Early years

Chris's first animation was made in 1989 and it was called Safari. He wanted to make a drama but didn't know any actors so he made his cast out of plasticine. Using this film he won a place at University for the Creative Arts, Farnham. His first job in the industry was as production manager at Speedy Films which was the creative vehicle for director Paul Vester. His writing and commissioned directorial debut came in 1997 with a Channel 4 film called The Broken Jaw. This animated comedy illustrated the plight of a public house after it has been transformed into a fun pub. During the same year he animated the world stare-out championship for BBC comedy sketch show Big Train.

As well as being the producer on the Channel 4/MOMI scheme, he also worked as producer with Cramp Twins creator, Brian Wood, on his Channel 4 film School Disco and "Bunny Schendler" on her BAFTA nominated "World of Interiors".

Slinky

In 2000 Chris set up Slinky Pictures and until its closure in 2010, the company produced many award-winning films and adverts. His 2003 animate! commission, Dad's Dead, featured Ian Hart as its narrator. This was the first collaboration of many with producer and Slinky Pictures co-founder Maria Manton. The film groundbreakingly combined animation with live action in a unique style which led the film to win 25 international awards including Best Short Film at the British Independent Film Awards and BAFTA nomination. He directed and co-wrote a spoof general election series with Peter Holmes called People's Britain for Channel 4 in 2001.

Other credits include animation on Channel 4 sitcom Nathan Barley and Channel 4 documentary Bollocks to Cancer. 2005 saw him co-write and co-direct with artist David Shrigley on a second animate! commission called Who I Am And What I Want. The year after Silence Is Golden won the TCM Classic Shorts Award at the 2006 London Film Festival.

It was during this period that Chris wrote several feature films including, Up in Heaven. Directed by Chris Shepherd. Produced by Nira Park and Maria Manton for Film4, Big Talk Productions, 50% Off Directed by Chris Shepherd from an idea by Chris and David Shrigley for Warp Films. After being caught in five years of development hell on "Up in Heaven" he vowed to make as many films as he could, regardless of length. There's still a lot of speculation about the progress of his feature film projects which, according to several websites, are still in development.

His last Slinky film, Bad Night for the Blues, won the International Canal+ Award at Clermont Ferrand International Film Festival and was transmitted on BBC HD on 27 February 2011.

Recent work

Chris's first work after Slinky was a pop promo, Falling into Pieces, for Black Casino and the Ghost. From 2011 saw Chris being a guest curator on Channel 4's late night arts strand Random Acts. Commissioned by Lupus films he's worked with the likes of David Shrigley, Phil Mulloy and Fred Deakin. As well as curating and producing sixty films for the strand he's also directed two. A recreation of a childhood visits to the dentist called "Drillerfiller" and a pop promo for protest singer Grace Petrie called "Grace Petrie: Rise". Both look at Chris's childhood landscape, the first as a memory and the second as a documentary. "Rise" was shot in Anfield in Liverpool just as Chris's childhood neighbourhood was being demolished. The film was later included in 2012's Anfield Home Tours as part of the 2up2down project. He also produced a documentary project with Tim Brunsden called Home Sweet Home which documented events after a major fire at Chris's family home.

In 2013 Chris wrote and directed a new film called The Ringer. Commissioned by Canal+ and CNC is a coproduction with Polkadot Productions, Autour De Minuit and the Bureau. It stars Kieran Lynn and John Henshaw. In addition, 2013 saw a collaboration with Robert Popper called Anatole's Island which was voiced by Peter Serafinowicz and Chris directed a series of Comedy Blaps! for Channel 4 with the comedy collective the Alternative Comedy Memorial Society.

Since 2014 Chris has began many pop promo collaborations with the likes of Holly Johnson, Kurt Wagner and Reverend and the Makers. He directed a promo for Holly Johnson's second single from his 2014 album Europa. 2015 has seen him direct a promos for Lambchop members new electronic band HeCTA. Scheduled for release September 2015.

Filmography

Year	Title	Notes
prep	Mr Phillips (in development)	director and writer, based on the novel by John Lanchester
prep	Up in Heaven (in development)	director and co-writer with Jim Mummery
prep	50% Off (in development)	director and writer with from an idea by Chris Shepherd and David Shrigley
2016	Nameless (pre production)	director and writer
2015	Reverend and the Makers - Mirrors	co-animation director with Joice Jurtiz and writer
2015	HeCTA featuring Kurt Wagner - Sympathy for the Auto Industry	co-director with Jez Pennington and writer
2015	HeCTA featuring Kurt Wagner and Buddy Hackett - The Concept	director and writer
2014	Holly Johnson - In And Out of Love	director and writer
2013	Comedy Blaps: The Alternative Comedy Memorial Society Presents a Board Meeting	director
2013	The Ringer	director and writer
2013	Life Class	director and writer
2013	Shameless - episode 10.2	animator
2013	Anatole's Island	co-director with Amer Nazri
2012	Home Sweet Home (documentary)	producer (directed by Tim Brunsden)
2012	Grace Petrie - Rise	co director and writer with Rod Main
2012	Drillerfiller	director and writer
2011	Black Casino and the Ghost - Falling into Pieces	director and writer
2010	Bad Night for the Blues	director and writer
2010	Count Arthur Strong's Entertainment Game (TV pilot)	animation
2010	The Klang Show	animation
2007	Granny	director and writer
2006	Silence is Golden	director and writer
2005	Who I Am And What I Want	co-director and co-writer with David Shrigley
2005	Nathan Barley	animation and graphics
2005	Only Human: Bollocks to Cancer	animation
2003	Dad's Dead	director and writer
2001	People's Britain	director and co-writer with Peter Holmes
2001	The World of Interiors	producer
2000	Pop Skool	director
2000	Angry Kid Episode: "Backward Writing"	co-writer with Darren Walsh
1999	School Disco	producer
1998	Big Train (Series 1)	animation
1997	The Broken Jaw	director and writer
1995	Abductees	production manager
1992	A Load of Balls	director and writer
1989	Safari	director and writer

[ Source: Wikipedia ]