Animation company Amazing Spectacles has signed directors Gary Cureton and Andrew Painter.

Cureton began his career at Aardman Animation where he wrote and directed episodes of Morph and animated Wallace & Gromit.

He made the move from traditional stop-motion to CG at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop where he worked as an animation director.

Painter started out as a trainee animator at Walt Disney Animation, where he worked on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

He has since been an animator/director/character designer for commercial studios including Passion Pictures and Hibbert Ralph, where he has spent the past 10 years.

Amazing Spectacles executive producer Jules Pye said: “To bring in Andrew and Gary is a really positive move for us. Their unique talents perfectly complement those of our other directors and will allow us to add new specialism’s to our roster. They are both so talented and I can’t wait to work alongside them.”

Cureton and Painter will join with existing directors Martyn Pick, Eoin Clarke, Susi Wilkinson, Richard Bazley and Nandita Jain at the Prime Focus Group company.

As directors they will work exclusively for Amazing Spectacles. They will continue to work as freelance illustrators and animators.

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