Irish colourist Aidan Farrell is to receive a BAFTA special award at the organisation’s Craft Awards in London next month. Dublin-born Farrell – who has worked as a colourist on acclaimed television shows such as ‘Downton Abbey’, ‘The Shadow Line’ and Irish director John Crowley’s ‘Boy A’ – will be honoured by BAFTA on May 13 for his “outstanding creative contribution to the industry and his extensive work and accomplishments in this field.”
Speaking about the award, Farrell, who co-founded The Farm post-production company in London in 1998, told IFTN: “I was really taken aback when BAFTA contacted me and really delighted by this honour. To have BAFTA recognize the craft that I’ve done, and the work that colourists do is fantastic. You know, the biggest compliment you can get is to have your style recognized and it really is an honour when people recognize your style and know your work solely by its look.”
He added: “I have been lucky enough to work on some fantastic programmes over the years and have worked with the best directors and creatives in the business. I hope that any legacy of my work will be the fact that British television is now the most beautiful and stylish in the world!”
Having studied at Ballyfermot College of Further Education and DIT College of Marketing and Design, Farrell’s career began in Ireland during the late 1980s, working under animator Don Bluth at the Disney veteran’s Dublin studios.
Farrell worked for Bluth as an animation camera operator on 1988’s ‘The Land Before Time’; 1989’s ‘All Dogs Go To Heaven’ and 1991’s ‘Rock-A-Doodle’ before he left the company to work as a colourist with Windmill Lane Pictures. He then moved to London in the mid-1990s beginning his career there working on a host of commercials and music promos for artists such as Oasis, Blur and Suede.
His other credits include ‘The Human Body’, ‘The Planets’ and ‘Wallander’, starring Irish actor Kenneth Branagh. He has previously been nominated for a BAFTA for 2003’s ‘George Orwell – A Life in Pictures’, and has also won an Emmy and three RTS awards.
The British Academy Television Craft Awards will be take place on Sunday, May 13.
