Paul Harrod is an American

animation director An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated or television film, or an animated segment for a live-action film or television show. Alternatively, the animation direct ...

production designer In film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Work ...

, and

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

with a special emphasis on

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 ...

Early life

Paul Harrod was born in

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park ( ) is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, California, Eas ...

on February 5, 1958, to Lee and Betty Harrod.

Education

Paul Harrod attended the California Institute of The Arts, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1986 and a Master of Fine Arts Degree in 1988. He was awarded numerous scholarships and was a teaching assistant for Art School Video Production. Harrod was also Chairman of Student Council Film Series and he curated and presented numerous programs of experimental, documentary and narrative cinema.

Career

Shortly after completing his MFA he sculpted an alien make-up for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and designed and built the sets for the opening title sequence of the 4th and 5th season of

Pee Wee's Playhouse ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American comedy children's television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was develope ...

(CBS Television) in 1989–90, which won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Graphics and Title Design in 1991. In 1990, he designed and art directed the "pin-screen" animated "All I Want" music video for The Lightning Seeds (MCA Records) which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video - Short Form. In 1992 he worked with Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner designing sets for an animated television special, "Edith Ann: Life in the Little Lane" (Omnipotent Productions). In 1992 Harrod began working with Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon, art directing stop motion commercials including Chips Ahoy, Cool Mint Listerine (Canada), Fanta, "Fanta Si Boy" "Refrigerator Ride" (Latin America), Levis For Women (USA), Kellogg's Pop-Tarts, "Blade Runner" (USA), California Raisins, "What's For Breakfast?" (USA). In 1995, he worked at the Aardman Studio in Bristol, UK where he designed the first Chevron "Talking Car" commercials. In 1995, he taught animation production and design at

Volda University College Volda University College ( or HVO) is one of the no-tuition state institutions in the system of higher education in Norway. It is located in Volda in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. History HVO was established on 1 August 1994, when the Mør ...

(Volda Norway) for six months, graduating the first animation students in Norway. In 1995 he joined the crew of Tim Burton's "

Mars Attacks ''Mars Attacks'' is a science fiction-themed trading card series released in 1962 by Topps. The cards feature artwork by science fiction artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. The cards form a story arc, which tells of the invasion of Earth by ...

" at Warner Bros. Studios as stop-motion art director, but left the production shortly before the stop-motion unit was dissolved and the execution of Martian sequences fell to Industrial Light and Magic. In 1995, Harrod joined Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon full time as Senior Art Director, and shortly thereafter began directing commercials as well. Between 1999 and 2001, he directed five episodes of the television series, "

The PJs ''The PJs'' is an American adult stop motion-animated black sitcom created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins for Fox. It portrays life in an urban public housing project. The series starred Eddie Murphy, and it was produced by ...

", for which he received an Annie Award in 2000. He was also the first production designer on the series and he oversaw the production of all the sets and puppets. Harrod went on to direct the first episode of UPN's quirky animated series " Gary and Mike" and he designed and directed the pilot for Warner Brothers' "

Slacker Cats ''Slacker Cats'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by British writers Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil for ABC Family. The series premiered on August 13, 2007 and features the voice talents of comedians Harland Williams and Sinbad as sl ...

," both while employed at

Will Vinton Studios William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his wor ...

. From 2004 to 2014, Harrod directed animated commercials at

Bent Image Lab BENT IMAGE LAB (or BENT) is a production company and animation studio specializing in story development, television, commercials, visual effects, music videos, short films, experimental techniques and tech development in augmented reality (AR). Lo ...

where his clients include

Alltel Alltel was a landline, wireless service provider, wireless and general Telephone company, telecommunications services provider, primarily based in the United States. Before its wireless division was acquired by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, Alltel pr ...

Wireless,

Kelloggs Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets convenience foods and snack f ...

' Twistables,

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

, and

Aflac Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company) is an American insurance company and is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States. It was founded in 1955 and is based in Columbus, Georgia. In the U.S., it ...

. His spot "Koi Pond," for

Tractor Supply Company Tractor Supply Company (also known as TSCO or TSC), founded in 1938, is an American chain store that sells home improvement, agriculture, lawn and garden maintenance, livestock, horse, equine and pet care equipment and supplies. It caters to farm ...

, was voted one of the 50 best spots of 2006 by Adweek. Since 2008, Harrod has curated and presented a monthly film screening and lecture at Mother's Velvet Lounge in Portland, Oregon. Themes for the series have included "Italian Westerns", "Film Noir", "Dreams, The Subconscious and the Surreal" and "Women and Power". He frequently travels to film festivals all over the world, where he occasionally presents programs of his commercials and television shows. In 2014 Harrod began his own company, Sticky Films, and directed and designed a sequence for the end credits of

22 Jump Street ''22 Jump Street'' is a 2014 American adult buddy cop action comedy film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, written by Jonah Hill, Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel and Rodney Rothman and produced by and starring Hill and Channing T ...

. He lived to London from 2015 to 2017 when he was the co-production designer with Adam Stockhausen on "

Isle of Dogs The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England. It includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Haml ...

, a stop motion animated feature directed by Wes Anderson, released in March of 2018. The film received praise for its inventive design with Variety noting "Even the garbage in each frame — of which there is plenty, the film's chief setting being a less-than-salubrious enclave called Trash Island — looks hand-picked by production designers Adam Stockhausen (as essential here as he was to the success of "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "Moonrise Kingdom") and Paul Harrod."

Awards/accolades

* 2000: Annie nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television Production "The PJs" episode "Boys In The Wood" * 2018: Annie nomination for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production "Isle of Dogs" * 2018 Art Directors Guild Award Winner for Excellence in Production Design for an Animated Film "Isle of Dogs"

Family life

Paul Harrod lives in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

with his wife, filmmaker

Joanna Priestley Joanna Priestley (born November 25, 1950) is an American contemporary film director, producer, animator and teacher. Her films are in the collections of the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Priestley h ...

References

External links

"Paul Harrod IMDb page"

''Joanna Priestley Website''

''Children of Chaos''

"Bent Image Lab"

''Paul Harrod Website''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrod, Paul Film directors from California American production designers American television directors California Institute of the Arts alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)