Neill Blomkamp is a South African-Canadian film and advertisement director, writer, producer
and animator.
Blomkamp employs a documentary-style, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic
and photo-realistic computer-generated effects.
He is best known as the co-writer and director of critically acclaimed District 9 and the
science fiction film Elysium and his frequent collaborations with actor Sharlto Copley.
He is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Time named Blomkamp as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2009.
Forbes magazine named him as the 21st most powerful celebrity from Africa.
Early life and career Blomkamp was born in Johannesburg, South Africa.
At the age of sixteen he met Sharlto Copley, who had also attended Redhill High School
in Johannesburg.
Copley provided Blomkamp with the use of computers at his production company, for Blomkamp to
pursue his passion and talent for 3D animation and design - in return, Blomkamp assisted
Copley in creating 3D work for pitches on various projects.
Blomkamp was 18 when he moved to Vancouver with his family, where he enrolled in Vancouver
Film School.
He was hired to illustrate photo-real future aircraft for Popular Science's "Next century
in Aviation" in 2003, and in 2004 he illustrated "The Future of the Automobile".
Blomkamp worked as a visual effects artist at The Embassy Visual Effects in Vancouver
as well as at Rainmaker Digital Effects, and was signed by Toronto commercial house Spy
Films.
Blomkamp directed a trilogy of live-action short films in 2007, known collectively as
Landfall.
They were set in the Halo universe, to promote the release of Halo 3.
Blomkamp was then slated to direct his first feature-length film, an adaptation of the
Halo series of video games, produced by Peter Jackson.
Jackson came to know of Blomkamp after viewing a reel of his commercial work and shorts,
shot in his off time.
The four shorts that got him noticed included: Tetra Vaal, a faux advertisement for a third-world
robotic police that established Neill Blomkamp's signature style of mixing lo-fi production
with seamless CGI; Alive in Joburg, a gritty "documentary" about extraterrestrials marooned
in Johannesburg; Tempbot, an Office Space-esque spoof; and Yellow, a short film based on the
colour yellow for Adidas' "Adicolor" campaign by digital studio IDEALOGUE, which portrays
a globe-trotting android gone rogue.
Blomkamp has admitted since that the Halo pre-production was a nightmare, and relations
between 20th Century Fox and Blomkamp severely disintegrated before the project's end.
When funding for the Halo film collapsed, Peter Jackson decided to produce District
9 instead, an adaptation of Blomkamp's earlier short film Alive in Joburg, which had been
produced by Hansen and Copley.
The film, directed by Blomkamp, starring Copley, and co-written with Blomkamp's wife and production
partner Terri Tatchell, was released in mid-August 2009 to widespread critical acclaim.
District 9 was later nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture, along with
nominations for Best Visual Effects, Editing, and Adapted Screenplay.
On October 2010 a video released on the iPad version of Wired Magazine was credited to
Neill Blomkamp.
It shows an amateur recording of two young men who find a dead mutated creature in a
puddle of mud while driving down a countryside road.
The creature, a dog-sized mix between a pig and a lizard, presents a tattooed seal on
its side that reads "18.12 AGM Heartland Pat.
Pend.
USA".
Also, "AGM Heartland" was trademarked for its use in an entertainment-oriented website.
On 20 February 2012, a 23 second video clip titled "IS IT DEAD?"
appeared on YouTube, featuring Yolandi Visser, of the South African group Die Antwoord, crouching
over the creature.
Blomkamp admitted that he was still interested in making a Halo film in April 2013.
After Elysium he started work on his next comedy sci-fi film Chappie, in April 2013.
The film is based on his own short, Tetra Vaal.
Blomkamp will direct the film and Sony Pictures Entertainment and Media Rights Capital will
co-produce and co-finance the film announced on August 13, 2013.
Frequent Collaborators
1) Short film 2) Feature film
Filmography Feature films
District 9 Elysium
Chappie Short films
Tetra Vaal Alive in Joburg
Yellow Tempbot
Halo: Landfall Commercials
Nike – Crab / Evolution Citroën C4 – Alive with technology
Gatorade – Rain Other credits
Stargate SG-1 First Wave
Mercy Point Aftershock: Earthquake in New York
Dark Angel Art of Dying music video - Day Survive
3000 Miles to Graceland Smallville
BV-01 Best Ever Ads 2
Crossing the Line Recognition
2004, First Boards Awards - "One of the top five directors to watch"
2004, Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival - "Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors
Showcase" 2004, Shark Awards
2005, VES awards "Outstanding VFX in a commercial" for Citroen - Alive with technology
2008, Cannes Lions 2008 - Film Lions- Grand Prix - Halo: Combat
2009, Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Director & Satellite Award for Best Adapted
Screenplay - District 9 2009, Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best
Screenplay - District 9 2009, Won - Bradbury Award from the Science
Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America - District 9
2010, Nominated - Academy Award for Writing, Nomination for Academy Award for Best Picture
2009 - District 9 References
External links Neill Blomkamp at the Internet Movie Database
Website for Spy Films productions Neill Blomkamp talking District 9 at FEARnet
Alive in Joburg at www.spyfilms.com Neill Blomkamp interview at AMCtv.com
Neill Blomkamp interview with Comic-Con