Cal Brunker

Cal Brunker
Cal Brunker
Born	Callan Stuart Brunker; November 16, 1978 (age 45); Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Occupations	Animator; storyboard artist; screenwriter; film director;
Years active	2002–present

Callan Stuart "Cal" Brunker (born November 16, 1978) is a Canadian animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for directing The Weinstein Company's animated film Escape from Planet Earth (2013), The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (2017), Nickelodeon's Paw Patrol: The Movie (2021) and Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023), all of which he co-wrote with his business partner Bob Barlen.

Career

Cal Brunker has frequently collaborated with his partner Bob Barlen since 2009's Ollie & the Baked Halibut, who has later written films alongside since. Before his directorial debut in Ninjamaica and then 2013's Escape from Planet Earth, Brunker has worked as a storyboard artist and an animator on films such as Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Horton Hears a Who!, and Despicable Me.^[1] He directed films such as Escape from Planet Earth and The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature. Brunker and Barlen have written screenplays for Arctic Dogs, Cranston Academy: Monster Zone, and The Son of Bigfoot in which they co-executive produced.^[1]

He also directed the film Paw Patrol: The Movie, a feature film adaptation of the Nick Jr. Channel's Paw Patrol animated series. Serving as the director and co-writer and once more collaborating with Barlen alongside Billy Frolick, it was produced by Spin Master and Nickelodeon Movies, and released by Paramount Pictures in August 2021.^[2]^[3]

Year	Title	Role
2003	Looney Tunes: Back in Action	Clean-up in-between artist
2005	Kronk's New Groove	Animator Direct-to-video
2008	Horton Hears a Who!	Storyboard artist
2009	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
	9
	Ollie and the Baked Halibut	Animator Short film
2010	Jonah Hex	Pre-visualization
2010	Despicable Me	Storyboard artist
2012	Ice Age: Continental Drift	Additional storyboard artist
2013	Escape from Planet Earth	Director Writer (with Bob Barlen)
2015	Minions	Additional storyboard artist
2016	Ratchet & Clank	Storyboard artist Designer
2016	The Secret Life of Pets	Storyboard artist
2017	The Son of Bigfoot	Writer & co-executive producers (with Bob Barlen)
2017	The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature	Director Writer (with Bob Barlen and Scott Bindley) Voice of Charming Chipmunk
2019	The Puppet Master	Director Writer (with Bob Barlen) Short film
2019	Arctic Dogs	Writer (with Bob Barlen, Matt Lyon, Aaron Woodley, and Bryan Thompson)
2020	Cranston Academy: Monster Zone	Writer (with Bob Barlen)
2020	Bigfoot Family	Writer (with Bob Barlen) Executive producers
2021	Paw Patrol: The Movie	Director Writer (with Bob Barlen and Billy Frolick)
2023	Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie	Director Writer (with Bob Barlen)

Year	Title	Role
2005	Cyberchase	Designer
2009	Ninjamaica	Director Storyboard artist Television film Directional debut
2009–2010	Spliced	Storyboard artist

^ ^a ^b "About Cal & Bob". Cal & Bob. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
^ Grater, Tom (November 1, 2019). "Jamie Bell, Ruby Rose To Voice Animation 'Cranston Academy: Monster Zone' For DDI – AFM". Deadline. Deadline. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
^ Galuppo, Mia (February 21, 2020). "'PAW Patrol' Feature Coming From Paramount, Spin Master". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media, LLC. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.