Biography

Whilst studying Fine Art at university Paul Franklin worked extensively in student theater design, film making, and magazine design and became involved with a group of film makers which allowed him to combine his love of graphics through animation with the moving image.

After graduation in 1989 he worked variously in videotape editing and video graphic design. In 1992 Franklin joined the pioneering UK video games company Psygnosis as a computer artist, designing and creating 3D animations for a variety of gaming platforms including the nascent Playstation. Throughout this period he was working with a group of independent film makers, creating the graphics and effects for a series of short films. His work in this area attracted the attention of the Moving Picture Company and he joined their London-based team in 1994 as a CG animator working in television commercials as well as film and long form broadcast.

In 1998 he and a number of his colleagues left MPC to form Double Negative Visual Effects (Dneg). Franklin set up the new company's 3D department and supervised the CG animation for a number of feature films that the Dneg worked on.

In 2003 Franklin served as Dneg's VFX supervisor on Batman Begins which brought him his first BAFTA nomination. Franklin subsequently supervised Dneg's contribution to The Dark Knight, garnering BAFTA and Oscar® nominations. In 2009 director Christopher Nolan invited Franklin to be overall VFX supervisor for his film Inception. Franklin's work on the film earned him an Oscar® as well as BAFTA and VES wins. Franklin continued his working relationship with Nolan as VFX supervisor for The Dark Knight Rises. In 2014 Franklin created the visual effects for Nolan's sci-fi epic Interstellar, winning him is second Oscar® and another BAFTA.

Franklin served as DNEG's Creative Director for 10 years, consulting on and supervising the VFX on a range of projects, including Venom (2018), Foundation (2021) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2023).

In 2017 Paul Franklin made his directorial debut with his short film The Escape, starring Julian Sands, Olivia Williams, and Art Malik. In 2022 Franklin followed this up with his short film Fireworks, starring Charlotte Riley, Ivanno Jeremiah, and Denise Gough. Both films premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. In 2024 Franklin directed his first animated short film Dream of the Black Whales, produced by Chris DeFaria (Lego Movie, Gravity).

In 2024 Franklin joined VFX studio beloFX as Creative Director.

- IMDb mini biography by: anonymous