Producer, Animator

(b. June 20, 1936 London, England)

Derek Lamb developed his animation skills at the NFB in the late fifties and scored a major success with I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly in 1964. In 1966, he began teaching animation at Harvard University’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, and in 1971 moved to New York with his own production company and worked extensively with PBS and the Children’s Television Workshop.

He returned to the NFB as an executive producer in 1976, and in 1977 he became director of its English animation department. During his five years as director, he produced two Academy Award® winners, Special Delivery (1978) and Every Child (1979), as well as such lauded shorts as The Sweater (1980), Afterlife (1978), Why Me? (1978) and Spinnolio (1977). Lamb’s exceptional talents as a script editor and a teacher inspired animators such as John Weldon, Sheldon Cohen, Ishu Patel and Eugene Fedorenko to produce mature, often challenging work while maintaining a focused narrative line.

Film and video work includes

Julie, Part 1: Basic Mechanics and Tactics, 1958 (co-animator with Neil Shakery)
Hors-d'oeuvre, 1960 (co-director/co-animator with Gerald Potterton, Robert Verrall, Arthur Lipsett, Jeff Hale and Kaj Pindal)
Golden Apples of the Sun, 1973 (actor)
Mr. Frog Went A-Courting, 1974 (music with Karl Duplessis and Andrew Huggett)
Lady Fishbourne's Complete Guide to Better Table Manners, 1976 (co-producer with Wolf Koenig)
Metrix "Wind", 1976 (executive producer)
Fat Freedom, 1977 (producer)
The Hottest Show on Earth, 1977 (co-director with Terence Macartney-Filgate and Wolf Koenig; co-writer with Wolf Koenig, David Suzuki, Don Arioli, Ian Ball and William Weintraub; co-producer with Jeffrey Schon and Wolf Koenig; executive producer)
Language and Canadian Citizenship, 1977 (executive producer)
The Magic Flute, 1977 (producer)
The Pearson Building, 1977 (executive producer)
Spinnolio, 1977 (executive producer)
The Vacant Lot, 1977 (executive producer)
Canada Vignettes: Land Bridge, 1978 (producer)
Canada Vignettes: Newfoundland, 1978 (executive producer)
Canada Vignettes: News Canada, 1978 (producer and executive producer)
Canada Vignettes: Port Royal, 1978 (producer)
Canada Vignettes: The Horse, 1978 (co-executive producer with David Verrall)
Harness the Wind, 1978 (executive producer)
Why Me?, 1978 (co-director with Janet Perlman; co-producer with Janet Perlman)
Canada Vignettes: Alouette, 1979 (co-producer with David Verrall)
Canada Vignettes: Dance, 1979 (executive producer)
Canada Vignettes: Delta Plane, 1979 (executive producer)
Canada Vignettes: Instant French (1979) (executive producer)
Canada Vignettes: Log Driver's Waltz, 1979 (executive producer)
Canada Vignettes: Riverdale Lion, 1979 (executive producer)
Canada Vignettes: The Egg, 1979 (executive producer)
Continuum, 1979 (executive producer)
Interview, 1979 (executive producer)
Laugh Lines: A Profile of Kaj Pindal, 1979 (co-producer with David Verrall)
This Is an Emergency, 1979 (co-director with Terence Macartney-Filgate; executive producer)
This Is Your Museum Speaking, 1979 (executive producer)
What the Hell's Going On Up There?, 1979 (director; producer; executive producer)
Wires And Fuses, Fiprecan series, 1979 (executive producer)
Canada Vignettes: Klondike Gold, 1980 (co-producer with David Verrall)
Car Fires, Fiprecan series, 1980 (executive producer)
The Day Off, 1980 (executive producer)
Fire Exit, Fiprecan series, 1980 (executive producer)
The National Scream, 1980 (executive producer)
Smoke Detectors, Fiprecan series, 1980 (executive producer)
A Sufi Tale, 1980 (executive producer)
Canada Vignettes: Countdown, 1981 (executive producer)
Five Billion Years, 1981 (executive producer)
Kate and Anna McGarrigle, 1981 (editor; producer)
Top Priority, 1981 (executive producer)
Friends of the Family, 1982 (co-writer with Yossi Abolafia; co-producer with Bernard Gérin and David Verrall)
Narcissus, 1983 (co-executive producer with Douglas MacDonald)
The Old Lady's Camping Trip, 1983 (actor; co-writer with Les Drew; music with Ben Low; co-executive producer with Douglas MacDonald)
Journey Through Time: The Human Story, 1983 (producer; co-executive producer with Douglas MacDonald)
Real Inside, 1984 (co-executive producer with Douglas MacDonald)
The Solar House, 1985 (co-executive producer with David Verrall and Douglas MacDonald)
Karate Kids, 1990 (director; writer; producer; sound)
Penguins Behind Bars, 2003 (writer)