Richard_Baneham

Richard Baneham

Richard Baneham

Irish animator and visual effects supervisor

Richard Baneham (born 1970 or 1971)[2] is an Irish animator and visual effects supervisor, who has worked on several film series, including The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, the Chronicles of Narnia films and the Avatar franchise. Amongst other awards, Baneham has received a BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects and an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 2009, both for his work on Avatar, and a further Academy Award in 2023, for visual effects on Avatar: The Way of Water.

Quick Facts Born, Occupation(s) ...

Early and personal life

Baneham is from Tallaght in Dublin and went to secondary school in Old Bawn before training in Ballyfermot Art College.[3][4] In the 1990s, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career with his then girlfriend (and now wife) Ashling.[5]

Career

Upon moving to Los Angeles in the 1990s, Baneham worked as an animator on several films including The Iron Giant and as animation supervisor on Cats & Dogs.[5] He also worked with Rhythm and Hues on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and as animation supervisor (overseeing the animation of the character of Gollum) on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

His work also featured in the 2009 movie Avatar. For his work on Avatar, Richie, along with Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum and Andrew R. Jones, won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 82nd Academy Awards and the visual effects category at the 2010 BAFTAs.[6][7]

Baneham reportedly signed up to work on the planned Avatar sequels, and in an interview on The Tommy Tiernan Show which aired on 12 January 2017, Baneham confirmed that he was in pre-production on Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5.[8]

At the 16th Visual Effects Society Awards in February 2018, a team of visual effects artists, including Baneham, was recognised for its work on Avatar: Flight of Passage - an attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom.[9] In 2019, he was credited for visual effects work on Alita: Battle Angel.[10]

In 2023, together with Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett, he won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 95th Academy Awards for his work on Avatar: The Way of Water.[11]

Selected filmography

References

  1. [1]
    Awards for Richard Baneham at IMDb
  2. [2]
    "The golden gang... the people continuing our long Oscars pedigree". independent.ie. Independent News & Media. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2020. Born and raised in Tallaght, Dublin, visual effects specialist Richie (45) now lives in Los Angeles
  3. [3]
    "Old Bawn past pupil Richard is reaching for ultimate stars". echo.ie. The Echo. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  4. [4]
    "Irishmen get nod for work on Avatar and Star Trek". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  5. [5]
    "In living colour". Sunday Business Post. 14 February 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011.
  6. [6]
    "Film Awards Winners - Film - Awards - The BAFTA site". BAFTA. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012.
  7. [7]
    "Dubliner among the Oscar winners". RTÉ Entertainment. 8 March 2010. Archived from the original on 11 March 2010.
  8. [8]
    The Tommy Tiernan Show Extras: Richie Baneham. RTÉ. 12 January 2017. 9 minutes in. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  9. [9]
    "Visual Effects Society Awards: 'War for the Planet of the Apes' Wins Big". 13 February 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  10. [10]
    "Richard Baneham". bfi.org.uk. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  11. [11]
    "Oscars 2023: Who is Dubliner Richard Baneham as he scoops award at the Oscars for a second time". independent.ie. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
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