North animator Paul Kavanagh hopes for Oscar glory

Feb 28 2010 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

THE EYES of the showbiz world will fall on Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre next weekend as the glittering pinnacle of the movie world’s calendar takes place . . . The Oscars.

Award nominees from George Clooney and Jeff Bridges to Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep will parade up the red carpet, acceptance speeches neatly folded in pockets and purses.

North Oscar hopeful Paul Kavanagh will also be there rubbing shoulders with the stars.

And while you may not recognise his name, you’ll certainly know his work.

For the Gateshead-born computer wizard has woven magical wonders on a whole list of fantastical movies including Jurassic Park: The Lost World, all three of the newest Star Wars movies, The Island, two of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Mission Impossible 3, Iron Man, Transformers 1 and 2, three of the Harry Potter movies and Avatar.

Next Sunday, together with two colleagues from leading special effects company Industrial Light and Magic, the Low Fell-born animator is up for the Visual Effects statuette for his work on Star Trek XI.

The dad-of-two, 39, who now lives in California with his wife Meena, has a pretty good idea of what to expect from the glitzy do.

Last Sunday he was at London’s Royal Opera House for the Baftas where he lost out to Avatar in the special effects category.

On a trip back to Low Fell to see parents Peter and Kathleen, Paul told of the excitement surrounding both awards ceremonies.

He said: “We flew in last Thursday and were staying at The Dorchester hotel which is the main Baftas hotel and it was a lot of fun.

“On the Saturday night, Aspreys the jewellers held a cocktail party that everyone went to.