Sam Fell was always drawn to creation and in the 1980s, he found himself in London, studying fine art and making interdisciplinary works of art, junk sculptures with speakers and cassette tapes inside, and eventually adding mechanics to move his works. It was around this time that he rediscovered stop-motion animation and the works of The Quay Brothers and Jan Švankmajer.
Sam taught himself stop motion and eventually, found himself making the trek from London to Bristol, the home of Aardman Animations. He felt at home in the artist-driven studio where he continued to hone his craft and storytelling from Peter Lord, before embarking on his career as a director.
In our conversation, Sam shares his road to the director’s chair, from his early days as a directionless teen in London to working with Peter Lord in the early years of Aardman to his move into CG and the blending of tech and tradition that has led to his latest feature film Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.
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