Voltaire is a director/animator specializing in stop-motion animation. Inspired by the films of Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts,The 7th Voyage of Sinbad), Voltaire began animating at the age of 10 on a Super 8mm camera. At that time, he says, "no three-dimensional object was safe. My brother's action figures, my sister's dolls, silverware, etc...If it was missing, chances were that it was in the basement in front of my camera."
Eventually, piecing together snippets of information from fanzines, he was able to teach himself how to make foam-rubber animation models and animate them with fluidity and realism. The films of his childhood landed him his first job, animating a commercial for Parker Brothers at age 17. Voltaire spent the next four years animating non-stop and around the clock for a host of New York production companies. During that period he made chairs dance for IKEA, trees sing for Kellogg's, pretzels do the limbo for Chex Snack Mix and beer bottles play football in the famous Budbowl commercials for Budweiser. However, it was his first directing job in 1988 that really put him on the map. That project was the classic MTV ID called MTV-Bosch. The stop-motion tour of the hellish Garden of Earthly Delights went on to win several awards including a Broadcast Design Award and helped to establish Voltaire's style of animation. His strange stew of huggably Gothic spookiness, Baroque lushness and whimsical surrealism has been seen in a score of television commercials and station IDs for such clients as British Nights, Crunch Fitness, Cartoon Network, MTV and the SCI FI Channel. Recently Voltaire created a series of 10 stop-motion IDs for USA Network.
In 1997, Voltaire aligned himself with Circus Maximus, a cutting-edge, East Village-based production company in New York, where he was able to make the jump to live action filmmaking. In a series of five hysterical spots he wrote and directed for College Television Network, Voltaire proved that his abilities went beyond manipulating little rubber dolls. In the series, a hopelessly nerdy college student gives a wonderfully comedic performance as he tries desperately to fit in with ravers, dominatrixes, tattooed freaks, homeboys and a host of other Gen X characters. Says Voltaire, "I was so thrilled to be given a chance to shoot live action that I was going to take it all the way. I love writing comedy and I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to shoot dialogue, so I created this scenario where you have a clueless geek trying to be cool. It's so ripe a situation for wonderfully ridiculous humor that it practically
directed itself. Most of those tattooed freaks and transvestites were friends of mine, so we had a blast. We laughed for three days straight!"
Voltaire is now represented as a commercial director by Class Key Chew Po Commercials in Hollywood, California.
Comics
In 1998 Voltaire made his debut in the world of comic books. "I had been directing spots for about 14 years and as much as I loved doing that, after years of representing other people's products, I felt it was time to tell my own story. I was also really interested in creating my own intellectual property, so one day I just sat down in a cafe in New York and started drawing the first Chi-Chian comic book." Voltaire sent a copy of the first issue to Sirius Entertainment. Intrigued with the unusual look of the book, they commissioned him to create a six-issue series. Also inspired by the sensual and unique look of the character, a Japanese toy company called Fewture Models picked up the license to create a cold-cast porcelain statue of the Chi-Chian character. "They did an amazing job!" says Voltaire. "The sculpting of the figure is really gorgeous."
These days, Voltaire writes and draws a new comic-book series called Oh My Goth, a satire of the Gothic music scene that revolves around a pompous extraterrestrial named Heironymous Poshe (who bears and uncanny resemblance to Voltaire himself). The book has steadily built a large, loyal following and is a favorite with the black-clad, pasty-faced crowd.
The book, which is written for any lover of funny sci-fi/horror, is filled with all sorts of Goth inside jokes for the core readers to enjoy. Voltaire knows something of the Goth music scene. He has a band (called, simply enough, Voltaire) that is well known in the Goth scene. He has released two CD with the popular Goth label Projekt Records.
Voltaire drinks several gallons of coffee a day.
For more information on the animation, comics and music of Voltaire visit his website at www.voltaire.net
