Quick Facts
Biography
Richard Baneham (born July 1970) is an Irish animator and visual effects supervisor, who has worked on such films as the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, the Chronicles of Narnia, and Avatar. Amongst other awards, Baneham has received a BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects and an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Life and career
Baneham trained in Ballyfermot Art College - during which time he lived in Tallaght. In the 1990s, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career with his then girlfriend (and now wife) Ashling.
Upon moving to Los Angeles, Baneham worked as an animator on several films including The Iron Giant and as animation supervisor on Cats & Dogs. 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.
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.
Filmography
- The Iron Giant (animator)
- Cats & Dogs (animator)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (main animator)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (main animator)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (main animator)
- Avatar (Animation producer)