David Soren (born April 19, 1973) is a Canadian director, writer, voice actor, and storyboard artist at

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

. His most notable work are TV specials based on the ''Madagascar'' film franchise: '' Merry Madagascar'' and ''

Madly Madagascar ''Madagascar'' is a media franchise owned and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith are featured in the films. It began with the 2005 film ''Madagascar (2005 film), Madaga ...

''. He directed the 2013 animated feature film ''

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

'', which is based on his own original concept, as well as the 2017 animated film '' Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie'' based on

Dav Pilkey David Murray "Dav" Pilkey Jr. (; born March 4, 1966) is an American comic book writer of children's fiction. He is best known as the author and illustrator of the children's book series ''Captain Underpants'' and its spin-off children's graphic ...

's ''

Captain Underpants ''Captain Underpants'' is an American illustrated children's novel series and multimedia franchise by American author and illustrator Dav Pilkey. The series revolves around two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, living in Pi ...

'' book series.

Early life and career

Soren was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, was raised in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, and graduated from

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology, is a public polytechnic institute partnered with private Canadian College of Technology and Trades operating campuses ...

. His final student project, an animated short film, ''Mr. Lucky'', received many accolades, and was accepted into competition for the 1997

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

. Before joining

, he worked at Toronto-based

Nelvana Nelvana Limited (; also known as Nelvana Enterprises, Nelvana International or Nelvana Digital; commonly known as Nelvana; stylized as "nelvana") is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment s ...

as an animator and storyboard artist. At DreamWorks, he worked as a story artist on ''

Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 animated adventure comedy film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park and written by Karey Kirkpatrick from an original story by Lord and Park. Produced by Pathé and Aardman Features in partnership with DreamWork ...

'', ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...

'' and ''

Over the Hedge ''Over the Hedge'' is a 2006 American animated heist comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation SKG. Based on the comic strip of the same name, the film was directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick from a screenplay by Len Blum, ...

'', and as head of story on ''

Shark Tale ''Shark Tale'' is a 2004 American animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks. The film was directed by Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, and Rob Letterman, from a screenplay written by Letterman and Michael J. Wilson. The film features the vo ...

''. In 2009, he directed and wrote his first film, a TV Christmas special, '' Merry Madagascar'', followed by a 2013 TV Valentine's Day special, ''

'', also written and directed by Soren. Soren made his feature directorial debut in 2013, directing ''

.'' It received mixed-to-positive reviews which won him an

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...

for Directing in a Feature Production. He was also the creative consultant on its television series, '' Turbo Fast.'' He voiced the muscle-sized baby Jimbo in '' The Boss Baby'' and directed his second feature film '' Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie'' and voiced Tommy which is based on

's comic books

, which the movie and books would later get adapted into a

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

television series titled '' The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants''. However, Soren was not involved with the show. He reprised his role as Jimbo in ''The Boss Baby'''s sequel, '' The Boss Baby: Family Business.'' Soren directed a full-length feature film for

Paramount Animation Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the critical and commerical success of P ...

titled ''

Under the Boardwalk "Under the Boardwalk" is a pop song written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick and recorded by The Drifters in 1964. It charted at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on August 22, 1964. The song has since been covered by many othe ...

''. In February 2023, Radar Pictures acquired the rights to make a feature film based on '' Geronimo Stilton''. The film is a co-production between Radar and Italian company Atlantyca Entertainment, which also produced the television series, with

veteran David Soren attached to write and direct and Anthony Tringali, Michael Napoliello and Maria Frisk set to produce under Radar Pictures.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
David Soren
on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soren, David 1973 births Living people Artists from Toronto Canadian male voice actors Canadian male screenwriters Canadian storyboard artists Canadian animated film directors Canadian television directors DreamWorks Animation people Film directors from Toronto Male actors from Toronto Screenwriters from Toronto 21st-century Canadian screenwriters