SimonWard
- Director
- Animator
Director, animator and do-it-yourself champion Simon Ward has made over 80 music videos since the new millennium, as a solo filmmaker or with a core group of friends. He also led the animation team and shared directing duties on the acclaimed Aroha Bridge, and has lent his VFX skills to films like Deathgasm and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He juggles his time between the screen industry and the art world, where he largely collaborates with artist Jess Johnson on immersive experiences.
Screenography
Biography
Growing up in Hawke's Bay in the 1980s, filmmaker and animator Simon Ward was obsessed with technology and television. "My dad used to bring home a computer or a video camera, sometimes on the weekend, and I would ravenously use them as much as I can."
Awards
2020 New Zealand Television Awards
Nominated for Best Comedy/Comedy Entertainment Programme (with Jessica Hansell, Morgan Waru, Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi and Paul Horan): for Aroha Bridge
2009 Handle the Jandal Awards Music Video Awards (New Zealand)
Nominated: Your Telepathy (Thought Creature)
2006 Juice TV Awards (New Zealand)
Indie Music Video of the Year: Promises Promises (OdESSA)
“I’m really interested in animation as a form of screen experimentation and different ways to tell stories. It allows for completely different ways of doing things from the norm ... It really allows the weirdos to make a thing how they want to.”