Mike L. Murphy, a Hollywood film director and animator, whose animation credits include ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Lord Of The Rings’, and ‘Ironman’ was awarded The BrandLaureate Best Brand Personality Award 2013 at The BrandLaureate Gala Dinner on May 28, 2013 at the Majestic Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The award’s ceremony was organized by the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation (APBF). The BrandLaureate Awards is presented to brands and outstanding individuals that have stamped their mark in international industries that focus on the Asian market. Other recipients included couture shoe designer Jimmy Choo, the executive team at AirAsia, and International electronics firm Siemens.
Commenting on winning the award, Murphy said “I’m honored to be placed among such revolutionaries as Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Nelson Mandela. It’s vital for creative people and entrepreneurs to always keep their brand at the forefront of their minds. Your brand, and reputation, is your businesses. I’m grateful to The BrandLaureate Awards for recognizing my accomplishments in the field of animation, visual effects and directing.”
Murphy continued, “I have an exciting 2 years coming up. I am building a business to mentor aspiring international animation students, Successful Animator, and develop a handful of projects for my feature film directing debut. During this time, I am keenly aware of establishing and building my brand, as well as teaching others how to do the same. If a creative is not clear on what makes them unique, and what value they offer to their audience, then they will fail to find success. Throughout my 15 year career I’ve gotten to learn under the tutelage of such directors as Peter Jackson, Chris Columbus, Brad Bird, Justin Lin and dozens more.”
“I am partnering with Malaysia’s top design school, The One Academy, to bring Hollywood quality animation training to the Asian region.” Murphy continued, “Together, we hope to help young people in this sector of the world discover the skills they must have in order to compete in the global animation marketplace. We hope to establish ourselves, through my team of successful animation mentors, as one of the world’s premier animation training facilities. Because of my association with Malaysia, I was nominated for this outstanding award.”
About MIKE L. MURPHY
An American filmmaker, animation director and filmmaking mentor for film and television, Mike L. Murphy has directed many award winning advertisements and short films.
Growing up in Los Gatos, California, he left high school (the same high school Steven Spielberg attended years prior) a year early after getting a tour of the Walt Disney Animation Studios when they were making Aladdin. Murphy consequently attended California Institute of the Arts, the arts college founded by Walt Disney, near Los Angeles, CA.
His first film as director was ‘Night of the Broccoli’ in 2004, about a man who simply wants to impress his date with his cooking abilities, but the vegetables have revenge in store. This was followed by his 2005 film ‘Get Lost’, and 2006 film ‘Rose’, which premiered at the prestigious Rhode Island International Film Festival where it won first place for Best Cinematography.
As a child, Murphy was very creative, growing up making films and creating puppets for local events. His mother, a Kindergarten teacher, is often attributed as a creative influence while he was young. After graduating CalArts he got his first job as an animator for Walt Disney Imagineering, creating the robotic animation seen in the Disneyland parks. He then landed his first movie as a computer animator on Warner Brother’s ‘The Iron Giant’.
Since then Murphy has worked as an animator for many well known movies including ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’, ‘Stuart Little’, ‘I, Robot’ and Marvel’s ‘Iron Man’ starring Robert Downey Jr. He has worked for such s
