Dark Side

Биография на режисьора

Svyatoslav (Slava) I. Ushakov
(Brief professional biography)

Slava Ushakov is an internationally known and recognized animation artist and storyboard director with more than 30 animation festival awards.

Slava began his professional activity at the age of 17 while still in high school. In 1987 he joined “Pilot”, Alexander Tatarsky’s famous animation studio. There he began his career as an animator, screenwriter and co-director. Over the years Slava participated in creation of many animated films.

Slava participated in many international animation festivals and won many prestigious awards. He was a principal artist-animator for movie “The Hunter” which earned the 1991 Jim Henson Prize at the 4th International Animation Celebration in Los Angeles.

In 1994 Slava Ushakov made the animated music clip “Haru Mambaru”, which was a hit on Russian TV for years to come. In 1995 it won the MTV award for Best Clip of the Year.

In 1997, while still working at “Pilot” Slava received his Graduate degree in Screenwriting and Art Direction from the Russian National Institute of Cinematography (Moscow, Russia). His Masters graduate project, entitled “Earlier I Lived By The Seashore” was subsequently awarded numerous Russian and International prizes.

In 1998 Slava was invited to work as a Storyboard Director at a Los Angeles based animation studio “Kinofilm”. There Slava and his team created the animated series “Mike, Lu & Og” for Cartoon Network

Following “Mike, Lu & Og Slava went on to become the lead animator at Animation Studio “Klasky Csupo” where he worked on “The Wild Thornberrys Movie”. The film, voiced by the likes of Alfre Woodard, Marisa Tomei, Rupert Everett and Tim Curry, among others, went on to gross more than $60M

In 2010 Slava made directed and art directed an animated feature “Belka and Strelka - Star dogs”. In 2011 the feature received the Golden Eagle award for Best Animated Movie, the Golden Kuker for Best Animated Movie in international festival Sofia, Bulgaria and the 2011 Diploma in Hiroshima Animation Film Festival.

From 2005 to 2007 Slava directed and art directed “The Wizard of Oz” at Timur Bekmambetov’ Bazelevs Studio.

In 2019 Slava joined the Cyprus-based Blanca Pictures where he helped imagine and shape GINJI and her fantastical universe. Slava has been instrumental in guiding every step of the creative and technical and, along with Craig Kellman, designed the characters that inhabit this space. Slava Ushakov is the Series Director and a co-writer on a number of series episodes.

Контакти

slavausy@mail.ri