BAFTA nomination for BU animation graduate

27 January 2010

Lead animator for Star Trek is short-listed for his first British Academy Film Award.

BU animation graduate Paul Kavanagh is in the running for an Orange British Academy Film Award for his work on the Hollywood blockbuster Star Trek.

Kavanagh is one of four named contributors to Star Trek in the category ‘Special Visual Effects’ and goes head-to-head with sci-fi epic Avatar which featured the work of over 50 BU animation graduates. Rounding out the category are Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which also involved BU alumni, The Hurt Locker and District 9.

Kavanagh, who completed his Masters degree at the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) in 1991, is the lead animator at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) – the company founded by George Lucas. He was ILM’s Animation Supervisor on Star Trek creating 864 visual effect shots for the space-faring adventure.

Kavanagh’s prior credits as lead animator include all three Star Wars prequels, the first three Harry Potter films, the first two Pirates of the Caribbean movies and both Transformers films. He also worked on Pearl Harbour, The Island and Iron Man amongst other successful productions.

The winners of this year’s Orange British Academy Film Awards, presented by BAFTA – the British Academy of Film and Television Arts – will be announced on Sunday, 21 February.

• National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA)
• BA (Hons) Computer Animation Arts
• BSc (Hons) Software Development for Animation, Games and Effects
• BA (Hons) Computer Visualisation and Animation
• MA 3D Computer Animation
• MSc Computer Animation and Visual Effects
• MA Digital Effects
• British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)