Pixar's Finding Nemo Director & Co-Writer Andrew Stanton Named Showest 2004 Animation Director Of The Year

LOS ANGELES, January 31, 2004 -- ShoWest 2004, which will take place March 22nd - March 25th, is pleased to announce that Andrew Stanton, the acclaimed director and screenwriter of this year's Oscar®-nominated animated blockbuster, Finding Nemo, a Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios Film, has been named ShoWest 2004 Animation Director of the Year, it was announced today by Mitch Neuhauser, co-managing director of the event. A 14-year Pixar veteran and a previous Oscar® nominee for his contribution to the screenplay for Toy Story, Stanton also came up with the original story for Finding Nemo, and provided the voice of the surfer dude turtle, Crush.

"To think that Nemo, Marlin and Dory were first introduced to the industry at ShoWest 2003 when Disney and Pixar screened Finding Nemo is very exciting. It's not often we get to debut a film that goes on to achieve such worldwide acclaim and record-breaking success and it's something we all take great pride in," said Neuhauser. "The world that Andrew Stanton and his Pixar team created on screen takes film- both animated and traditional- to a new level. For his part in guiding the creation of this film, which is an instant classic, we are pleased and proud to honor Andrew Stanton as the ShoWest 2004 Animation Director of the Year."

Andrew Stanton makes his debut in the top directing spot on Finding Nemo, after serving as co-writer on all four of the previous Pixar films presented by Disney, receiving various credits for each including, co-director, executive producer, and story artist. He has been a major creative force at Pixar Animation Studios since 1990, when he became the second animator (and the ninth employee) to join the Studios' group of computer animation pioneers. Stanton was one of four screenwriters to receive an Oscar® nomination in 1996 for his contribution to Toy Story and went on to receive credit as a screenwriter on every subsequent Pixar film - A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo. Additionally, he served as co-director on the 1998 Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios film, A Bug's Life, and was the executive producer of the 2001 Oscar®-nominated hit Monsters, Inc.

A native of Rockport, Massachusetts, Stanton earned a BFA in character animation from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he completed two student films: A Story - a tale of a boy named Melvin, a dinosaur named Ted, and a killer clown with a goon squad named Randy - and Somewhere in the Arctic. In the 1980s, he launched his professional career in Los Angeles animating for Bill Kroyer's Kroyer Films studio, and writing for Ralph Bakshi's production of Mighty Mouse, The New Adventures (1987). In 1990, he joined John Lasseter at his fledgling commercial production company, Pixar, and served as directing animator and director on numerous commercials.

Stanton and Lasseter co-directed the Luxo Jr. shorts Surprise and Light and Heavy for Sesame Street before beginning preproduction on Toy Story in the early 1990s. Stanton and his wife have two children.

Celebrating its 30th Anniversary in 2004, ShoWest is the world's largest motion picture industry convention. The 2004 edition of ShoWest will be held from March 22nd-25th at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas and at this time it is expected that more than 5000 members of the industry will be on hand. Each year, ShoWest attracts delegates from more than 45 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. For the third consecutive year, DLP Cinema, a Texas Instruments Technology, is the Official Corporate Sponsor of ShoWest. Founded by the National Association of Theatre Owners of California and Nevada, ShoWest is managed by the VNU Expositions Film Group, a division of VNU Business Media.

Media contacts:
Vicky Eguia
The Berney Group
818-521-2681
vickyeguia@earthlink.net

Jeanne R. Berney
The Berney Group
212-861-2100
jberney@pfcomberney.com