Tomm Moore
Thomas "Tomm" Moore (born 7 January 1977) is an Irish filmmaker, animator, illustrator and comics artist. He co-founded Cartoon Saloon with Nora Twomey and Paul Young, an animation studio and production company based in Kilkenny, Ireland. His first three feature films, "The Secret of Kells" (2009), co-directed with Nora Twomey, "Song of the Sea" (2014) and "Wolfwalkers" (2020), co-directed with Ross Stewart, have received critical acclaim and were all nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. 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. Career. During his final year at Ballyfermot in 1999, 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 of the same name. 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+. 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". Personal life. Moore is a nephew of the 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. Awards and nominations. For "The Secret of Kells" For "Song of the Sea" For "Wolfwalkers"