Peter Ramsey

This article is about the American film director. For the New Zealand academic, see Peter Ramsay.
Peter Ramsey
Ramsey at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Peter A. Ramsey

(1962-12-23) December 23, 1962 (age 61)[1]
Crenshaw, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles City College
Occupations
  • Illustrator
  • storyboard artist
  • filmmaker
Years active1988–present
Known forRise of the Guardians
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Peter A. Ramsey (born December 23, 1962) is an American illustrator, storyboard artist, and filmmaker. He is best known for directing DreamWorks Animation's Rise of the Guardians (2012), becoming the first African American to direct a major American animated film,[2] and co-directing Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). For Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, he became the first African American to be nominated for and win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Early life

Ramsey grew up in the Crenshaw District of South Los Angeles, and graduated in 1980 from Palisades High School. He studied painting at University of California, Los Angeles for two years before enrolling in film classes at Los Angeles City College.[3] He was raised Catholic.[4]

Career

His first job in Hollywood was painting a mural, but soon he was working as a storyboard artist and production illustrator on 26 films including Predator 2, Backdraft, Independence Day, Fight Club and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. He was a second unit director for Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Tank Girl and Godzilla. Aron Warner, the producer of Tank Girl, suggested he join DreamWorks Animation.[5] After initially being uninterested, Ramsey joined DreamWorks as a story artist for Shrek the Third and Shrek the Halls.

In 2012, he directed Rise of the Guardians, based on William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood books, making him the first African-American to direct a big-budget animated feature.[1] In 2018, he co-directed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[6] He is set to write and direct Blood Count, a period vampire thriller distributed by Paramount Pictures, as well as the Robert Johnson movie Love is Vain.[7][8] On April 16, 2021, he was set to direct the film adaptation of the Matthew Quick novel Boy21.[9]

In April 2022, Ramsey had been hired to direct an episode each of the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian season 3, which was released in March 2023, and Ahsoka, which was released in August 2023.[10][11]

Ramsey is a member of AMPAS, the Directors Guild of America and The Animation Guild.[12]

Filmography

Director

Second unit director

Year Title Director
1993 Poetic Justice John Singleton
1995 Higher Learning
Tank Girl Rachel Talalay
1988 Godzilla Roland Emmerich

Storyboard artist

Illustrator

Other

Awards and nominations

Year Award Title Category Result Ref(s)
2023 Children's and Family Emmy Awards Lost Ollie Outstanding Directing for a Single Camera Program Won
2022 We the People Outstanding Short Form Program Won
2019 Academy Awards Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Best Animated Feature Won [18]
2019 Annie Awards Directing in a Feature Production Won [19]
2019 British Academy Film Awards Best Animated Film Won [20]
2019 Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Animated Feature Won [21]
2013 Golden Globe Awards Rise of the Guardians Best Animated Feature Film Nominated [22]
2019 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Won [23]
2019 Hugo Awards Best Dramatic Presentation Won [24]
2012 Visual Effects Society Awards Rise of the Guardians Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Nominated [25]

References

  1. ^ a b Tulich, Katherine (July 21, 2012). "'Rise of the Guardians' director a self-taught success". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  2. ^ "Peter Ramsey is the First Black Person to Direct a Major Animated Film". 7 January 2019.
  3. ^ McDonald, Pamela Mays (24 October 2012). "Another "First" in Artistic Achievement: Director Peter Ramsey". Black Voices. HuffPost. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  4. ^ "A Chat with Director Peter Ramsey". Katy Christian Magazine. 2012-12-10. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  5. ^ Cavna, Michael (30 November 2012). "'RISE OF THE GUARDIANS': 'The Obama of animation'? Director Peter Ramsey deflects the comparison — but not the responsibility". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  6. ^ "Oscar Nominations 2019: The Complete List". Variety. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Co-Director to Helm Vampire Thriller Blood Count". MovieWeb. 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  8. ^ D’Allessandro, Anthony (November 5, 2019). "Paramount Buys 'Love In Vain' Pitch About Blues Pioneer Robert Johnson, 'Spider-Verse's Peter Ramsey Directing". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  9. ^ Breznican, Anthony (April 16, 2021). "Oscar-Winner Peter Ramsey's Life Story Could Be Its Own Movie". Vanity Fair. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  10. ^ Couch, Aaron (January 16, 2023). "'The Mandalorian' Reveals Season 3 Trailer, New Directors". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  11. ^ Kit, Borys (April 8, 2022). "Peter Ramsey Tapped as a Director of 'Ahsoka', the Latest 'Star Wars' Series (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  12. ^ "Careers In Film Summit - Biographies". Oscars.org. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  13. ^ Grobar, Matt (January 18, 2017). "Sony's Untitled 'Spider-Man' Animated Film To Feature Miles Morales As Lead Character". Deadline. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  14. ^ McMillan, Graeme (August 9, 2019). "Lion Forge Animation Launches With 'Hair Love' Short". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  15. ^ B. Vary, Adam (April 19, 2021). "'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Sequel Snares New Directing Trio (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  16. ^ Vourlias, Christopher (2021-06-17). "Disney Taps Top African Toon Talents for Animated Anthology 'Kizazi Moto' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  17. ^ "Sony Pictures Animation's Bold Past, Present and Future". 2022-12-29. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  18. ^ "2019 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 15 April 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  19. ^ "46th Annual Annie Awards". annieawards.org. ASIFA-Hollywood. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  20. ^ "EE British Academy Film Awards Winners in 2019". bafta.org. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. January 9, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  21. ^ Tapley, Kristopher (January 13, 2019). "'Roma,' 'The Americans' and 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Win Top Critics' Choice Honors". Variety. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  22. ^ "2013 Golden Globe Nominations". goldenglobes.com. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. December 13, 2012. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  23. ^ "All the Winners of the 76th Golden Globes". goldenglobes.com. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. January 7, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  24. ^ "2019 Hugo Awards". thehugoawards.org. World Science Fiction Society. August 18, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  25. ^ "Visual Effects Society Announces Nominees for 11th Annual VES Awards" (PDF). visualeffectssociety.com. Visual Effects Society. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
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