Frederik Du Chau (born 15 May 1965) is a Belgian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

Career

Du Chau attended the Academy of Fine Arts in his hometown of Ghent, where he studied film and majored in animation under Raoul Servais. After graduation, he worked for

Walt Disney Animation France The Walt Disney Company has owned and operated several animation studios since the company's founding on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; the current Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, Cal ...

and later as a freelance animator and directed several local commercials, combining live-action and animation. The selection of his student film, ''The Mystery of the Lamb'' (''Het mysterie van het lam''), for the Los Angeles Animation Celebration Conference brought him to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

where he was offered a job as an animator and later as a visual development and storyboard artist for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

, and

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

. Du Chau's break as a director came when Sony offered him to co-direct a short film with

Hoyt Yeatman Hoyt Yeatman (born January 23, 1955, in San Francisco, California, United States) is an American visual effects artist and supervisor. He has worked with Jerry Bruckheimer on a number of films, including ''Armageddon (1998 film), Armageddon'', ''C ...

for Sony Wonder. This was followed with a stint as a storyboard artist for

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

where he learned everything he could about gags, timing and funny business from the master himself. After a job as the animation director for Universal's '' The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving'', Du Chau was then offered a position as a visual development artist at the newly formed

Warner Bros. Feature Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 1 ...

department, where he sold two screenplays. He was attached to one of them as a director and was soon offered to direct the first animated feature for Warner Bros. ''

Quest for Camelot ''Quest for Camelot'' (released internationally as ''The Magic Sword: Quest for Camelot'') is a 1998 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Frederik Du Chau and very loosely based on the ...

''. Du Chau wrote and sold a couple of screenplays with Kirk DeMicco. One of the screenplays, titled ''

Sky Boys The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

'', is a drama about two Irish immigrants who fight over the love of one girl while building the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

. Another screenplay was titled ''

Hong Kong Phooey ''Hong Kong Phooey'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast on ABC. The original episodes aired from September 7 to December 21, 1974, and then in repeats until 1976. The show wa ...

'', based on the popular cartoon and was sold to

Alcon Alcon is an American Swiss medical company specializing in eye care products with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and incorporated in Fribourg, Switzerland. Alcon began as a US company and its US subsidiary’s headquarters remain in Fort ...

and Warner Bros. This led to the opportunity to write and direct '' Racing Stripes'' for

The moderate success of '' Racing Stripes'' led to the job of directing the American feature film titled, ''

Underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

'', for

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, based on the popular 60s cartoon of a flying dog that becomes a superhero. It starred James Belushi,

Jason Lee Jason Lee may refer to: Entertainment *Jason Lee (actor) (born 1970), American film and TV actor and former professional skateboarder *Jason Scott Lee (born 1966), Asian American film actor * Jaxon Lee (Jason Christopher Lee, born 1968), American v ...

and Amy Adams. The film was extremely negatively received by critics. He is currently attached to three different movies at several major studios. He just started filming ''The Krostons'', based on the popular Belgian comic book series by

Paul Deliege Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, his first Stereoscopic 3D movie for which he also wrote the screenplay. When not directing Du Chau draws and develops his own series of

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

s ''Fish Out Of Water''. His graphic novel work was recently selected at the Festival d'Angouleme 2008 to be exhibited as one of the Unpublished Young talents. He currently lives and works in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Filmography

References

External links

*
Frederik Du Chau's biographyAir-Edel Associates Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Chau, Frederik 1965 births Living people People from Ghent Belgian film directors Belgian screenwriters Belgian animators Belgian storyboard artists Belgian animated film directors Belgian expatriates in the United States