Jorge R. Gutierrez – Every picture tells a story — The Book of Life – TEDxKids@SMU 2014
The story of how “The Book of Life” was made by the writer and director.
Born in delicious Mexico City and raised in eclectic Tijuana, Gutierrez attended CalArts, where he received his BFA & MFA in Experimental Animation under Jules Engel. For his thesis film he created the CG short “Carmelo”, which won the 2001 Student Emmy Award and was screened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. In 2001 he created “El Macho”, his first web series for Sony Pictures Digital. He has designed characters for several animated series including “Mucha Lucha” for Warner Bros, “The Buzz on Maggie” for Disney and “MAD” for Warner Bros and Cartoon Network. He has also written for various shows at Disney, Scholastic, Warner Bros and Nickelodeon.
In 2005, Gutierrez and his longtime collaborator, muse and wife Sandra Equihua, created the multiple Emmy and Annie winning series “El Tigre, The Adventures of Manny Rivera” for Nickelodeon. Gutierrez is currently directing his life-long dream project “The Book of Life”, a CG-animated feature for Reel FX, Produced by Guillermo Del Toro and Brad Booker. The film, set against a Dia De Los Muertos backdrop, is an adventure inspired by both mythology and Gutierrez’s own life and family. “The Book of Life” is in theaters now from Reel FX and 20th Century Fox.