Mark Randolph Osborne (born September 17, 1970) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. He is best known for directing the animated films ''
Kung Fu Panda
''Kung Fu Panda'' is an American martial arts comedy media franchise that started in 2008 with the release of the animated film '' Kung Fu Panda'' produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping (primarily v ...
'' (2008) and ''
The Little Prince
''The Little Prince'' (, ) is a novella written and illustrated by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 and was published po ...
'' (2015), the former of which was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Awards, Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animation, animated feature film. An animated feature is defined by the a ...
. He also directed the stop-motion short film '' More'' (1998), which was nominated for
Academy Award 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 ...
.
Biography
Born in
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...
, Osborne grew up in
Woodstock, Vermont
Woodstock is the shire town (county seat) of Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,005. It includes the villages of Woodstock, South Woodstock, Taftsville, and West Woodstock.
History
Cha ...
until at age 14 he moved to
Flemington, New Jersey
Flemington is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Hunterdon Central Regional High School in 1988. He began his career by studying Foundation Art at
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...
in New York before receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Experimental Animation from the
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...
in June 1992. His thesis film, ''Greener'', won numerous awards and was screened at more than 40 film festivals worldwide. He has received two
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 ...
nominations, including one for Best Animated Feature of the year for the 2008 critically acclaimed ''
Kung Fu Panda
''Kung Fu Panda'' is an American martial arts comedy media franchise that started in 2008 with the release of the animated film '' Kung Fu Panda'' produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping (primarily v ...
'' which he directed alongside John Stevenson. ''Kung Fu Panda'' has netted more than $630 million worldwide to-date. The action-comedy was Osborne's first major studio project. It also won him and Stevenson the
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 an Animated Feature Production.
Osborne's other most well-known work to date, the award-winning
stop motion
Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...
animated short '' More'', has been screened at over 150 film festivals worldwide. It was the first
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...
animation film to ever be nominated for an
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 ...
(1999). ''More'' garnered an
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People and fictional and mythical characters
* Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar
* Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
nomination for Best Animated Short, Special Jury Prize for Short Films at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
(1999), The SXSW Best Animated Short (1999), the ResFest Grand Prize (1999), the Critics Week selection for CANNES (1999), among many others.Indie Filmmaker's Push for 'More', WIRED /ref>
Osborne has also directed a majority of the live-action material for the popular animated TV series ''
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
'' featuring Patchy the Pirate, as well as all of the live-action sequences for ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'', featuring David Hasselhoff. He was classmates with the television show's creator, Stephen Hillenburg, while a student at CalArts. He worked as director on ''SpongeBob'' episodes such as " The Sponge Who Could Fly" and " SpongeBob B.C."
His other live-action directing credits include his independent feature film ''Dropping Out'', which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
in 2000 and has developed a cult following. ''Bachelor Pad'' was also a short live-action comedy Mark made with his brother
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
along with Dylan Haggerty in the late 1980s. Parts of ''Bachelor Pad'' can be seen in the unaired second episode of ''Taterhole'', which was a spin-off of '' The Rudy and Gogo World Famous Cartoon Show'' in 1997. His short film ''Greener'' was broadcast on
TNT
Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
's ''Rudy and GoGo's New Year's Eve Flaming Cheese Ball'' special on New Year's Eve (1995–96).
Osborne taught stop-motion at his alma mater CalArts, but left to pursue his professional aspirations. In 2004, Osborne was awarded the
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
to assist in the production of another personal stop-motion short film, ''The Better Half''. Between 2010 and 2015, Osborne was directing an animated film, ''
The Little Prince
''The Little Prince'' (, ) is a novella written and illustrated by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 and was published po ...
''. In November 2016, it was reported that Osborne had been hired to direct and co-write an animated film adaptation of Jeff Smith's comic books, ''
Bone
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...
''.
In April 2017,
20th Century Fox Animation
20th Century Animation, Inc. (previously known as Fox Family Films, Fox Animation Studios, and 20th Century Fox Animation and sometimes referred to as Fox Animation) is an American animation studio located in Century City, Los Angeles. Formed ...
and
Blue Sky Studios
Blue Sky Studios, Inc. was an American visual effects and computer animation animation studio, studio, which was active from 1987 to 2021. It was based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and was founded on February 22, 1987, by Chris Wedge, Michael F ...
announced they would produce '' Escape from Hat'', an animated film adaptation of Adam Kline's fantasy book of the same title, with Osborne set to direct and co-write the script with Kline, and Jinko Gotoh producing the film along with Osborne. However, in November 2018,
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 ...
acquired the film rights and Melissa Cobb joined the production team. As of August 2023, the film was no longer in development at Netflix.
Osborne, along with singer
Chris Martin
Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay.
Born in Exeter, Martin went to University Colleg ...
, wrote the story of
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...
's ''
Mylo Xyloto
''Mylo Xyloto'' (pronounced ) is the fifth studio album by British Rock music, rock band Coldplay. It was released on 19 October 2011 in Japan and on 24 October 2011 in the rest of the world. The band worked closely with producer Brian Eno fo ...
''
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
and directed the video for its track " Hurts Like Heaven". He wrote the first issue of the comic adaptation and still hopes to turn the album into a film.
Personal life
Osborne is the brother of TV writer and producer Kent Osborne. Osborne's son, Riley, voiced the Little Prince in the 2015 film ''
The Little Prince
''The Little Prince'' (, ) is a novella written and illustrated by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 and was published po ...
'', which was directed by Osborne.
Filmography
*"
Jurassic Park
''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' is a 2004 American adventure comedy film, animated adventure comedy film based on the television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by series creator Stephen Hill ...
Kung Fu Panda
''Kung Fu Panda'' is an American martial arts comedy media franchise that started in 2008 with the release of the animated film '' Kung Fu Panda'' produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping (primarily v ...
'' (2008) (director, voice of Pig Patron)
*'' SpongeBob SquigglePants'' (2011) (director of Patchy the Pirate cut-scenes)
*''
The Little Prince
''The Little Prince'' (, ) is a novella written and illustrated by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 and was published po ...