Drew Lightfoot

Drew’s work marries the endless possibilities of animation with the human elements of live action.

The Canadian craftsman, director and animator has experience working across commercials, music videos, TV shows and feature films, giving him a unique and fresh perspective in his approach to each project.

Starting animation at the age of 10 with LEGO bricks in the basement, Drew’s early interest led him to clay animation and an internship at the age of 13 at a small animation studio. His career in stop motion kicked off at 17 when he flew to New Zealand to work on an animated TV show before moving on to commercials in Australia, Canada and the US.

After studying classical animation and dipping his toe into directing, Drew was hired as Lead Animator on Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride in London. This led to Animation Directing work for UK directors Dougal Wilson, Frank Budgen and Johnny Green on some major campaigns including Big Yellow Tide and Sony Bravia Play-Doh Bunnies, which both won pencils at D&AD.

Following these high-profile endeavours, Drew naturally migrated to directing himself, helming commercials for the likes of Volkswagen, PlayStation, Orange, Bud Light, Toyota, Maynards and Virgin Mobile, as well as a wide range of music videos. This is where the passion for live action and the craft of animation merged together – marrying the endless possibilities of animation with the human elements of live-action. His approach is to never execute the same visual twice, and he is constantly experimenting and dabbling in new technologies.