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Kyle Balda

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Kyle Balda
Balda in 2015.
Born (1971-03-09) March 9, 1971 (age 53)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Alma materCalifornia Institute of the Arts
Occupations
  • Animator
  • film director
Years active1994–present
Employer(s)Pixar Animation Studios (1996-2002)
Illumination (2010—present)

Kyle Balda (born March 9, 1971) is an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing the Illumination films The Lorax (2012), with Chris Renaud; Minions (2015) and Despicable Me 3 (2017), with Pierre Coffin; and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), with Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val. He previously worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic before moving to Pixar where he worked on three of their films.

Early life

Balda was born in Tucson, Arizona, to a Maltese mother.[1] He studied at the California Institute of the Arts in the early 1990s and dropped out after two years for a job he was offered.[1][2][3]

Career

During his time at CalArts, Balda was hired by LucasArts as an intern to create the animated opening credit sequence for the graphic adventure game Day of the Tentacle.[4]

He started his career as an animator by working at Industrial Light & Magic, in films including The Mask as graphics animator, Jumanji as animation supervisor, and Mars Attacks! as character animator.[2] He also worked at Weta Digital once in New Zealand, on the 1996 film The Frighteners, animating the character of the Grim Reaper for the film.[2] Later Balda started working at Pixar; where he was credited as an additional animator in A Bug's Life, as directing animator in Toy Story 2, and as animator in Monsters, Inc..[2] In 2010, he joined Illumination Entertainment in Paris, and worked in Despicable Me as the head of layout. Balda has also directed several short films and lectured at different animation schools.[2]

In 2012, Balda made his directorial debut at Illumination as co-director of The Lorax, along with Chris Renaud.[3][5] The film was released domestically on March 2, 2012, by Universal Pictures and grossed over $348 million with a budget of $70 million.[6]

In 2015, Balda directed another Illumination animated film, Minions, this time alongside Pierre Coffin.[5][7][8] The film was released domestically on July 10, 2015, by Universal and has grossed over $1.1 billion.[9]

In 2017, Balda co-directed Despicable Me 3. In his role as co-director he pushed for the film to have a more vibrant color palette than its predecessors.[10]

On June 7, 2024, it was announced Balda would make his live-action directorial debut with Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie, a film adaptation of Leonie Swann's book of the same name, set to be produced by Amazon MGM Studios.[11]

Personal life

Balda currently resides in the Oregon coast.[12]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Notes
1994 The Flintstones CG animator
1994 The Mask Graphics animator
1995 Jumanji Animation supervisor
1996 Mars Attacks! Character animator
1996 The Frighteners
1998 A Bug's Life Additional animator
1999 Toy Story 2 Directing animator
2001 Monsters, Inc. Animator
2010 Despicable Me Layout supervisor
2012 The Lorax Co-director
Forces of Nature Director
2015 Minions
Competition
2016 Weenie
2017 Despicable Me 3
2022 Minions: The Rise of Gru
2026 Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie

References

  1. ^ a b Molony, Julia (June 22, 2015). "Life amongst Minions... for Kyle Balda". The Irish Independent. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Kyle Balda, Illumination Mac Guff, Director". FMX. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Fraser, Paul (March 9, 2012). "Alumnus Kyle Balda's Co-directed Film The Lorax Opens Strong". Calarts. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  4. ^ Mackey, Bob (March 7, 2016). "Behind the Art of Day of the Tentacle". USgamer. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Brew, Simon (June 26, 2015). "Kyle Balda interview: Minions, Day Of The Tentacle". Den of Geek. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  6. ^ "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  7. ^ Kourbeti, Kat (June 30, 2015). "Interview: Directors Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda talk Minions". Flickering Myth. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  8. ^ Cecco, Leyland (July 10, 2015). "Kyle Balda and Peter Coffin". Exclaim!. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  9. ^ "Minions (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  10. ^ Grobar, Matt (December 19, 2017). "'Despicable Me 3' Director Kyle Balda On Designing Balthazar Bratt, Failed Child Star-Turned-Supervillain". Deadline. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  11. ^ Grobar, Matt (June 7, 2024). "Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine & More To Star In Amazon MGM Comedy 'Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  12. ^ Strauss, Bob (June 28, 2022). "Director couldn't resist setting 'Minions: The Rise of Gru' in his beloved Bay Area". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
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