Richard Starzak, previously known as Richard "Golly" Goleszowski, is an English animator, screenwriter, and film director.

Life and career

Starzak was born in Suffolk in 1959 and grew up in Ipswich, attending Northgate Grammar School. After completing a degree in Fine Art at Exeter College of Art and Design specialising in animation, he experimented further with animation and DJing before joining

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...

in 1983 as its first employee. During his first nine-year stretch at Aardman he worked on several short films and promos including " Morph", " Sledgehammer" for Peter Gabriel, ''

Pee-wee's Playhouse ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's po ...

'' in New York, his own film ''Ident'' (1989), which introduced the character Rex, and two ''

Rex the Runt ''Rex the Runt'' is a British live-action stop-motion animated claymation pixilation adult comedy series, primarily consisting of a television show and two short films produced by Aardman Animations for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Ente ...

'' pilot films. His commercial work includes Domestos Big Dom, Grolsch, Cadbury's Creme Eggs, Weetos and Maltesers and several European commercials. In 1992, Starzak left Aardman to pursue a freelance career during which time he worked in New Zealand as Production Adviser for ''

Oscar and Friends ''Oscar and Friends'' is a New Zealand children's stop motion animated television series that aired from 1995 to 1996. The series was produced in Wellington, and was aimed at children aged 3 to 6. The series was produced by Gnome Productions Ltd ...

'', and wrote and directed 13 episodes of ''Rex the Runt'' for BBC2, winning the Carlton Award for International Animation at The Indies in 2000. He then directed ''

Robbie the Reindeer ''Robbie the Reindeer'' is a series of three animated comedy television specials co-produced by the BBC and the charity Comic Relief which were broadcast on BBC One between Christmas 1999 and 2007. Although the series is distributed commercially ...

'' in 1999 for BBC Animation Unit. ''Robbie'' went on to win 19 international awards including a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award (BAFTA). Following the success of ''Robbie'', Starzak worked for two years on a project for Aardman's feature film department as well as directing and writing the second series of ''Rex the Runt''. In 2002, Starzak was honoured with the Award for Best TV Special for '' Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire'' at the 3rd International Festival of Animated Feature Films and TV Specials. From 2003, he directed two series of ''

Creature Comforts ''Creature Comforts'' is a British adult stop-motion comedy mockumentary franchise originating in a 1989 British humorous animated short film of the same name. The film matched animated zoo animals with a soundtrack of people talking about th ...

'' – 2x13 episodes for ITV based on the Academy Award-winning

Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is a British animator who created ''Wallace and Gromit'', ''Creature Comforts'', ''Chicken Run'', ''Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of ...

short film. The first series went on to win 17 awards, and both series were nominated for a BAFTA. The second series includes a half-hour Christmas special. In between these two series, he devised ''

Shaun the Sheep ''Shaun the Sheep'' is a British stop-motion television series and a spin-off of the '' Wallace and Gromit'' franchise. The title character is Shaun (previously featured as the sheep named "Shaun" in the 1995 short film '' A Close Shave'' and t ...

'', writing and directing the pilot. In 2001 When the Production work of The Fimbles started the get in way he did Additional Character work with Sarah Hayes and Jacob Lunt (The Man who worked on Many Julian Kemp works) In July 2005, Starzak rejoined Aardman as creative director of the Broadcast and Development department, writing scripts, and overseeing new projects in development. Aardman's first children's TV series, ''Shaun the Sheep'', was directed by Goleszowski who also wrote several episodes. ''Shaun'' has sold to over 150 territories. In 2015, he co-wrote and co-directed ''

Shaun the Sheep Movie ''Shaun the Sheep Movie'' is a 2015 stop-motion animated adventure comedy film based on the 2007 British television series ''Shaun the Sheep'', created by Nick Park, in turn a spin-off of the ''Wallace and Gromit'' film, ''A Close Shave'' (1995) ...

'' with Mark Burton.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Starzak, Richard Aardman Animations people English animators British animated film directors Stop motion animators Living people Mass media people from Ipswich 1959 births English people of Polish descent