Tomm Moore

## Thomas Moore

**Thomas "Tomm" Moore** (born January 7, 1977) is an Irish filmmaker of the director known for co-directing films such as *The Secret of Kells*, *Song of the Sea*, and *Wolfwalkers*.

## Early Life

Moore, the eldest of four children, was born in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland. At an early age, his family moved to Kilkenny in the Republic of Ireland where his father worked as an engineer. During his early to mid-teens, he joined the Young Irish Film Makers in Kilkenny, where he grew his knowledge and passion for film and animation. After leaving St Kieran's College secondary school, he studied classical animation at Ballyfermot College of Further Education in Dublin.

## Personal Life

Moore is a nephew of the renowned singer/songwriter Kieran Goss. He has been in a relationship with his wife Liselott Olofsson, a ceramicist, since the mid-1990s, and they have an adult son, Ben (the namesake of the main character of *Song of the Sea*). He has been a vegetarian since childhood and is now vegan.

## Career

During his final year at Ballyfermot in 1998, Moore co-founded the Cartoon Saloon animation studio with Paul Young and Nora Twomey. Initially they set up studio alongside Moore's alma mater Young Irish Film Makers, but the studio soon outgrew the premises. The studio created the television series *Skunk Fu!*.

Moore's first animated feature film, which he co-directed with Nora Twomey, is *The Secret of Kells* (2009), written by Fabrice Ziolkowski from a story by Moore and Aidan Harte. It is a co-production by the Cartoon Saloon, Les Armateurs, Vivi Film and France 2 Cinéma. The film is a hand-drawn animation, set in 9th century Ireland, and partially based on and inspired by early Christian history and legend. It premiered on 8 February 2009, at the Berlin International Film Festival. It went into wide release in Belgium and France on 11 February, and in the Republic of Ireland on 3 March. On 2 February 2010, it was announced that the film had been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

In 2014, Moore completed his second feature film, entitled *Song of the Sea* (2014). Like *The Secret of Kells*, it is traditionally animated and is based on Irish folklore, specifically selkies. The film was a major critical success and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Also in 2014, Moore co-directed a segment of the Salma Hayek produced film *The Prophet* with Ross Stewart, adapted from Kahlil Gibran's book of prose poetry essays, *The Prophet*. The production consisted of different directors for each of the film's collective essays, with animation director, Roger Allers supervising and credited as screenwriter.
Both of Moore's 2014 films received their world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

Moore's third directorial feature film (co-directed with Ross Stewart), *Wolfwalkers*, was released in 2020 on Apple TV+.*Wolfwalkers*. Apple TV+. The film is the final installment in Moore's "Irish Folklore trilogy", comprising Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea, and The Secret of Kells.

### Comics

Moore has drawn two Irish language graphic novels, *An Sclábhaí* ("the slave", 2001) and *An Teachtaire* ("the messenger", 2003), telling the story of St. Patrick. Both were written by Colmán Ó Raghallaigh and published in Ireland by Cló Mhaigh Eo. He has also created a two-volume graphic novel adaptation of *The Secret of Kells*, published in French as *Brendan et le secret de Kells*.

## Trivia

*Coming soon!*

1. ↑ van der Lugt, Peter (7 October 2009). *An Interview with Director Tomm Moore*. *Twitch Film*. Archived from the original on November 14, 2009. Retrieved on August 7, 2019.
2. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
3. ↑ Brady, Tara (10 July 2015). Tomm Moore, Celtic cartoonist with two Oscar nods. The Irish Times.
4. ↑ Tomm Moore: Kilkenny is a small city with a huge heart. The Times UK (12 January 2020).
5. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
6. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
7. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
8. ↑ *The Secret of Kells* at the Internet Movie Database
9. ↑ Ryzik, Melena (2 March 2010). "An Indie Takes on Animation's Big Boys". Retrieved on 7 August 2019.<span class="Z3988" title="ctx\_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft\_val\_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.type=newspaperArticle&rft.subject=News&rft.aufirst=Melena&rft.aulast=Ryzik&rft.title=An+Indie+Takes+on+Animation%27s+Big+Boys&rft.identifier=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2010%2F03%2F03%2Fmovies%2Fawardsseason%2F03kells.html%3Fpagewanted%3D1%26sq%3DThe%2520Secret%2520of%2520Kells%26st%3Dcse%26scp%3D2<
10. ↑ Brown, Todd (12 March 2009). News: BRENDAN Director Tomm Moore Sings A SONG OF THE SEA.
11. ↑ GALLERY: Salma Hayek's 'The Prophet' (23 May 2014). Retrieved on July 2, 2014.
12. ↑ Wolfwalkers. Toronto International Film Festival.
13. ↑ An Sclábhaí (Irish).
14. ↑ *Brendan et le secret de Kells* at Superpouvoir.com (in French)Template:Dead link