Peter Ramsey

Early life

Ramsey grew up in the Crenshaw District of South Los Angeles, and graduated in 1980 from Palisades High School. He studied painting at University of California, Los Angeles for two years before enrolling in film classes at Los Angeles City College. He was raised Catholic.

Career

His first job in Hollywood was painting a mural, but soon he was working as a storyboard artist and production illustrator on 26 films including Predator 2, Backdraft, Independence Day, Fight Club and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. He was a second unit director for Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Tank Girl and Godzilla. Aron Warner, the producer of Tank Girl, suggested he join DreamWorks Animation. After initially being uninterested, Ramsey joined DreamWorks as a story artist for Shrek the Third and Shrek the Halls.

In 2012, he directed Rise of the Guardians, based on William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood books, making him the first African-American to direct a big-budget animated feature. In 2018, he co-directed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He is set to write and direct Blood Count, a period vampire thriller distributed by Paramount Pictures, as well as the Robert Johnson movie Love in Vain. On April 16, 2021, he was set to direct the film adaptation of the Matthew Quick novel Boy21.

In April 2022, Ramsey had been hired to direct an episode each of the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian season 3, which was released in March 2023, and Ahsoka, which was released in August 2023.

Ramsey is a member of AMPAS, the Directors Guild of America and The Animation Guild.

Filmography

Director

• Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space (2009)
• Rise of the Guardians (2012)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) (co-director with Bob Persichetti and Rodney Rothman)
• We the People (2021) (Segment: Active Citizenship)
• Lost Ollie (2022)
• The Mandalorian (2023) (Episode: "Chapter 21: The Pirate")
• Ahsoka (2023) (Episode: "Part Four: Fallen Jedi")
• Blood Count (TBA)

Second unit director

Storyboard artist

• A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
• Predator 2 (1990)
• Tank Girl (1995)
• Mortal Kombat (1995)
• Eye for an Eye (1996)
• Independence Day (1996)
• Men in Black (1997)
• Godzilla (1998)
• Being John Malkovich (1999)
• Fight Club (1999)
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
• Cast Away (2000)
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
• The Affair of the Necklace (2001)
• Panic Room (2002)
• Minority Report (2002)
• Adaptation. (2002)
• The Core (2003)
• Spartan (2004)
• Shark Tale (2004) (additional)
• Shrek the Third (2007)
• Shrek the Halls (2007)
• Penguins of Madagascar (2014) (additional)
• Sausage Party (2016) (additional)
• Duck Duck Goose (2018) (additional)
• A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

Illustrator

• Backdraft (1991)
• Far and Away (1992)
• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
• The Shadow (1994)
• Batman Forever (1995)
• EDtv (1999)

Other

• Almost an Angel (1990) (continuity artist)
• Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) (head of story)
• Puss in Boots (2011) (creative consultant)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) (head of story)

Executive producer

• Hair Love (2019)
• Lost Ollie (2022)
• Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire (2023)
• Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2027)

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. McDonald, Pamela Mays. (24 October 2012). "Another "First" in Artistic Achievement: Director Peter Ramsey". [[HuffPost]].
2. (2012-12-10). "A Chat with Director Peter Ramsey".
3. Cavna, Michael. (30 November 2012). "'Rise of the Guardians': 'The Obama of animation'? Director Peter Ramsey deflects the comparison — but not the responsibility". [[Washington Post]].
4. Tulich, Katherine. (July 21, 2012). "'Rise of the Guardians' director a self-taught success". Los Angeles Times.
5. (22 January 2019). "Oscar Nominations 2019: The Complete List".
6. (2022-02-13). "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Co-Director to Helm Vampire Thriller Blood Count".
7. D’Allessandro, Anthony. (November 5, 2019). "Paramount Buys 'Love In Vain' Pitch About Blues Pioneer Robert Johnson, 'Spider-Verse's Peter Ramsey Directing".
8. Breznican, Anthony. (April 16, 2021). "Oscar-Winner Peter Ramsey's Life Story Could Be Its Own Movie".
9. Couch, Aaron. (January 16, 2023). "'The Mandalorian' Reveals Season 3 Trailer, New Directors".
10. Kit, Borys. (April 8, 2022). "Peter Ramsey Tapped as a Director of 'Ahsoka', the Latest 'Star Wars' Series (Exclusive)".
11. (7 October 2016). "Careers In Film Summit - Biographies". Oscars.org.
12. (January 18, 2017). "Sony's Untitled 'Spider-Man' Animated Film To Feature Miles Morales As Lead Character". Deadline.
13. (August 9, 2019). "Lion Forge Animation Launches With 'Hair Love' Short". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
14. "'Land of the Lost Ollie' A misplaced toy magically comes to life in the Netflix limited series from creator Shannon Tindle". Television Academy.
15. Vourlias, Christopher. (2021-06-17). "Disney Taps Top African Toon Talents for Animated Anthology 'Kizazi Moto' (Exclusive)".
16. (2022-12-29). "Sony Pictures Animation's Bold Past, Present and Future".
17. (15 April 2019). "2019 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]].
18. "46th Annual Annie Awards". [[ASIFA-Hollywood]].
19. (January 9, 2019). "EE British Academy Film Awards Winners in 2019". [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]].
20. Tapley, Kristopher. (January 13, 2019). "'Roma,' 'The Americans' and 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Win Top Critics' Choice Honors".
21. (December 13, 2012). "2013 Golden Globe Nominations". [[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]].
22. (January 7, 2019). "All the Winners of the 76th Golden Globes". [[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]].
23. (August 18, 2019). "2019 Hugo Awards". [[World Science Fiction Society]].
24. "Visual Effects Society Announces Nominees for 11th Annual VES Awards". [[Visual Effects Society]].