Pierre Coffin

Life and career

Coffin was born on 16 March 1967 in France to Nh. Dini, an Indonesian novelist and Yves Coffin, a French diplomat. He has a sister, Marie-Claire. During his childhood, they often moved across Asia, living in Cambodia and Japan, before settling in a Parisian suburb in the 1970s. Growing up, their father forbade them watching television, considering it too passive. Instead, Coffin drew, read and listened to music a lot. Although he had never considered a career in the arts, some talented friends of his, who were better at drawing than he, inspired him to work on improving his skills.

Between 1985 and 1988, he studied cinema at the Paris-Sorbonne University. While attending his military service, he withdrew to take the entrance exam for the Gobelins animation school in Paris. Passing, he studied there the 2D course from 1990 to 1993. Then he moved to Amblin, the 2D London-based facility, where he worked for one year as a junior animator on the Steven Spielberg-executive-produced We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story. He then started as a freelance animator in the French CGI studio Ex Machina where he worked as an animator and eventually animation supervisor. Pierre Coffin's directorial career began with a short film named Pings in 1997. He then started to collaborate by doing commercials with Passion Pictures Paris and Mac Guff. He created the characters Pat & Stan for the titular TF1 TV series. In 2010 he completed, with Chris Renaud, the feature CGI-animated movie Despicable Me for Universal.

Coffin directed Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013), with Renaud, Despicable Me 3 (2017) and the Despicable Me spin-off, Minions (2015) with Kyle Balda. Coffin provides the voice of the Minions in each installment of the Despicable Me and Minions franchise including the following films, Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) and Despicable Me 4 (2024). Coffin is returning to direct Minions 3, set for release in 2026.

Coffin is currently developing two webseries for Illumination that will debut on TikTok and later on YouTube, titled Who's Who and Bones Story.

Personal life

Coffin has two children.

Filmography

Film

Short films

Television

Accolades

Films

References

References

1. (15 March 1967). "Pierre Coffin". Premiere.
2. (13 March 2016). "Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Inori Minase Win 10th Annual Seiyū Awards".
3. Universal Pictures. "Despicable Me 2 Production Notes". Despicable Me.
4. (30 September 2007). "Happy Hippo, divertimento e tenerezza formato spot". TVBlog.it.
5. (13 April 2016). "Trey Parker Joins Voice Cast of 'Despicable Me 3'". The Wrap.
6. Fleming, Mike. (24 July 2012). "Illumination And Universal Hatch 'Despicable Me' Spinoff About The Minions". Deadline.
7. McMillan, Graeme. (2 February 2020). "'Minions: The Rise of Gru' Brings Mischief to the Super Bowl".
8. Jackson, Angelique. (July 11, 2024). "''Minions 3'' Set for 2027 as ''Despicable Me'' Franchise Nears $5 Billion at Box Office".
9. (29 June 2017). "This Is Why The Minions Are So Popular".
10. (4 April 2023). "'Sherk 5' With Original Cast, Donkey Spinoff With Eddie Murphy and More Teased by Illumination's Chris Meledandri".
11. (18 April 2012). "Brad & Gary (2011) Review". Designing Geek.
12. "Brad & Gary". Seattle International Film Festival.
13. "Pierre Coffin".
14. (26 June 2015). "Pierre Coffin: Me and my Minions". The Guardian.