Kerry Conran

Born: 1967
Where: Flint, Michegan, USA

The writer and director first attracted attention for his debut feature, the retro sci-fi thriller Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

The movie, starring Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, took 10 years to bring to the screen and exclusively shoots the stars against a blue screen.

After high school, Conran moved to Los Angeles to attend the CalArts live-action film-making programme.

However, his imagination was captured by the animators on the course and he went on to make the student film That Darn Bear.

Supporting himself with various custom software and tech-support jobs, he holed up in his apartment and worked on his movie making skills.

By 1994 he had begun putting together The World of Tomorrow (the name was taken from the 1939 World Fair).

A producer friend of his brother's wife mentioned the project to studio boss Jon Avnet, who got Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow on board.