The talent scout

By Mary Parker, January 5, 2007 @ 1 am

Shelley Page travels to animation festivals and schools around Europe for talent. Tough gig

Idealog January/February 2006, page 20. Photograph by Matt Grace

Standing on stage at a lectern, the tall, blonde and very composed Shelley Page looks as if she could be a Fortune 500 CEO. Had she put her mind to it, she probably would have been. But Page has a far more interesting job: she’s the European representative for DreamWorks Feature Animation, which means she travels to animation festivals and schools around Europe scoping for talent. Tough gig.

Page, who visited Wellington in November to speak at the AnimFXNZ symposium, has a CV extraordinaire—she worked as a fashion designer, theatre designer, TV set designer and children’s book illustrator before joining the studio of legendary animator Richard Williams. Not long after, Williams’ studio secured the contract for Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Page received the juicy role of backgrounds supervisor. With her fashion experience she also ended up consulting on the make-up for Jessica ‘I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way’ Rabbit. Those long eyelashes? The deft touch of Shelley Page.

After the success of Roger Rabbit, Page was invited to work on The Prince of Egypt, and has also worked on Antz, Shrek and Shrek 2, Shark Tale and Madagascar.

These days her role for DreamWorks is getting out and around Europe to find new talent. “I’m predisposed to the work of France, and I like the French aesthetic. The educational environment in France has traditionally been strong on supporting the arts. In Germany you find a high level of technical skills coming out of the schools. However, they may be less successful with emotional work. In England it’s about eccentricity.” And so how does New Zealand measure up? “Well of course I was blown away by The Lord of the Rings but I haven’t yet had a chance to see much else.”

Shelley Page worked on a string of hits before taking a top job scouring Europe to find talented young animators

It sounds like a dream job but she admits it’s not all a bed of roses. “Nobody has any sympathy for me! I always have to go to the Festival in Monte Carlo and it’s always raining. I’m on the phone back home and they’re saying ‘What are you moaning about—you’re in Monte Carlo’ but trust me, it’s not always an ideal place to be.” But she keeps accepting invitations, and loves getting to the small events and the out-of-the-way places. She has her sights set on Eastern Europe next.

Unlike New Zealand, where there is a reported shortage of experienced animators, Page says there’s a big talent pool in Europe. “It’s gratifying that so many people are excited by the industry. But enthusiasm alone won’t get you into the industry—you need skills.” The biggest skill is to convince the audience to relate to the character, so it has a soul.

“There are no limits as to what can technically be achieved but the character needs to speak intimately to the audience,” says Page. “What worked with Shrek and Fiona was that they were believable—you could see what they were thinking. Animated characters can be living characters. Sometimes even more so than the real actors, who are filled with Botox!”