Mark Osborne
Director, Netflix
Mark Osborne is a a two-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a recipient of the Chevalier of l’Order des Arts et Letters for his cultural work on behalf of the country of France. He most recently directed and the first-ever animated feature film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved classic, “The Little Prince.” Mixing stop-motion animation and CGI, the film features an impressive cast of voice talents led by Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, and Mackenzie Foy.
Premiering Out of Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, “The Little Prince” grossed over $100 million dollars at the global box office and garnered remarkable worldwide acclaim, capped by the 2016 French Cesar Film Award for Best Animated Feature, a Children’s BAFTA Award for Best Feature Film of 2016 and an impressive “Rotten Tomato” rating of 94%. Osborne’s breakout was DreamWorks’ critically acclaimed animated blockbuster, “Kung Fu Panda,” which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. Osborne’s other credits include the stop-motion animation short film, “MORE,” which received an Academy Award-nomination for Best Animated Short Film in 1999, a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and dozens of others distinctions. Osborne has also worked in live-action, directing sequences for the first “SpongeBob Squarepants Movie,” as well as live-action sequences in the first three seasons of the popular TV series. Mark graduated from California Institute of the Arts with a degree in Experimental Animation, previous to that he attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY where he met his wife Kimb who incidentally gave him his first ever copy of “The Little Prince” back when they were just dating. They now have two children, Maddie, who inspired the main character of his adaptation, and Riley, who voiced the titular character in the movie at age 11.
Mark is currently living just outside NYC, working on two animated feature film projects for Netflix Original Animation.