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Above the Line

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Director

Hayao Miyazaki

Bio

HAYAO MIYAZAKI was born in 1941 in Tokyo. After graduating from the Gakushuin University in 1963 with a Political Science and Economics degree, he joined Toei Animation Company. As in the case of his mentor Isao Takahata, this was seen as an unusual choice of careers for someone with his academic credentials. Miyazaki became deeply interested in children’s literature. He is also a superb draftsman. As an animator, Miyazaki was involved in the creation of many TV series and feature films at Toei Animation and after he joined other studios; series included “Panda! Go Panda!” (1972). Miyazaki also directed a TV series “The Future Boy Conan” in 1978 and feature films such as “The Castle of Cagliostro” in 1979. In the early 1980s, Miyazaki spent time in Los Angeles and had the opportunity to participate in a lecture given by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, two of Walt Disney Studios’ famous core animators known as the “Nine Old Men.” One of his friends from those days was John Lasseter, currently the chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and the director of “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2” and “Cars.” During this period, Miyazaki started to write and illustrate a critically acclaimed epic, the serial graphic novel “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.” Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 with Takahata, and has directed eight feature films since. His film “Spirited Away” has broken every box-office record in Japan, and garnered a very long list of awards and prizes, including the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival and the Oscar® for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2003 U.S. Academy Awards®. His feature film “Howl’s Moving Castle,” based on the book of the same name by British author Diana Wynne Jones, received the Osella award at the 2004 Venice Film Festival. Miyazaki was awarded with the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. He has also published several books of his poems, essays and drawings, and designed several highly praised and unique buildings, including the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka in Tokyo’s Inokashira Park.

Director- Job Description

The principal creative artist on a movie set. A director is usually (but not always) the driving artistic source behind the filming process, and communicates to actors the way that he/she would like a particular scene played. A director's duties might also include casting, script editing, shot selection, shot composition, and editing. Typically, a director has complete artistic control over all aspects of the movie, but it is not uncommon for the director to be bound by agreements with either a producer or a studio. In some large productions, a director will delegate less important scenes to a second unit director 2UD.