A group therapy session for couples begins. The therapist asks Dan, a small, shrunken man, to comment. Dan is interrupted by Mary, his huge wife, who complains about Dan and scolds him. Her harangue follows them home. He reaches over to touch her hand; he calls her his songbird. She melts – or at least the air leaves her. Six months later, Dan returns to the group alone; he’s looking well. Lights shine from him. He extends a kindness to Angela. What is Dan’s story? —IMDb
Animation is a second career for Chris Landreth. He was an engineer for several years after receiving his M.Sc. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois, where he worked for three years in experimental research in fluid mechanics before making the leap to computer animation.
In 1994, he joined the animation software company Alias, where he tested software in-house before it was released to the public. His first animated short The End (1995), in which Landreth discovers he’s the character in his own work while trying to think of a decent ending for it, was widely heralded on the festival circuit and garnered an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Short Film. His follow-up Bingo (1998) also received numerous international awards and a Genie for Best Animated Short.
Landreth’s most recent film, Ryan (2004), is also his most acclaimed. A poignant and at times revelatory study of artists, addiction and the creative process, it is both animation… read more
