Shane Acker

Shane Richard Acker (born 1971 in Wheaton, Illinois) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter and animation teacher known for directing 9, which is based on his 2005 Academy Award-nominated short film of the same title. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles. Early life As a child Acker was hyperactive, so his parents encouraged him to draw. Acker originally set a goal of becoming an architect; he earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Florida in 1994 as well as a master's degree from the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. Career Upon graduating in 1999, Acker decided to become a film-maker and went to study at UCLA's Animation Workshop. There he created The Hangnail, The Astounding Talents of Mr. Grenade, and 9. In 2004, Acker earned a master's degree in animation. 9 took him four and a half years to complete and was released in 2005. Acker concurrently held a position at Wētā FX in 2004 as an animator, where he focused on CG characters and creatures, followed by NCsoft from 2005 to 2006 as both an animator and CG generalist. Acker wrote, directed, and co-animated the award-winning animated short film 9, which won a student award, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, and was shown at SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater. Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Batman and The Nightmare Before Christmas) saw Acker's short film and, with Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted) from Focus Features, produced the feature film with Attitude Studios in Luxembourg and Starz Animation in Toronto. Acker was the head director and storywriter.