Travis Knight

Travis Knight
Born (1973-09-13) September 13, 1973
Hillsboro, Oregon, U.S.
Education Jesuit High School
Alma mater Portland State University
Occupation Animator, film producer, film director
Years active 1995–present
Parent(s) Phil Knight
Penny Knight

Travis Andrew Knight (born September 13, 1973)[1] is an American animator, film director, and producer, who has worked as the lead animator for stop-motion animation studio Laika, and directed the films Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) and Bumblebee (2018).

Early life

Knight was born in Hillsboro, Oregon,[2] a suburb of Portland. Knight is the son of Penelope "Penny" (Parks) and Phil Knight, the founder and chairman of Nike. Knight is the grandson of publisher William W. Knight. He attended Jesuit High School, near Beaverton, Oregon. He is a graduate of Portland State University.[3]

Career

Music career

Knight began his career as a rapper under the name "Chilly Tee". Utilizing a recording studio built in his father's mansion, Knight self-produced a five song demo album.[4][5] The demo caught the attention of Bernie Singleton, president of MCA, who passed the demo to producer Hank Shocklee, who liked the demo and agreed to produce Knight's debut album with his production team, The Bomb Squad.[5]

Knight moved into his parents' Manhattan penthouse for six months while recording the album.[4] The Bomb Squad helped him develop fleshed out choruses, as Shocklee felt that Knight was very skilled at writing verses, but his choruses were weak.[5]

In 1993, Knight released the album Get Off Mine. According to Knight, the record did not sell well and he disliked performing.[3] According to Shocklee, "One of the reasons why it didn't catch on was because it was one record that came out of nowhere, and rap is about building momentum."[5] However, Shocklee is proud of the album, saying, "this record still holds up. You can play it now and it doesn't sound dated."[5]

Animation

After Travis Knight graduated from Portland State University, Knight's father had become an investor in Will Vinton Studios, and persuaded the company to hire Travis as an intern.[4][6][3] He worked on the television series The PJs for Fox Studios and Gary & Mike on UPN, as well as television commercials and promo spots.

By 2003, Phil Knight became a controlling shareholder in Will Vinton Studios, which had been losing money due to poor management, and Travis Knight was promoted to the board of directors, despite no management experience himself.[4] Following the departure of Vinton, the Knights began to reorganize the failing studio, which was rebranded as Laika.

Since 2005, Travis Knight has served as Laika's vice president of animation. He was a producer and lead animator for Coraline (2009), ParaNorman (2012) and The Boxtrolls (2014).[7] He also sits on the Laika board of directors.[8] Along with Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable, Knight was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, for The Boxtrolls. In 2014, Knight began working on his directorial debut, Kubo and the Two Strings, which was released in 2016.[9]

He is the current president and CEO of Laika, along with serving on the board of directors of his father's company, Nike, Inc., a position he assumed in 2015.[10]

Personal life

Knight is married and has three children.[11]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirectorProducerAnimatorNotes
2002Día de Los MuertosNoNoYesShort film
2005MoongirlNoNoYes
2009CoralineNoNoYes
2012ParaNormanNoYesYes
2014The BoxtrollsNoYesYes
2016Kubo and the Two StringsYesYesYesDirectorial debut
2018Bumblebee[12]YesNoNoLive-action directorial debut
2019Missing LinkNoYesYes

Television

YearTitleDirectorProducerAnimatorNotes
2000Boyer BrothersNoNoYesTV movie
The PJsNoNoYesEpisode: "Haiti and the Tramp"
2001Gary & MikeNoNoYes

Awards

YearAwardCategoryFilmResult[13]
2010Annie AwardsCharacter Animation in a Feature ProductionCoralineNominated
Visual Effects Society AwardsOutstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Shared with Trey Thomas		Nominated
2012Awards Circuit Community AwardsBest Animated Feature Film
Shared with Arianne Sutner		ParaNormanNominated
2013Annie AwardsCharacter Animation in a Feature ProductionWon
Online Film & Television Association AwardsBest Animated Picture
Shared with Arianne Sutner		Nominated
Producers Guild of America AwardsOutstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Shared with Arianne Sutner		Nominated
Visual Effects Society AwardsOutstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Shared with Chris Butler, Sam Fell & Brad Schiff		Nominated
2015Academy AwardsBest Animated Feature
Shared with Anthony Stacchi & Graham Annable		The BoxtrollsNominated
Annie AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Character Animation in a Feature ProductionNominated
Producers Guild of America AwardsOutstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Shared with David Bleiman Ichioka		Nominated
Visual Effects Society AwardsOutstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Shared with Jason Stalman, Mike Laubach & Kyle Williams		Nominated
Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Shared with Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable & Brad Schiff		Nominated
2017Academy Awards[14] Best Animated Feature
Shared with Arianne Sutner		Kubo and the Two StringsNominated
Annie Awards[15]Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated Feature ProductionNominated
British Academy Film Awards[16]Best Animated FilmWon
Chicago Film Critics Association[17] Most Promising FilmmakerNominated
Producers Guild of America Award[18] Best Animated Motion Picture
Shared with Arianne Sutner		Nominated
Visual Effects Society Awards[19] Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
Shared with Steve Emerson, Brad Schiff and Arianne Sutner 		Won

References

  1. ↑ "United States Public Records, 1970-2009," database, FamilySearch (23 May 2014), Travis Andrew Knight, Residence, Hillsboro, Oregon, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information.
  2. ↑ "The rise of Travis Knight, the son of Nike's founder who built an animation powerhouse – The Washington Post". Retrieved 2016-08-21.
  3. 1 2 3 McNichol, Tom. 2009. "Hollywood Knights," Portland Monthly, February. Archived 2015-01-16 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed: May 24, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 https://priceonomics.com/how-the-father-of-claymation-lost-his-company/
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22981-hotseat-hank-shocklee-on-travis-chilly-tee-knight.html
  6. ↑ Ryan Ball, "Coraline Animator Travis Knight of LAIKA," Animation Magazine, May 7, 2007 Accessed: August 21, 2016.
  7. ↑ Laika, "Travis Knight, President & CEO". Accessed: May 24, 2012.
  8. ↑ Salter, Chuck (July 1, 2007). "THE KNIGHTS' TALE". The Fast Company. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  9. ↑ McNary, Dave (December 22, 2014). "Laika, Focus Teaming on Animated 'Kubo and the Two Strings'". Variety. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  10. ↑ Linshi, Jack (June 30, 2015). "Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight to Step Down as Chairman". Time. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  11. ↑ Giardina, Carolyn (February 8, 2013). "'ParaNorman's' Travis Knight: The Nike Scion Behind the Oscar-Nominated Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  12. ↑ "The Transformers Bumblebee Spinoff Has Found Its Director". 3 March 2017.
  13. ↑ "Travis Knight – Awards". IMDb. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  14. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (January 24, 2017). "Oscar Nominations: 'La La Land' Ties Record With 14 Noms; 'Arrival' & 'Moonlight' Snag 8 Apiece". Deadline. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  15. ↑ Flores, Terry (November 28, 2016). "'Zootopia' Tops Annie Awards Nominations, 'Kubo and the Two Strings' in Close Second". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  16. ↑ Ritman, Aley (January 9, 2017). "BAFTA Awards: 'La La Land' Leads Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  17. ↑ "The 2016 Chicago Film Critics Association Award Nominees". Chicago Film Critics Association. December 11, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  18. ↑ Lewsi, Hillary; Lee, Ashley (January 5, 2017). "2017 PGA Film Nominees Include 'Deadpool,' 'Moonlight,' 'La La Land'; 'Westworld,' 'Stranger Things,' 'Atlanta' Among TV". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  19. ↑ Caranicas, Peter (February 7, 2017). "'Jungle Book,' 'Game of Thrones' Dominate Visual Effects Society Awards". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2017. 
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