Richard Bazley (born 28 November 1962 in Devon, England) is an Emmy-nominated film director and a storyboard artist. Although now a Director of Live Action and animation his background is in animation and his credits include Disney's Pocahontas, Hercules, Tarzan and a lead animator and sequence director on the Warner Bros. film The Iron Giant. Bazley started his career on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Work Bazley who works on both sides of the Atlantic set up Bazley Films in the US and UK and produced the animated short The Journal of Edwin Carp narrated by Hugh Laurie (House). It was the first animated short created in Flash to be released theatrically. Bazley also cowrote flash cartoons and games with James Robertson and Bill Turner.
Bazley moved into directing on commercials and series with popular commercials for Sky and Go Compare. In 2012 he Directed two Episodes of Full English at Rough Draft Studios (USA), a TV show made for the UK's Channel Four (2012). On this Bazley teamed up with Alex Scarfe, the son of Gerald Scarfe with whom he had worked closely on Disney's Hercules.
Through Argosy Film Group Bazley directed the Lost Treasure Hunt, an animated half-hour pilot for a proposed TV series. Lost Treasure Hunt was created by the animators behind Shrek, The Iron Giant, and Frozen.
Bazley developed several feature films and is attached as director. In 2011 Bazley teamed up with Gary Kurtz (prod. Star Wars, The Dark Crystal) and Paul Goodenough to set up the film production company, based in London and Los Angeles. GBK Hybrid's first short Centurion Resurrection filmed in Bath has played at numerous film festivals and won numerous awards.
The Chimeran, a live action/animation hybrid is the first film in development. Described as somewhere between Planet of the Apes and District 9 this is clearly not just another creature movie. With Gary Kurtz's involvement it ensures that the film has depth and character with many sociological issues that take it out of the realms of regular science fiction.
In 2022 Bazley directed the multi-award-winning film Censure featuring Tom Conti. To date the film has won over 40 awards.
Richard's grandfather, George Bazley, was a famous Cornish wrestler in the 1920s."Wrestling: Effect of feats by Cornishmen", Western Morning News, 23 December 1926, p. 10.Western Morning News, 29 November 1927.Cornubian and Redruth Times, 19 July 1923.
Filmography Year Film title Credited with Comments 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit Inbetweener 1995 Pocahontas Animator 1997 Hercules Lead Animator 1999 The Iron Giant Lead Animator 2000 The Journal of Edwin Carp Producer, director Featured in the Flash 5 Bible 2001 Osmosis Jones Supervising Animator CGI, Drix Voiced By David Hyde Pierce 2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Animator 2005 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Animator (Uncredited) 2006 Barnyard Supervising Animator
TV commercials Year Title Credited with 2007 Sky's Carbon Neutral Film Director 2012 Go Compare's Big bad Wolf Director
TV shows Year Title Credited with Comments 2012 Full English Director Working title 'Happy Families' – 2 episodes 2014 Lost Treasure Hunt Director Half hour animated pilot
Short films Year Title Credited with Comments 2014 Centurion Resurrection Director Live action short film 2022CensureDirectorLive action short film2023ConfinesDirectorLive Action Short
Bibliography Year Book title Credited with 2000 Flash-Cartoons and Games Co-Author 2001 Flash 5 Cartoons and Games f/x and Design Co-Author 2002 Flash X Cartoons f/x and Design Co-Author 2006 Macromedia Flash 8 Bible Contributor
References
External links Interview published by The Film Maker's Workshop on 24 December 2014 on YouTube in which Richard Bazley talks about transitioning from animation to live action