On the heels of bringing creative/director Nando Costa on board as a partner in the company (SHOOT, 6/19), Bent Image Lab, a Portland-based production house and creative laboratory, has signed veteran animator and director Ken Lidster, who comes over from London animation studio Loose Moose.
The addition of Costa and Lidster are designed to diversify and fortify Bent as a content creation studio. Costa’s design and motion graphics work complement Bent’s core CG, stop motion and mixed media animation prowess. And Lidster brings a lauded body of animation work and experience, particularly in stop motion fare, that enhances Bent offerings.
Lidster, a Canadian native, moves to Portland after having spent two decades in England, working at Aardman Animations in Bristol, and then as a founding partner in Loose Moose. He has directed assorted spots, mostly humorous in nature, over the years for such clients as Energizer, Chips Ahoy!, Kellogg’s, Oscar Mayer, Quaker Oats, Target and Lipton Brisk iced tea. For the latter, Lidster helmed lauded campaigns that featured the voices and animated likenesses of Bruce Willis and Danny DeVito, among other celebs.
Lipton Brisk’s “Dojo” directed by Lidster for JWT New York showed a fight pitting martial arts legend/action film star Bruce Lee against the villainous Karate Kid and his master, Mr. Miyagi. The stop motion :30 earned an animation category honor in the 2000 AICP Show, and inclusion into the film archives of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Lidster’s work has been screened at festivals and TV stations around the world. His film Balloon won a British BAFTA honor for Best Animated Film of 1991, the Grand Primero Cinanima Solverde ’91, and a Silver Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More