Dave McKean Biography

Date of Birth: December 29, 1963

An award-winning comic book illustrator, Dave McKean was born in Berkshire, England. Some of his comics include Arkham Asylum, Signal to Noise and Mr. Punch.

After 10 years of doing still imagery, comics and illustration, McKean felt like he needed a change, so he wound up making short films, including N[eon] (2002), which won the Grand Prix in the Digital Competition division of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

He became involved in his first feature length film, the live-action/CG animated MirrorMask (2005), upon the request of The Henson Company. They contacted McKean and longtime collaborator Neil Gaiman to come up with a family friendly film on a budget of $4 million. Together they created the story at the Henson family home in London, surrounded by Jim Henson's memorabilia and artifacts. Gaiman then wrote the screenplay, while McKean directed the film.

McKean, who lives in England, has also illustrated children's books, CDs for artists such as Tori Amos, Counting Crows and Alice Cooper and created ad campaigns for companies such as Nike and Smirnoff.

Filmography:

MirrorMask (2005)