Terry Windell is a film director, working in commercials as well as long-form television, most notably directing several episodes of Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...

and Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...

.

Career

In sixth grade he wrote a paper about becoming a cel animator and soon after high school pursued his dream at Pasadena's Art Center College of Design. There, Windell studied art, illustration, and film and in-between classes began working for Pantomime Pictures, an L.A. based television animation studio. From 1978-1980 he worked as a lay-out, design and storyboard artist at another animation studio, The Pattie Frieling Company, followed by similar gigs at Hanna-Barbara and Filmation. While creating storyboards for cartoons such as The Pink Panther and Spider-Man, Windell began laying the foundation for his future career. In the exacting world of cel animation, he honed his skills that continue to serve him today: composition, continuity, editing, expression, and most of all, how to design shots to tell a story.

While working on Heavy Metal

Heavy Metal (film)

Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian fantasy-animated film directed by Gerald Potterton and produced by Ivan Reitman and Leonard Mogel, who also was the publisher of Heavy Metal magazine....

, Terry caught the attention of Industrial Light & Magic. He soon moved to the renowned effects house and began work as an effects animator on both Poltergiest

Poltergeist (film series)

The Poltergeist movies are a trilogy of American horror films distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the 1980s. The films revolve around the members of the Freeling family, who are stalked and terrorized by a group of ancient ghosts that are attracted to the youngest daughter, Carol Anne. The...

and E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial. While there, Terry worked under the wing of Richard Edlund

Richard Edlund

Richard Edlund, A.S.C. is a multi-Academy Award-winning US special effects cinematographer.Edlund was born in Fargo, North Dakota. After first joining the Navy, he developed an interest in experimental film and attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts in the late 60s...

 who placed him on the effects teams for Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...

. He also served as effects animator for Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...

.

When Edlund left to create Boss Films

Boss Film Studios

Boss Film Studios is a visual effects company, founded by visual effects veteran Richard Edlund after his departure from Industrial Light and Magic, producing visual effects for over thirty films from 1983 to 1997...

, Windell followed. It was in this time Terry began to set his sights on live-action directing. In 1989, he debuted with a four spot campaign for DHL. The impressive effects laden spots garnered numerous honors including a Silver Clio and a New York Film Festival award in the Best Campaign category. Terry went on to direct several other Clio winning campaigns while at Boss. When the company closed its commercial production division, Windell made the move to A Band Apart

A Band Apart

A Band Apart Films was a production company created by Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender, which was active from 1991 to about 2006. Its name is a play on the French New Wave classic, Bande à part by filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, whose work was highly influential on the work of the company's members...

.

Windell has directed numerous Clio, Addy and Mobius award-winning spots for Geo Prism, Dodge, United Airlines, and a 14-spot Bud Bowl package.

External links

• IMDB