Isaiah Saxon

Isaiah Saxon (born 1983)[1] is an American film and music video director. He co-founded the animation studio Encyclopedia Pictura, and the online community DIY.org.

Isaiah Saxon
Born1983 (age 36–37)
Aptos, CA
NationalityAmerican
Alma materAcademy of Art University
OccupationFilm director
Co-founder, Encyclopedia Pictura
Co-founder, DIY.org
Years active2003–present
Websiteisaiahsaxon.com

Early life and education

Saxon was born and raised in Aptos, California.[2] He majored in film directing at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.[1]

Career

Encyclopedia Pictura

Saxon and Sean Hellfritsch founded Encyclopedia Pictura as a directing duo in 2004, before expanding into a trio when Daren Rabinovitch joined in 2007,[1] and ultimately transforming into an animation studio.[3] Through Encyclopedia Pictura, Saxon has directed music videos, short films and commercials.[2] The studio is known for creating ambitious music videos and short films with an organic, handmade quality.[4]

In 2007, Saxon and Hellfritsch directed the music video for the Grizzly Bear single "Knife".[4] The video was filmed in Death Valley, CA and Brooklyn, NY. Their first major video,[3] it was listed at #26 on Pitchfork's list of the top 50 music videos of the 2000s.[5]

Following the "Knife" video, Saxon got a call from Björk, asking Encyclopedia Pictura to direct a music video for her single "Wanderlust". Their concept was inspired by the work of Hayao Miyazaki, Stanley Kubrick, and Walt Disney's work from the 1930s.[3] The video was shot at Matthew Barney's studio in New York City,[3] in stereoscopic 3-D using a 3-D camera rig they designed and built.[1] Combining handmade puppetry, scale modeling, CGI and live action,[1] it took over nine months to complete.[6] The "Wanderlust" video premiered at the Deitch Projects gallery in Long Island City, Queens,[6] and was shown in 3-D at Saatchi & Saatchi's 2008 New Directors Showcase.[7] It won three D&AD Yellow Pencil awards[8] and the UK Music Video Award for Video of the Year.[9] Spin magazine named it the best music video of 2008,[10] and Pitchfork ranked it #21 on its list of the top 50 music videos of the 2000s.[5]

Saxon directed the animated music video for the Panda Bear song "Boys Latin", which premiered on Adult Swim in 2015.[11] It was nominated for the UK Music Video Award for Best Animation in a Video.[12]

DIY.org

In 2011, Saxon began developing a feature film titled DIY, about a group of kids that rebuild their town after a flood.[2][13] The following year, Saxon, Zach Klein, Andrew Sliwinski and Daren Rabinovitch founded DIY.org, an online educational community for kids, with a storefront in San Francisco. Saxon served as chief creative officer from the company's founding in 2012 through 2014.[13][14] He creates the skill patches that are sent out to community members.[15][16]

Trout Gulch

Starting in 2008, Saxon, Hellfritsch and Rabinovitch transformed 10 acres in the wooded hills in Aptos, California, into Trout Gulch, a community where they built their own houses, farmed, and produced digital animation. The intent was to blend technology with nature.[1][2][17] At its peak, 18 people lived at Trout Gulch.[18]

Honors and awards
  • Named one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker magazine, 2008[4]
  • D&AD Yellow Pencil for Best Music Video, Music Video Art Direction and Music Video Special Effects ("Wanderlust"), 2009[8]
  • Named one of 25 "Best and Brightest" by Esquire magazine, 2009[19]
  • UK Music Video Awards Video of the Year (for "Wanderlust"), 2008[9]
  • #1 on Spin magazine's 20 Best Music Videos of 2008 (for "Wanderlust")[10]
  • #21, Pitchfork's Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s (for "Wanderlust")[5]
  • #26, Pitchfork's Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s (for "Knife")[5]
  • Nominee, UK Music Video Awards Best Animation in a Video (for "Boys Latin"), 2015[12]

Filmography

Music videos
Year Song Artist Role
2005 "Soo Tall" Zion I Director
2006 "Haven't Been Yourself" Seventeen Evergreen Co-director
2007 "Knife" Grizzly Bear Co-director
2008 "Wanderlust" Björk Co-director
2015 "Boys Latin" Panda Bear Co-director

Short films
Year Film Role Notes
2005 Grow Director
Micro/Macro Director
2008 How Will You Create the Universe? Co-director Trailer for Spore video game[20]
2010 The Internet Co-director Soundtrack by Dan Deacon[20]
2013 Jay Nelson: Fort Builder Director
2016 The Tale of Hillbelly Co-director
gollark: People are going to *use computers*, which is why I think we should have teaching on stuff like solving random problems instead.
gollark: *Reading manuals.*
gollark: I think it would be much more useful to actually teach basic computer use. How to solve basic problems (application of the search engine). What all the various cables are for. Basic computer maintenence.
gollark: They also gave people custom hardware (micro:bits), which probably isn't great either since people won't realize you can just do programming stuff on a regular home computer or laptop to automate annoying tasks and whatnot.
gollark: But then they only get taught random details about some car components, and then build cars out of paper.

References
  1. Mike Sager, "These Are the Directors of the Future," Esquire, November 19, 2009.
  2. Jon Kalish, "Making Cutting-Edge Animation On A DIY Homestead," NPR, July 16, 2011.
  3. Jenna Wortham, "The Making of Bjork's 3-D 'Wanderlust' Video," Wired, April 21, 2008.
  4. "25 New Faces of Independent Film," Filmmaker, Summer 2008.
  5. Scott Plagenhoef, "The Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s," Pitchfork, August 30, 2009.
  6. Melena Ryzik, "Bjork in 3-D: The 'Wanderlust' Video," New York Times, April 1, 2008.
  7. Ann-Christine Diaz, "Saatchi Remembers Arden, Toasts Fearlessness," Advertising Age, June 19, 2008.
  8. "Wanderlust," dandad.org, 2009.
  9. 2008 winners, ukmva.com, 2008.
  10. Abigail Everdell, "The 20 Best Music Videos of 2008," Spin, December 15, 2008.
  11. Daniel Kreps, "Panda Bear Shares Trippy 'Boys Latin' Animated Video," Rolling Stone, December 15, 2014.
  12. "UK Music Video Awards 2015: here are the nomination…" Promo News, September 30, 2015.
  13. Nick Bilton, "Disruptions: A Beacon to Silicon Valley, From a Start-Up for Children," New York Times, May 20, 2012.
  14. Ashlee Vance, "DIY.org: Be Prepared for 21st Century Scouting," Bloomberg Businessweek, July 11, 2013.
  15. Jennifer Champagne, "Isaiah Saxon Creates Awesome New Merit Badges for Kids," Paste, March 3, 2015.
  16. E.D.W. Lynch, "Adorably Nerdy Merit Badges for Kids," Laughing Squid, February 25, 2015.
  17. Chris McDonnell, "Artist of the Day: Encyclopedia Pictura," Cartoon Brew, April 17, 2013.
  18. "Make: Talk 018 – An interview with Isaiah Saxon of DIY.org," Make: Talk, November 20, 2012.
  19. "2009's Top 23 Radicals and Rebels Who Are Changing the World". Esquire. 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  20. Liv Siddall, "Pictura's Best Pictures: Encyclopedia Pictura talk us through some of their best cinematic works," It's Nice That, Spring 2015.
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