Henry Selick Directs at Carl’s Fine Films

Henry Selick, director of the Tim Burton-produced stop-motion holiday classic The Nightmare Before Christmas, will lend his talents to TV ads for San Francisco-based commercial animation company Carl’s Fine Films.

Selick, whose directorial credits also include James and the Giant Peach and MonkeyBone, is no newcomer to the world of advertising. The Disney-trained artist was responsible for several successful ad campaigns, including many of the original MTV animated station IDs. His work has earned him a number of broadcast design awards and top prizes at Annecy, Ottawa and the Annies.

Carl’s Fine Films (www.carlsfinefilms.com) was recently formed by award-winning director Carl Willat and exec. producer Sandra Kimberly. The company’s initial works continue Willat’s more than a decade-long relationship with the Hershey Foods Co., producing the successful Hershey’s Kisses campaign through Ogilvy & Mather, New York. The long-running campaign has incorporated both traditional stop-motion and CG animation.

Selick is also currently adapting the Neil Gaiman novel, Coraline, with production company Pandemonium. The Alice in Wonderland-esque feature will be primarily live action with animated elements and is slated to go in front of the camera late spring or early summer of 2003.