The industry lost another veteran at the end of July. Paul Harris, 77, began his career as a sound editor at Crawley Films in Ottawa, before branching out into animation with posts at Atkinson Film Arts and Lacewood Productions, both of Ottawa.

Harris worked on a number of noteworthy projects in the course of his career, including the 1975 Academy Award-winning doc The Man Who Skied Down Everest, and the 1974 doc Janis, a film about legendary rock singer Janis Joplin, of which Harris is said to have been especially proud. Harris was in the final stages of an autobiography when he died, the publication of which should occur in early 2010.

Harris was well known in the industry for his mentoring of up-and-coming talent. ‘I worked with Paul for about 15 years,’ recalls Lee Williams, producer/director at Ottawa’s Boomstone Entertainment. ‘I couldn’t have got through some of the animated series and specials without Paul’s guidance. He walked me through post during my first years as an animation director and taught me how to sit back and hear the tracks. How to marry the picture and sound and which instruments were necessary to convey the story. He became a good friend too.’