Adam Elliot

Adam Elliot is an Oscar Award winning independent stop-motion animation writer and director. He has become one of the world’s most celebrated animators with films including Uncle, Cousin, Brother, Harvie Krumpet and Max and Mary.

Adam is also one of Australia’s funniest and most refreshing speakers and after dinner raconteurs. Groups he has entertained with his classic underdog tale range from tiny private audiences through to the giants at Google and Apple. Always amusing, ever inspiring, Adam often receives applause throughout his talks and leaves audiences thoroughly exhausted.

Far from an overnight success, Adam spent years animating blobs of plasticine in a run-down storage unit in searing summer heat and freezing Melbourne winters. Despite running out of money, being dumped by his partner, moving home with his parents, and ending up on the dole, he was determined to finish Harvie Krumpet no matter what the odds.

In 2003 Harvie Krumpet, narrated by Geoffrey Rush, won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, eclipsing the work of the Disney, Pixar and Fox studios. The Annecy International Animation Festival included Harvie Krumpet as one of the top 100 animated films of all time. In 2009, Max and Mary won numerous Australian and international film awards. It was the official selection opening night film for Robert Redford’s 2009 Sundance Film Festival – the first Australian and first animated film to be selected.

Adam attends every speaking event with his Oscar and, accompanied by a dazzling slide presentation, gives a blow by blow account of his Oscar experience in Hollywood and how he took on the giants at Disney, Pixar and Fox to win his Academy Award.

He also talks about his life post-Oscar and the many films he’s made with some of the world’s leading actors including Geoffrey Rush, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, Toni Collette, and Barry Humphries. Viewed by millions of people around the world, his six films have participated in over eight hundred film festivals and won over 100 awards. In 1999 he was the Young Achiever of the Year for Victoria and is a voting member for the Annual Academy Awards.

He was declared a Melbourne Icon by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, and he has a feature film due for release in 2020.

Speaker Topics:

A naturally gifted, engaging and entertaining communicator, Adams tailored presentations cover the following key areas:

• Overcoming the odds with self motivation, self esteem, self belief.
• Emphasising the famous quote, That Life is not a Dress Rehearsal.
• The power and importance of storytelling in our culture, businesses and community.
• The power and importance of being unique and thinking differently.
• The importance of teamwork, having great employees and support.
• Realising and seizing opportunities.
• The beauty and benefit of being Australian and why to choose to stay in Australia.
• Fulfilment, job satisfaction, and finding happiness in the simple things.