Erica Russell
Erica Russell is a New Zealand-born film animator.
Life and career
Russell was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1951. Her family emigrated to South Africa in 1953, where she grew up with a fascination for traditional customs, music and dance. In 1972 she moved to London and worked with animators Richard Williams, Gerald Scarfe and Disney's Art Babbitt. She worked at Rocky Morton's Cucumber Studios, where she worked with Morton and Annabel Jankel on music videos and animations for television.Russell eventually opened her own studio, named Eyeworks, and worked on commercial projects such as a campaign for the launch of Virgin Megastores. Her first solo project was Feet of Song in 1988, which became part of a trilogy of dance films; it was followed by Triangle and SOMA. All three films were funded by Channel 4, a British television company.
In 1992, Russell opened her own production company, Gingco.