Biografia
Clay Kaytis made his directorial debut with Rovio Animation and Sony Pictures on The Angry Birds Movie (2016), based on the top-grossing app of all time. The film earned $352 million globally and was Sony's highest-grossing film of 2016. He then directed The Christmas Chronicles (2018), his first live-action feature, starring Kurt Russell, which was streamed over 20 million times in its opening week on Netflix. Kaytis next worked on two animated Peanuts specials for AppleTV+: Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne (2021), which he co-wrote, and the Emmy-nominated Snoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), with Love (2022). His most recent film, A Christmas Story Christmas (2022) on HBO Max, marks his first feature screenwriting credit and reunites the entire child cast from the original 1983 film, 39 years later.
Kaytis honed his filmmaking skills at Walt Disney Animation Studios, beginning as an intern in the Talent Development Program in 1994. He animated on classic hand-drawn films such as Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor's New Groove, and Treasure Planet. In 2004, he transitioned to CG animation, working on Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons, and was soon promoted to Supervising Animator for Rhino the hamster in Bolt. For developing Rhino's CG fat rolls, Kaytis received a U.S. Patent and Disney Inventor Award for his "distance based mesh deformer" invention. As Head of Animation on Tangled, he significantly shaped Disney's culture and artistic standards, raising the bar for CG animation. He also designed and directed the end credit sequences for Wreck-It Ralph, contributed to the Academy Award-winning and record-breaking Frozen, and served as Head of Animation on the short Tangled Ever After. Throughout his Disney career, Kaytis collaborated with animation legends including John Lasseter, Glen Keane, Eric Goldberg, and Ken Duncan. He has directed commercials, including for the film Hop, and the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park ride The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash. Kaytis was an early podcaster, creating The Animation Podcast in 2005, featuring interviews with animation icons that continue to be valued by students, professionals, and fans worldwide. He has received nominations for an Annie Award and two Visual Effects Society Awards. Together with his wife Monica Lago-Kaytis, he runs Frogbot Films, a production company developing and producing live-action and animated films and TV series.
