André Des Rochers is an international filmmaker and actor specializing in stop-motion animation. He has written and directed over a dozen award-winning short films, including Where You Were (2017)
A lifetime love of drawing and making things began in Canada. André Des Rochers has an outstanding story. His first foray into film was a super eight camera his parents gave him when he started high school. When he graduated from Queen’s University with English and European Studies degrees, he headed to Paris to study at the Sorbonne.
Still, he soon dropped out when his drawings became more interesting than the coursework. On his return to Canada, he looked at the National Film Board of Canada’s animation program (NFB) and continued to work as a storyboard artist on film and television projects. After moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1990s, André Des Rochers was struck by the wealth of talented non-actors that populated the city’s creative sector.
He also directed a short film: Who Gets the Cheeseburger? In 2000 he moved back to Toronto, where he studied acting at Ryerson University, now known as Ryerson University’s Film School. André Des Rochers has studied acting with the legendary Sanford Meisner, a teacher of working and acting coach to many notable actors.
He currently hosts a weekly acting workshop at Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel, an acting studio, and theater located on the second floor of a Victorian building in downtown Toronto. André Des Rochers continues to work as an actor in feature films, television shows, and commercials, but his passion is still for animation. He often works with other animators, actors, and directors to create stop-motion films of his designs.