Joanna Quinn

For the Canadian political scientist, see Joanna R. Quinn.

Quinn at her drawing board for the National Science and Media Museum in 2009

Joanna Lisa Quinn is an English independent film director and animator.^[1]

Early life

Quinn was born in Birmingham, England and grew up in North London. She went to school at Highgate Wood Secondary School and completed a foundation course in art at Goldsmiths College, University of London before studying for a BA in Graphic Design at Middlesex University.^[2]

Career

Quinn's first film Girls Night Out was completed in 1987 and won three awards at the Annecy Film Festival.^[3] This film introduced the anti-heroine character of Beryl and follows her antics when she goes to see a male stripper. Beryl appeared in Quinn's next film Body Beautiful (1990) in which she is the factory union rep dealing with a macho workmate named Vince, voiced by Rob Brydon. In Dreams and Desires - Family Ties (2006), Beryl becomes obsessed with film making and is asked to video a friend's wedding. Affairs of the Art was written and produced by Les Mills and voiced by Brendan Charleson and Menna Trussler as Beryl. It was released in January 2021, and won Best Animation at its World Premiere in the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. Beryl is totally obsessed with drawing and her fixation dominates her life the entire household.^[4]

Quinn's other films include Elles (1992), Britannia (1993) — with voice talent of Christine Pritchard and music by Ben Heneghan and Ian Lawson, Famous Fred (1996) — with voice talent of Lenny Henry and Tom Courtenay — and Wife of Bath (1998) — with voice talent of Billie Whitelaw, Liz Smith and David Troughton.

In 1987 Quinn founded Beryl Productions International Ltd with producer/writer Les Mills. As well as personal films Beryl Productions International Ltd has produced commercials for the UK, US, Mexican and Canadian markets. Clients include Charmin,^[5][6] (which in the 2010 US industry magazine, Adweek, put the Charmin bear as one of the top 10 advertising icons of the decade), Whiskas,^[7] and United Airlines. Nearly all of these commercials have Quinn's distinctive drawing style, and were animated by hand, on paper. Quinn has been honoured with retrospectives of her work in all over the world including Rome, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Stuttgart, Zagreb, Hiroshima, Toronto, Montreal, Gothenburg, Bradford, Cordoba, Tampere, Ottawa, London, Valencia, Taiwan, and Moscow.^[8][9]

In 2008, her work was shown in an exhibition called 'Drawings that Move', curated by Michael Harvey at the National Media Museum in Bradford, England. This exhibition has since travelled to Valencia, Spain,^[10] Ljubljana, Slovenia, Teplice, the Czech Republic, and Amarante in Portugal.^[11]

Quinn has been awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts from the University of Wolverhampton, an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts from Middlesex University, a Fellowship from the University of Wales, and has been made an Honorary Fellow of Royal College of Art, London.^{[citation needed]} She became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2017.^[12]

Awards

Quinn has won over a hundred international awards, including 2 Emmy awards,^[13] 4 BAFTA awards and Jury prizes at all the major animation festivals.^[14] Two of her films, Famous Fred (1997)^[15] and Affairs of the Art (2021),^[16] each received an Academy Award nomination.^[17][18] The latter film has already won numerous international awards including 6 Audience prizes, 2 grand prix, and awards for best comedy, best director, best British and Best European film.^[19] In 1996 Quinn was invited to Buckingham Palace and awarded the Leonardo da Vinci International Art Award. In 2006 her film Dreams and Desires won Grand Prix at World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest Zagreb.^[20][21][22] In 2014, she was honoured with the ASIFA laureate.^[20] In 2021 she received the Crystal Pegasus —a lifetime achievement award, at the 2021 Animator Festival in Poznań.^[23][24]

Filmography

• Girls Night Out (1987)
• Body Beautiful (1990)
• Elles (1992)
• Britannia (1993)
• Famous Fred (1996)
• The Wife of Bath - The Canterbury Tales (1998)
• Dreams and Desires – Family Ties (2006)
• Affairs of the Art (2021)^[25]

References

1. Robinson, Chris (2010). Animators Unearthed: A Guide to the Best of Contemporary Animation. The Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-8264-2956-8.
2. "A celebration of BAA award artists - Joanna Quinn". British Animation Awards. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
3. "Joanna Quinn Retrospective – Anim18". Small World Theatre. 8 September 2018. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019.
4. Kraft, Coralie (9 December 2021). "An Illustrated Family of Obsessives". The New Yorker. Film by Joanna Quinn and Les Mills. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
5. McDonnell, Chris (4 April 2013). "Artist of the Day: Joanna Quinn". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
6. Robinson, Chris (18 January 2017). "I Have A Question Joanna Quinn". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
7. "Commercial - Whiskas The Ad". Beryl Production International. 28 October 2011. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2022 – via Vimeo.
8. "Authors - Joanna Quinn". Animafest Zagreb. 2021. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
9. Mayerson, Mark (19 September 2007). "Joanna Quinn in Canada". Mayerson on Animation. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
10. DeMott, Rick (26 May 2010). "Joanna Quinn Wins Award And Exhibition". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
11. Gordeeff, Eliane (4 November 2021). "Portugal's Festa da Animação 2021: The Real Animation Celebration". Zippy Frames. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
12. "Meet the Filmmakers - Life Imitating Art with Joanna Quinn" (Video hosting page). Spark Animation 2021. 2021. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022 – via Eventive.
13. "Joanna Quinn". Television Academy. Emmys. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
14. Amidi, Amid (14 October 2013). "Joanna Quinn Says Disney Animator's Comments Are "Complete Rubbish," Animating Women with Emotions is Easy". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
15. "The 70th Academy Awards | 1998". Oscars. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 23 March 1998. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
16. "Oscars 2022: Welsh film creators shocked at nomination". BBC. 9 February 2022. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
17. Hipes, Patrick; Fleming, Mike Jr. (8 February 2022). "Oscar Nominations: 'The Power Of The Dog', 'Dune' Top List; 'Drive My Car' Among Big Surprises". Deadline. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
18. "The 94th Academy Awards | 2022". Oscars. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 27 March 2022. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
19. "Les prix & festivals de Affairs of the Art" [Awards and Festivals - Affairs of the Art]. MUBI (in French). 2021. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
20. Denney-Phelps, Nancy (23 November 2014). "2013 ASIFA Laureate Recipient Joanna Quinn". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
21. Roy, Julie (2018). "The Emancipation and Liberty of an Animated Woman!". Ottawa International Animation Festival. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Part of OIAF Grand Prize Winners - Programme 4 | Director: Joanna Quinn (UK) | 2006 Grand Prize Winner
22. "Dreams and Desires - Family Ties | Joanna Quinn". Animafest Zagreb. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
23. "Crystal Screening - Joanna Quinn". Animator Festival (in Polish). 2021. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021.
24. "Tickets for the offline part of the festival are on sale now". Animator Festival. 25 June 2021. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
25. Hurler, Jen (3 May 2021). "Joanna Quinn On The Importance of "Choosing A Way Of Working That Ignites You"". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2023.

External links

• Beryl Productions
• Joanna Quinn at IMDb
• Joanna Quinn at the BFI's Screenonline
• Joanna Quinn: Desert Island Flicks