Kyle Balda (born March 9, 1971) is an American animator and film
director, best known for co-directing the animated films The Lorax
(2012), with Chris Renaud, and Minions (2015), with Pierre Coffin. He
has also worked as animator on several films including Jumanji, Toy
Story 2, and Despicable Me. He has worked for Pixar for years and is
now with Illumination Entertainment.Balda was born in Tucson, Arizona,
to a Maltese mother. He studied at the California Institute of the
Arts in the early 1990s and dropped out after two years for a job he
was offered.During his time at CalArts, Balda was hired by LucasArts
as an intern to create the animated opening credit sequence for the
graphic adventure game Day of the Tentacle.He started his career as an
animator by working at Industrial Light & Magic, in the films
including 1994's The Mask as graphics animator, 1995's Jumanji as
animation supervisor, and in 1996's Mars Attacks! as character
animator. He also worked at Weta Digital once in New Zealand, on the
1996 film The Frighteners, he animated the Grim Reaper for the film.
Later Balda started working at Pixar, and his works included 1998's A
Bug's Life as an additional animator, 1999's Toy Story 2 as the
directing animator, and 2001's Monsters, Inc. as animator. In 2010, he
joined the Illumination Entertainment in Paris, and worked in the
2010s Despicable Me as the head of layout. Balda has also directed
several short films and lectured at different animation schools.
director, best known for co-directing the animated films The Lorax
(2012), with Chris Renaud, and Minions (2015), with Pierre Coffin. He
has also worked as animator on several films including Jumanji, Toy
Story 2, and Despicable Me. He has worked for Pixar for years and is
now with Illumination Entertainment.Balda was born in Tucson, Arizona,
to a Maltese mother. He studied at the California Institute of the
Arts in the early 1990s and dropped out after two years for a job he
was offered.During his time at CalArts, Balda was hired by LucasArts
as an intern to create the animated opening credit sequence for the
graphic adventure game Day of the Tentacle.He started his career as an
animator by working at Industrial Light & Magic, in the films
including 1994's The Mask as graphics animator, 1995's Jumanji as
animation supervisor, and in 1996's Mars Attacks! as character
animator. He also worked at Weta Digital once in New Zealand, on the
1996 film The Frighteners, he animated the Grim Reaper for the film.
Later Balda started working at Pixar, and his works included 1998's A
Bug's Life as an additional animator, 1999's Toy Story 2 as the
directing animator, and 2001's Monsters, Inc. as animator. In 2010, he
joined the Illumination Entertainment in Paris, and worked in the
2010s Despicable Me as the head of layout. Balda has also directed
several short films and lectured at different animation schools.
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