Galen Fott

Galen Sander Fott, born September 9, 1963, in Clarksville, Tennessee, is an American actor, director, animator, and writer. The son of Mary Ready (Gilreath) Fott and Solie Isaac Fott, he grew up in Clarksville and attended Clarksville High School. Early exposure to The Muppets on Sesame Street drew him toward the performing arts. He went on to earn a BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Memphis in 1985.

Following graduation, Fott pursued a career in theatre with companies throughout the United States. In 1990 he joined Actors' Equity Association, and that same year appeared on Broadway in Mame. He also toured the US and Canada in the national tour of that production, which starred Juliet Prowse. In 1991, Fott originated the role of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast: Live On Stage at Walt Disney World. Since relocating to Nashville in 2004, he has taken on leading roles with Nashville Repertory Theatre, Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Nashville Opera, and Nashville Children's Theatre, among other local presenters.

Fott's work as a performer has extended into puppetry. He has worked for the Jim Henson Company, performing background characters in Sesame Street-related video projects and making live international appearances as Bear in the Big Blue House and the Coca-Cola Polar Bear. He has also puppeteered with Wishing Chair Productions, the resident puppet troupe of Nashville Public Library. In 2014, he appeared in an episode of the television series Nashville, playing the Group Leader at an AA meeting.

In 2002, Fott moved to Vancouver to study animation at VanArts, and upon completing his training he returned to the US and founded Bigfott Studios in 2004. Since then he has adapted, directed, and animated more than two dozen children's books for video with Weston Woods Studios, working across both 2D computer techniques and hand-drawn animation. His animated short Roberto the Insect Architect, co-directed with Jerry Hunt in 2005 and voiced by Sean Hayes, earned a nomination for the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, won Best Short Film at the KIDS FIRST! Film and Video Festival, and screened at venues including the BFI London Film Festival, the Guggenheim Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. It was also the first of eleven of Fott's films to be designated a Notable Children's Video by the Association for Library Service to Children.

Subsequent films brought additional recognition. Max's Words, co-directed with Hunt in 2007 and voiced by T.R. Knight, won the Platinum Award at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. Fott adapted three books by Kate and Jim McMullan — I'm Dirty! (2008), I'm Fast! (2012), and I'm Brave! (2015) — voiced by Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci, and Jonathan Banks, respectively. For All the World (2011), Joanne Woodward provided narration, and Fott led a team of twelve animators working in pencil on paper; Poco band members Rusty Young and Jack Sundrud composed the score. His 2013 adaptation of Jon Klassen's I Want My Hat Back screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and won second prize for Best Animated Short Film in the Children's Jury of the Chicago International Children's Film Festival. Du Iz Tak? (2018), adapted from Carson Ellis' Caldecott-honored book, screened at international festivals across France, Amsterdam, Italy, Portugal, and Berlin, and received the Special Jury Remi Award for Best Animated Short at Worldfest-Houston in 2021. Fott's films have collectively earned twelve Remi Awards at WorldFest-Houston and four Golden Gate Award nominations in San Francisco.

Beyond his short films, Fott created animated scenic projections for live theatre, including productions at Dollywood, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and Nashville Children's Theatre. His deconstruction of Fred Astaire's ceiling dance from Royal Wedding, titled Astaire Unwound, was featured in the Comédies Musicales exhibition at the Philharmonie de Paris. Fott has also co-authored eight books on digital imaging with Photoshop expert Deke McClelland, including two editions of the Photoshop Bible and three volumes in the For Dummies series, and served as a contributing editor to PC Magazine and a reviewer of graphics software for Macworld. He lives in Nashville with his wife Laura and son Burton.