Cordell Barker
{{Short description|Canadian animator}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Cordell Barker
| image = CordellBarker.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1956}}
| birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| death_date =
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| birth_name = Cordell Barker
| othername =
| occupation = {{hlist|Animator|director|screenwriter}}
| yearsactive = 1987–present
| spouse =
}}
Cordell Barker (born 1956) is a Canadian animator, director and screenwriter based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He began animating in his late teens after taking on an apprenticeship at Kenn Perkins Animation. A two-time Academy Award nominee, Barker is an animation filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).{{Cite web|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-stop-motion-film-about-power-in-the-wrong-hands|title=A Stop-Motion Film About Power in the Wrong Hands|last=Lawson|first=Sarah|date=2016-12-15|website=The New Yorker|publisher=|access-date=2016-12-16}}
National Film Board of Canada
Earlier in his career, Barker did animation work on fellow Winnipeg animator Brad Caslor's NFB short, Get a Job.{{cite web | url=http://www.torontointernationalfilmfestival.ca/CANADIANFILMENCYCLOPEDIA/content/bios/cordell-barker | title=Cordell Barker | publisher=Canadian Film Encyclopedia | work=Toronto International Film Festival | accessdate=23 March 2014 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324001637/http://www.torontointernationalfilmfestival.ca/CANADIANFILMENCYCLOPEDIA/content/bios/cordell-barker | archivedate=24 March 2014 }} He then went on to direct his own NFB animated shorts, at the NFB's Winnipeg studio. His best known NFB shorts are The Cat Came Back (1988){{Cite web |url=http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=17537 |title=NFB Collections page |access-date=2007-08-17 |archive-date=2007-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819193946/http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=17537 |url-status=dead }} and Strange Invaders (2002),{{Cite web |url=http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=50441 |title=NFB Collections page |access-date=2007-08-17 |archive-date=2008-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209075442/http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=50441 |url-status=dead }} both of which received Oscar nominations.{{cite news | url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118054435?refCatId=19 | title=NFB pushes Canadian artists in edgy direction | work=Variety | date=June 4, 2012 | accessdate=June 5, 2012 | author=Blair, Iain}}
He completed his third film for the NFB, Runaway, in 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.nfb.ca/film/Runaway_making_of_animator_cordell_barker|title=Interview with Cordell Barker|year=2009|work=NFB.ca|publisher=National Film Board of Canada|accessdate=2009-04-30}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/canadian-cordell-barkers-animated-film-runaway-gets-buzz-at-sundance/article1446528/|title=A Runaway success |last=Dixon|first=Guy|date=Jan 27, 2010|work=The Globe and Mail|publisher=CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. |accessdate=9 March 2010}} Runaway was named best animated film at the 30th Genie Awards."[http://forum.bcdb.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=108259; NFB animation a ‘Runaway’ winner at Genie Awards] {{dead link|date=October 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}". forum.bcdb.com, April 13, 2010 Strange Invaders, The Cat Came Back and Runaway were included in the Animation Show of Shows.
In April 2010, he was hired as a creative consultant by the NFB to oversee its animation projects from the Canadian Prairies, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.{{cite news|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/arts/nfb-names-barker-to-guide-prairie-animation-projects-92487419.html|title=NFB names Barker to guide Prairie animation projects|date=March 30, 2010|work=Canadian Press|publisher=Winnipeg Free Press|accessdate=30 April 2010}}
=''If I Was God...''=
Barker's fourth film with the NFB is If I Was God..., a 3D film about a 12-year-old boy speculating on what he would do if he was God. The film is inspired by Barker's experiences as a 12-year-old in grade seven, dissecting and experimenting on a frog in biology class, and sensing the approaching power of adulthood after having left the confines of elementary school. Barker intends to experiment with a variety of animation techniques in this film, use stop-motion puppets along with traditional animation and other forms.{{cite news|title=Cordell Barker: My God-like Process On ‘If I Was God’|url=http://www.cartoonbrew.com/sponsored-by-nfb/cordell-barker-god-like-process-god-126365.html|accessdate=17 November 2016|work=Cartoon Brew|date=16 December 2015}} The film is divided into episodes, with each sequence triggered by mental associations of typical grade seven classroom objects, such as science posters, dioramas and papier-mâché volcanoes. The director had initially contemplated also using CGI animation but abandoned the idea out of a desire to achieve an “organic hand-made feel” for the film. Barker was committed to completing the film with a much shorter production schedule than his previous works, which averaged “a disturbing and embarrassing 8½ years per film.”{{cite web|last=Barker|first=Cordell|title=If I was god: A Chronicle of Anticipated Pain|url=http://blog.nfb.ca/2012/04/16/if-i-was-god-a-chronicle-of-anticipated-pain/|work=NFB.ca blog|publisher=National Film Board of Canada|accessdate=19 July 2012|date=16 April 2012}} In November 2015, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that If I Was God... was one of 10 films—and two NFB productions—shortlisted for a possible Oscar nomination, however the film didn't receive a nomination.{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/oscars-2015-claude-cloutier-cordell-barker-nfb-1.3326981|title=NFB animated short films make Academy Awards shortlist|date=19 November 2015|work=The Canadian Press|publisher=CBC News|accessdate=21 November 2015}}
Short films
- The Cat Came Back (1988)
- Strange Invaders (2001)
- Runaway (2009)
- If I Was God... (2015)
- Good Luck to You All (2025)
Commercial work
He has also worked on commercial campaigns for entities such as KFC, Coca-Cola, Benylin, Bell Canada, Lors, Nike, and the Government of Canada and Sesame Street.
References
External links
- {{IMDb name|nm0054855}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926231219/http://www.filmreferencelibrary.ca/index.asp?layid=46&csid1=5&navid=46 Film Reference Library biography]
- [https://www.nfb.ca/explore-all-directors/cordell-barker Watch Cordell Barker's films online]
- [http://blog.nfb.ca/2010/05/03/animation-g-man-cordell-barker/ Animation G-man: Cordell Barker, Barker's blog entry at NFB.ca]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Cordell}}
Category:Artists from Winnipeg
Category:Canadian animated film directors
Category:Directors of Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners for Best Animated Short
Category:Film directors from Winnipeg
Category:National Film Board of Canada people
Category:Manitoba Liberal Party candidates in Manitoba provincial elections