Production biographies
Production biographies
Published: 24 November 2016
Jakob Schuh was born in Munich in 1976 and after his school graduation in 1995 he first studied in the department of dramaturgy at the LMU in Munich. From 1996 to 2003, Jakob Schuh was a student in the department of direction/animation at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, where he has been is teaching since 2004. In 2003, Jakob was one of the founding partners of German animation house Studio Soi. Jakob Schuh has been involved as a director and designer in many award-winning animation film productions since 1995, and has worked as a caricaturist and illustrator for a.o. the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In 2009 Jakob was co-director The Gruffalo which was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Animated Short Film category 2011, a BAFTA in 2010 and the prestigious Cartoon d’Or in 2011. It’s won various awards including the Cristal for Best Television Special at Annecy Animation Festival 2010.
Jan Lachauer (Director)
Jan Lachauer was born in Munich in 1983. Between 2006 and 2011 he studied at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg and the Gobelins, lécole de l'image in Paris.
He made his professional directorial debut as co-director of Room On The Broom in 2012. The film was Academy Award nominated in 2014; winner of the Animation category at the 2013 BAFTA Children’s Awards; the 2012 RTS Programme Award for Best Children’s Programme; the International Emmy Kids Awards 2013 and the Cristal for Best Television Production at Annecy Animation Festival 2013.
Jan Lachauer lives and works in Berlin.
Martin Pope (Producer)
Martin Pope runs London-based Magic Light Pictures together with Michael Rose. Their recent animated productions include the Oscar and BAFTA nominated The Gruffalo; the BAFTA nominated The Gruffalo’s Child; the Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning Room On The Broom; the BAFTA nominated Stick Man and the Oscar nominated and European Film Award winning Chico & Rita, an animated feature directed by Fernando Trueba and star designer Javier Mariscal. Other feature films include Wild Target; natural history documentary One Life; and romantic comedy Sparkle starring Stockard Channing and Bob Hoskins. Martin also produced features Stephen Poliakoff’s Glorious 39 (starring Bill Nighy and Romala Garai) and Paul Andrew Williams’ The Cottage.
Prior to starting Magic Light, Martin produced feature films Touch Of Pink (starring Kyle Maclachlan); The Heart Of Me (starring Helena Bonham Carter); Lawless Heart and Alive & Kicking. TV credits include The Turn Of The Screw (starring Colin Firth); John Madden’s Meat and John Schlesinger’s BAFTA award winning film of Alan Bennett’s A Question Of Attribution.
Michael Rose (Producer)
Michael Rose runs London-based Magic Light Pictures together with Martin Pope. Their recent animated productions include the Oscar and BAFTA nominated The Gruffalo; the BAFTA nominated THE Gruffalo’s Child; the Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning Room On The Broom; the BAFTA nominated Stick Man and the Oscar nominated and European Film Award winning Chico & Rita, an animated feature directed by Fernando Trueba and star designer Javier Mariscal. Other feature films include Wild Target starring Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt and Rupert Grint; natural history documentary One Life; and romantic comedy Sparkle starring Stockard Channing and Bob Hoskins.
Previously, Michael headed up the feature film division of UK animation studio Aardman. He was executive producer of animated features Chicken Run and the Oscar and BAFTA winning Wallace & Gromit: Curse Of The Wererabbit. He was joint producer of Nick Park's 1995 Oscar winning Wallace and Gromit film, A Close Shave and has won two BAFTAs for animated short films, A Close Shave and Stage Fright.
