Milan Trenc (born 1962) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

.'International Selection Committee', ''Zagreb Animafest: World Festival of Animated Films'' (2006)
Retrieved 6 December 2006.

Career

Born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, there Trenc first went to the School of Applied Arts, which is a high school, then studied film directing at the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Arts. While there, he started publishing comics and after graduation he worked at

Zagreb Film Zagreb Film is a Croatian film company principally known for its animation studio. From Zagreb, it was founded in 1953. They have produced hundreds of animated films, as well as documentaries, television commercials, educational films and several ...

, where he created ''The Blentons'', an episode in the animated film '' The Game'' directed by Krešimir Zimonić. In 1985, Trenc became chief illustrator of ''

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

'' magazine until 1991. In 1990, he made the animated short ''The Big Time'' (Veliki provod) for Zagreb Film, later shown at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

, which was particularly well received, becoming a classic in Zagreb Film's repertoire. Throughout this time he was also publishing comics and illustrating the covers of national and international publications. He also wrote and directed ''

Ghost Story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

'', a film for Croatian TV. Trenc left ''Start'' to move to

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 ...

, where he published comic strips in ''

Heavy Metal Magazine ''Heavy Metal'' is an American science fantasy comics magazine, first published in 1977. The magazine is known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy, science fiction, erotica, and steampunk comics. Following a brief hiatus in 2023, it plans to ...

'' and illustrations in publications including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' and ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

''. He wrote and illustrated ''

The Night at the Museum ''The Night at the Museum'', published in 1993, is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. This book is Trenc's best known title, and in 2006 was adapted as a feature film titled '' Night at the Mu ...

'', a children's book set in the

New York Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

and published in 1993 by

Barron's Educational Series Kaplan, Inc. is an international educational services company that provides educational and training services to colleges, universities, businesses and individuals around the world. Founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan, the company offers a variety o ...

. The book was produced as a feature film in 2006 and subjected to a novelization by

Leslie Goldman Leslie Goldman is an American politician who has served in the Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The ...

. Trenc's sequel, ''Another Night at the Museum'', was released in March 2013.Another Night at the Museum
/ref> In 2000, Trenc completed his own feature film ''

Zen Stories Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

''. Trenc has won awards from Print and the

Society of Publication Designers A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

for his illustrations in ''The New York Times''.

Works

* 1993: ''

'' * 2013: ''Another Night at the Museum''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trenc, Milan 1962 births Living people Film people from Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb alumni Croatian comics artists Croatian comics writers 20th-century Croatian illustrators 21st-century Croatian illustrators Croatian film directors Croatian magazine illustrators Croatian animators Croatian expatriates in the United States Croatian children's book illustrators