A former Liverpool student went to bed early and missed seeing himself winning an Oscar.
Mark Thompson, from Southport, was part of the team of animators who worked alongside acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro on his latest film, Pinocchio. Last night the movie was named best animated feature at the Academy Awards.
But the dad of one, who studied graphic design at Liverpool John Moore's University, is working on other projects and couldn't afford to stay up to watch the win live on TV.
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Mark, 50, said: "I've always loved making things, little models and that sort of things. I chose John Moores because it suited what I wanted to do most, which was animation. So I guess that is where my journey started, then when I finished uni in 1991 I ended up working for Cosgrove Hall Films for a few years. Then two of my colleagues formed MacKinnon and Saunders and I went to work for them."
Mark has worked on dozens of movies in his role as a model maker at MacKinnon and Saunders - including Tim Burton's Mars Attacks and Corpse Bride. However, it is Guillermo del Toro's latest film, Pinocchio, that has been grabbing the headlines recently. MacKinnon and Saunders collaborated with the all-star cast to make the miniature stars of the Netflix stop-motion animation.
During production, del Toro reportedly visited the studio to get a look into some of the work that goes into to the animation models. Mark described the creation of the models as a sort of production line, with each person having a specialty. He explained: "There will be someone who creates a sort of skeleton inside, then it will be passed onto me and my job is casting the model, then it will move on to the next."
Pinocchio had already enjoyed success at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes, before clinching the Best Animated Film Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards. Despite feeling "elated" at the news, model maker Mark said he sadly couldn't stay up to watch the awards on TV.
Mark told the ECHO: "It was really emotional, knowing my bosses and all the effort the team has put in, it was nice to know that we have got the recognition. Obviously there's a sense of elation but there was just a sense of satisfaction as well, the fact that our name got read out on stage, normally the credit all goes to the Americans.
"The awards were on from midnight to around 3am but I have more deadlines to deal with today so I couldn't afford to be up that late. Some of my friends and colleagues stayed up to watch it, and they're not at work today, but it was definitely a lovely moment."
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