Run Wrake
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Run Wrake
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|birth_name = John Wrake
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1965|11|24|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Yemen
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|10|21|1965|11|24|df=yes}}
|death_place = Ashford, Kent
|occupation = Animator, film director
| years_active = 1990–2012
|spouse = Lisa Wrake
|children = 2
}}
John "Run" Wrake (24 November 1965{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk//news/obituary-run-wrake|title=Run Wrake, 1965-2012|last=Thomas|first=Gary|date=31 March 2014|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=8 April 2016}} – 21 October 2012) was an English animator, film director, graphic designer, and music video director. He was best known for his 2005 short film, Rabbit.
Early life and education
Wrake was born in Yemen on 24 November 1965. His father was a chaplain assigned to the British army there. He grew up in Sussex. He studied graphic design at the Chelsea College of Arts, later graduating with an M.A. in animation from the Royal College of Art in London.{{cite web|url=http://www.cartoonbrew.com/animators/run-wrake-1965-2012-72306.html|title=Run Wrake (1965-2012)|last=Amidi|first=Amid |author-link=Amid Amidi|date=23 October 2012|publisher=Cartoon Brew|access-date=8 April 2016}} His 1990 animated student film from his days at the Royal College, Anyway, aired on MTV's Liquid Television in 1994.
Career
After graduating, Wrake worked freelance, illustrating and designing album covers and tour visuals for artists such as U2 and Howie B, in addition to directing commercials for companies such as Coca-Cola throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.{{cite web|url=http://www.animateonline.org/films/rabbit/biography.html|title=animate! › Films › Rabbit by Run Wrake › direction & collaboration|website=Animateonline.org|access-date=1 May 2016}} He also directed music videos, many of which were for Howie B. He later began working with Animate Projects, which commissioned him to direct animated short films. In 2005, he released his animated short film entitled Rabbit, his most notable work. Rabbit tells a morality tale about the dangers of greed through a Dick and Jane art style. Wrake's main inspiration for the film was an envelope he found in a thrift shop containing children's educational stickers, illustrated by Geoffrey Higham, from the 1950s.{{cite web|url=http://runwrake.com/portfolio_page/rabbit/|title=Rabbit|date=4 March 2015|website=Runwake.com|access-date=8 April 2016}} The film received numerous awards and nominations, including a BAFTA nomination for Best Short Animation Film at the 2006 BAFTA Awards.{{cite web|url=http://www.animateprojects.org/films/by_artist/w/r_wrake|title=Run Wrake|date=30 March 2014 |publisher=Animate Projects|access-date=14 April 2016}}
Death
In November 2011, Wrake was diagnosed with lung cancer. This inspired him to direct the short film, Down with the Dawn, with music by Howie B.{{cite web|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/19441/1/howie-b-down-with-the-dawn|title=Howie B – Down With The Dawn |last=Pryor|first= John-Paul|work=Dazed|date=3 April 2014 |access-date=9 April 2016}} On 21 October 2012, aged 46, Wrake succumbed to the illness.
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Film |
| Year
!Title !Role !class="unsortable"|Notes |
|---|
| 1990
|Anyway |Director, writer |Short film |
| 1994
|Jukebox |Director |Short film |
| 1996
|Music for Babies |Director |Short film to accompany Howie B's album of the same name |
| 1998
|M2 – Ping Batter Pong |Director |Short film |
| 2001
|What Is That |Director |Short film |
| 2002
|Lessons in Smoking |Director |Short film |
| 2002
|NME Gallery |Director |Short film |
| 2005
|Rabbit |Director, producer, writer |Short film |
| 2008
|The Control Master |Director, writer |Short film |
| 2009
|Just a Minute |Director |Short film |
| 2011
|Here We Go Loopy Lou |Director |Short film |
| 2011
|Public Meat |Director |Short film to accompany Public Image Ltd's song "Public Image" |
| 2012
|Down with the Dawn |Director, producer |Short film to accompany Howie B's album of the same name |
| 2012
|Meat Street |Director |Unfinished pilot |
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Music videos |
| Year
! Video ! Artist ! Role |
|---|
| 1991
|"Cadillac" |Director |
| 1993
|"TV Tan" |Director |
| 1996
|"Butt Meat" |Director |
| 1996
|Director, photography |
| 1997
|Howie B |Director |
| 1997
|"Switch" |Howie B |Director |
| 1998
|"Maniac Melody" |Howie B |Director |
| 1998
|"Take Your Partner by the Hand" |Howie B |Director |
| 1999
|"I Can Sing but I Don't Want To" |Howie B |Director |
| 1999
|"She Called Again" |Howie B |Director |
| 2000
|The Future Sound of London |Director |
| 2001
|"The Beamer" |Spacer |Director |
| 2001
|"We Belong in This World Together" |Director |
| 2002
|"Mr. Bobby" |Director |
| 2004
|Director, producer |
| 2005
|"Flyover" |Director |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Animation|Biography}}
- [http://www.runwrake.com/ Official website]
- {{IMDb name|1552695}}
- [https://www.discogs.com/artist/2013418-Run-Wrake?filter_anv=0&type=Credits Run Wrake] at Discogs
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrake, Run}}
Category:British advertising directors
Category:British album-cover and concert-poster artists
Category:Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts
Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Art
Category:British animated film directors
Category:English film directors
Category:English graphic designers
Category:20th-century English illustrators