Pierre Perifel is a French filmmaker and animator. He is best known for his work at DreamWorks Animation, including directing the short film Bilby (2018) and the feature film The Bad Guys (2022).
Pierre Perifel | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lyon, France |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Employer | DreamWorks Animation (2008–present) |
Early life and education
editPerifel was born in Lyon, France.[1] His passion for animation began in high school. In his third year of attending École Émile-Cohl art school, he applied to Gobelins, l'École de l'image and was accepted.[2]
In 2004, Perifel created the short student film A Swell Plan,[3] and collaborated with classmates Xavier Ramonède, Jun Frederic Violet, and Rémi Zaarour on a second short film, Festival Qualité.[4][5] He graduated from Gobelins in 2005.[1][6] For his thesis film, Le Building, he reteamed with Ramonède and Zaarour, and also worked with Marco Nguyen and Olivier Staphylas. The film uses a combination of 2D and 3D animation.[7] Le Building screened at numerous international film festivals and won several awards,[6][8][9][10][11] including Best Undergraduate Animation at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.[10]
Career
editThe earliest films of Perifel's career include Curious George, Nocturna, Go West: A Lucky Luke Adventure and The Illusionist.[2] The same year as his graduation from Gobelins (2005), Perifel served as a supervising animator on the French short film Imago, which was directed by Cédric Babouche. Imago afforded Perifel the opportunity to work with Ramonède again.[12]
Perifel moved to the United States in 2008[1][6] and began his career at DreamWorks Animation doing character animation on the 2D short film, Secrets of the Furious Five, for which he won an Annie Award.[1][13][14] Following that, Perifel transitioned to CGI, working on Monsters vs. Aliens for about two months. He then joined onto Shrek Forever After.[2] He returned to 2D animation with a few sequences in Kung Fu Panda 2.[2][15] On that film, he also served as lead animator for the character Lord Shen. Perifel has said that he "was in charge of [the character]", even though he "didn't have a team of animators".[2]
Perifel was officially promoted to supervising animator on Rise of the Guardians[2] leading the team responsible for the character North.[16] Both Kung Fu Panda 2 and Rise of the Guardians earned Perifel Annie Award nominations.[1][13][17]
Perifel's subsequently was appointed Head of Animation on several films including Monkeys of Mumbai and Larrikins that never got to see the light of day for various reasons.
In November 2017, it was announced that Perifel has been developing an untitled short film with Liron Topaz and JP Sans. The film was selected through the DreamWorks Shorts program, which was set up by Chris DeFaria, after he became president of the DreamWorks Animation Film Group in January 2017. Bilby opened at the closing ceremony of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2018. It screened in many festivals and won the Jury Choice Award at Siggraph 2018.
Perifel made his feature directorial debut, directing the animated feature film adaptation of the original Aaron Blabey/Scholastic book series, The Bad Guys. It was released theatrically on April 22, 2022. He will also return to direct the upcoming sequel to The Bad Guys, set to released on August 1, 2025.
Filmography
editFeature films
editDirector
edit- The Bad Guys (2022)
- The Bad Guys 2 (2025)
Short films
editDirector
edit- Le Building (2005)
- Bilby (2018)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e UQAC staff (13 March 2012). "David Hubert and Pierre Perifel (DreamWorks) are guest masters for ELITE 2012". nad.ca. Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f Pierre Perifel (27 November 2012). "Rise of an animator: Pierre Perifel reveals secrets of the Guardians". Animated Views (Online). Interviewed by Jérémie Noyer. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ "Anima Mundi 2005" (Press release) (in Portuguese and English). São Paulo: Anima Mundi. p. 80. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- ^ Aguesse, Marc. "Festival qualité (2004)". Catsuka. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
- ^ Ramonède, Xavier (15 April 2009). "Le Building and Festival Qualité". Sushixav.blogspot.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ a b c "Chilemonos" (Press release) (in Spanish). Santiago: Chilemonos International Animation Festival. p. 9. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
- ^ Stash staff (4 December 2005). ""Le Building" – Student Film". Stash DVD Magazine. No. 15. San Antonio, Texas: Stash Media. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- ^ Nguyen, Marco; Perifel, Pierre; Ramonède, Xavier; Staphylas, Olivier; Zaarour, Rémi. "Le Building – News, pg. 1". le-building.com. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ^ Barraclough, Leo (26 July 2006). "Toons Catch Continental Drift". Variety. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
- ^ a b Homan, Eric (26 September 2006). "Talk to the Snail: OIAF Category E – Student Animation Competition". Frederator Studios. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ^ Staphylas, Olivier. "Olivier Staphylas – Bio". staphylas.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ Imago – Credits. Sacrebleu Productions and La Boîte Productions. 2005.
- ^ a b David Hubert, Jason Ryan, Pierre Perifel (3 March 2013). iAnimate interview Pierre Périfel – part 3 (video). iAnimate. Event occurs at 2:09-2:23. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^ Debruge, Peter (30 January 2009). "'Kung Fu Panda' rules Annie Awards". Variety. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ David Hubert, Jason Ryan, Pierre Perifel (3 March 2013). iAnimate interview Pierre Périfel – part 3 (video). iAnimate. Event occurs at 2:02-2:11. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^ David Hubert, Jason Ryan, Pierre Perifel (3 March 2013). iAnimate interview Pierre Périfel – part 2 (video). iAnimate. Event occurs at 0:59-1:14. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ Giardina, Carolyn (2 February 2013). "'Wreck-It Ralph' Wins Five Annie Awards Including Best Animated Feature". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 July 2017.