Jamie Anderson
VCON 41 Supermarionation Guest of Honor
Jamie Anderson is the younger son of the late Gerry Anderson – the man behind cult TV shows like Fireball XL5, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Space: 1999, and of course Thunderbirds.
Jamie had always wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps since an early age – spending huge amounts of time with Gerry at Pinewood Studios and Cosgrove Hall in Manchester when he was growing up.
Now, as managing director of Anderson Entertainment, Jamie is the man tasked with keeping the Gerry Anderson legacy alive, in part by developing Gerry’s unfinished literary, film, and television projects.For example, Jamie was the driving force behind Anderson Entertainment’s highly successful Kickstarter campaign – which raised funds to complete and publish Gerry’s final novel Gemini Force One. The campaign caught the attention of top International publisher Orion books, who went on to sign a three-book global publishing deal for the series.He also directed, and wrote/co-wrote a number of episodes, for an audio series for Terrahawks, based on the original Gerry Anderson TV show which Jamie is on record as stating is his favourite of all his dad’s work. “So many elements of that show were really great! The concept was fun, the Zeroids and Cubes were just brilliant, and the mix of scifi and comedy really developed well in the later episodes.”
Most spectacular of all, Jamie is the creative force developing a pilot for his proposed TV series Firestorm, an ultramarionation series—utilizing puppets directed by rods rather than strings—based on original concepts by his father. A version of this was done as an anime series—combining CGI with Cel animation—in Japan a while back, but the new series will be a wonderful throwback to the era of actual puppets, fantastically detailed miniatures, and in-house special effects including on-set explosions.
The Firestorm premise involves Storm Force, a specialized task force equipped with ultra-cool vehicles, dedicated to defeating the nefarious terrorist organization Black Orchid. A host of highly experienced professionals are involved in bringing this project to life, including VCON’s Film Design GoH Eric Chu (Battlestar Galactica, Space Command, Beetlejuice), Effects Supervisor Steve Begg (Skyfall, Casino Royale, Tomb Raider), Model Effects Artist Mike Tucker (Doctor Who, Red Dwarf), Puppet Masters Mackinnon & Saunders (Bob the Builder, Corpse Bride, Fantastic Mr. Fox), and Miniature Set Constructor Andy Rolfe (Wolfman, Casino Royale, Skyfall). A veritable galaxy of talent for what will undoubtedly be a fantastic TV series!
In addition to all of the above, Jamie is a life-long Doctor Who fan. As such he has directed, produced, and written a number of Doctor Who audio books for Big Finish, including Come Die with Me, part of the You are the Doctor and Other Stories anthology.
Does Jamie have a favourite episode in the immortal Doctor Who TV series? Of course! “My favourite story without question is Genesis of the Daleks … that amazing philosophical moment ‘Do I have the right?’ where Tom Baker hesitates over destroying the embryonic Daleks will stay with me forever …”
Jamie Anderson is a multi-talented, multi-faceted visionary and imaginative creator of wonderfully entertaining SF works. VCON is extremely lucky to have him as our Supermarionation Guest of Honour (and, by way of a bonus, as a Doctor Who GoH). Join us in celebrating his continuing efforts to preserve and enhance his father’s legacy.