Roger Woodburn

Biography

Roger Woodburn (born August 9th, 1936) is an award-winning commercial director and businessman. Shortly after the inception of AP Films, Woodburn joined the company, initially as a puppeteer. After several years, he was offered the role of special effects director but declined; Woodburn wanted to pursue a career in the mainstream industry instead. He left APF in 1961 whilst Supercar (1961-62) was in production. Following his departure from APF, Woodburn made TV commercials in Soho, London, and he was commissioned to make a Lyons Maid ice lolly commercial involving FAB 1, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, and Aloysius Parker. For this, he liaised with puppeteers Christine Glanville and Mary Turner. In 1965, Woodburn co-founded Valley Films along with cinematographer Peter Biziou and the late cinematographer Frank Tidy. Since December 1991, Woodburn has been a director of Jackson Woodburn Controls Limited, a company specialising in camera control equipment. He gave invaluable help with research for Thunderbirds special effects supervisor Derek Meddings' book 21st Century Visions. He was also interviewed for the 2014 documentary Filmed in Supermarionation.