Gerald Potterton: In Conversation
Director of the iconic cult film Heavy Metal three time Oscar nominee shares his stories animating the Beatles Yellow Submarine, directing Buster Keaton and a spin of his rare record collection including a never heard before soundtrack composed by Ringo Starr.
Gerald Potterton
Few Canadian careers have been as colourful as that of Gerald Potterton. In acareer that spans over five decades, three-time Academy Award nomineePotterton has built an international reputation for excellence in filmmaking. Oneof the famed “Great Brits” (Derek Lamb being the other) who emigrated to Canada from England to join the National Film Board, Potterton arrived in themid-fifties and was at the forefront of the animation wave that gave the NFB newprominence. By the early sixties, he had been twice nominated for AcademyAwards – for My Financial Career (1962) and Christmas Cracker (1962).
Potterton is perhaps best known for directing the animated feature Heavy Metalfor Columbia Pictures, supervising all eight sequences in the film and directingmore than 65 animators in Canada, England and the US. Many of theseanimators went on to work in Hollywood themselves winning Academy Awardsfor their own work, giving many up and coming animators their first big break.