheep'' is a British stop-motion television series and a spin-off of the ''Wallace and Gromit'' franchise. The title character is Shaun (previously featured as the sheep named "Shaun" in the 1995 short film ''A Close Shave'' and t ...

''. In 2018 they released ''

Animal Behaviour Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objectiv ...

'', their first theatrical short film since ''Bob's Birthday'', which received another Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film at the

91st Academy Awards The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, A ...

. The couple's daughter Lily Snowden-Fine is a former child actress who was the original voice of

Peppa Pig ''Peppa Pig'' is a British preschool animated television series by Astley Baker Davies. The show follows Peppa, an anthropomorphic female piglet, and her family, as well as her peers portrayed as other animals. The show first aired on 31 Ma ...

, and currently works as an artist and illustrator.Lily Snowden-Fine's official website
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Filmography

Short films

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fine, David 1960 births Living people Canadian animated film directors Canadian voice directors Artists from Toronto Artists from Vancouver Film directors from Toronto Film directors from Vancouver Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Directors of Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners for Best Animated Short Alumni of the National Film and Television School National Film Board of Canada people