Pixel perfect

Hamilton-born Nick Craven was one of a 35-strong team of animators working on the third Shrek instalment. Fellow New Zealander Andrew Adamson, who wrote and directed the first two films, provided the story for Shrek the Third but opted out of directing it. Craven left NZ to study at the Vancouver Film School in the mid-90s and has remained at the forefront of the international animation industry ever since. “There are many, many people wanting to do [animation], a lot of them are skilled, and they might be prepared to work for less money than you are,” he said in an interview with the NZ Herald. “So yeah, you’ve got the pressure of a lot of hungry guys coming up behind you but the good part of that is that it makes for a lot of great animation.” Craven’s previous jobs include Madagascar, Over the Hedge and Ice Age. This year, he will return to NZ to work for Weta Workshop on Avatar, the latest film by Titanic director James Cameron.