Marco Marenghi

Marco Marenghi was sat on the sofa watching cartoons. The unemployed electronics engineer was forced into redundancy when the technology firms that dominated his area in Wales, UK moved on to cheaper labor in foreign countries. His wife, Joanne, noted that Marco wasn't much of a TV guy but when cartoons were on he was mesmerized - the animation seemed to captivate and hypnotize him. She suggested that he go back to college and learn a new trade in this field that he found so fascinating. Despite the fact that he was one of the most promising artists in high school, Marco had not picked up a pencil in 15 years so he found this suggestion as quite absurd. Joanne persevered as she saw in him something that he did not. In 1995, Joanne visited the Glamorgan College for Art and Design Technology (GCADT) and was very impressed by their new animation course. She pleaded with Marco to go check it out until he eventually caved in and agreed - anything for a peaceful life. During the visit, Marco met Pete Hodges and Chris Webster - who were both about to have a profound affect on his life, though he didn't know it yet. Like Joanne, the course content blew Marco's mind and he could now see what his wife was pushing toward. Alas he had no portfolio, no sketchbook, nothing he could show to the course leaders that proved he had the talent. What he did have, however was tenacity. Both Pete and Chris recognized this and sent him away with a mission: spend the weekend sketching and come back on Monday to show us what you did. So that weekend, while working on his parents ice-cream truck, Marco took out his pencils and drew for the first time in 15 years - for once thankful that it was raining and business was quiet. On the Monday he returned to GCADT and showed his work. Both Pete and Chris agreed that he'd be a fine candidate but there were currently no open positions so they agreed to put him on the wait list. Marco was feeling pretty low but as he left the office, the phone rang. Pete gestured for him to hold on.... someone was calling to cancel and there was now a position available. Did Marco want it? You betcha! Marco's time at GCADT was a mixed bag of emotions. Here he was surrounded by younger artists with incredibly impressive portfolios while he clutched the little sketchbook he had started in the ice-cream truck. He quickly realized however that the younger students did not share his knowledge of life and what the big-wide world had in store for them. Marco's tireless work ethos meant he quickly progressed and his maturity (!) led to mentoring many students. At the start of the course, the students were given 2 months instruction for each of the animation genres: drawn, stop-motion and computer. Marco gained a creditable pass at drawing, a distinction in stop-motion but barely scraped through the computer section. But what the other disciplines had failed to do was challenge him so he decided to major in computer animation and bought his first P.C. Before the end of the animation course, Marco had been selected by Framestore in London to work on the groundbreaking "Walking with Dinosaurs" series. It was agreed that he would be released early and assessed on his development by Framestore's head of CG Mike Milne. He passed, of course, with flying colors and his new career was born. Under Mike's leadership, Marco quickly developed as an artist and was made a lead animator for the 4th episode of "Walking with Dinosaurs: A Cruel Sea". Upon release, Walking with Dinosaurs became a worldwide sensation, revolutionizing TV and raising the bar for VFX based shows. It was this exceptional realism of blending high-end VFX with live action backgrounds that Marco would specialize in for the rest of his career. With numerous awards - including the prestigious AoC Gold Award which he received in 2000 at the UK Senate - and 3 Emmy wins, the phones began to ring. In April 2000, Marco and his family relocated to the Bay Area in California. In his new job with PDI/Dreamworks CAFE (Creature and Feature Effects), Marco worked on the movies "Evolution" and directly with Steven Spielberg for "Minority Report", as well as several commercial spots. When Dreamworks closed it's CAFE division mid-2001, Marco was loaned to Electronic Arts where he worked on cinema tics for the games "Freakstyle", "Lord of the Rings" and James Bond "Nightfire". In 2003, Marco landed a job at Sony Pictures Imageworks to work on Robert Zemekis's "The Polar Express" and the family relocated to Los Angeles. During this transitional period, the BBC filmed "The Marco Marenghi Story" - a 30 minute documentary on his journey from humble unemployment in Wales to working in the cutting-edge Hollywood visual effects industry. Marco's hard work and "can-do" attitude meant that he quickly rose through the ranks and attained the position of Animation Supervisor for "Ghost Rider", "I am Legend", "Speed Racer", Tim Burtons "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Green Lantern". Other credits include "Bewitched", "The Watchmen", "Spiderman 3", "Valkyrie" and "2012". During his time at SPI, Marco was awarded "The Friz Frieling Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Animation" in 2008 and in 2009 he was bestowed an "Honorary Doctorate in Technology" by the Glamorgan University of Wales. In 2011 the "Walking with Dinosaurs 3D" movie was announced and immediately sparked Marco's interest. In June that same year, Marco started a 20 month dream assignment as Animation Director in Sydney, Australia at Animal Logic. While there, his creativity blossomed as he oversaw multiple departments for the show. Both the production and director had great faith in his creative decision making, allowing him to expand and experiment with tremendous results. After nearly 2 years away from home, 2013 saw his return to Los Angeles and the chance to take a bit of a hiatus and spend some much needed family time.