Rick Thiele is an award-winning animation director working with Partizan across the US, UK, and France. He co-founded Red Knuckles, an independent animation studio recognized at Cannes, Annecy, and ADC Awards. His career spans 15+ years progressing from CG artist and supervisor roles at The Mill and Passion Pictures to full-time directing. Thiele often directs as the partnership "Rick & Mario" with Mario Ucci. In 2016, the duo won the Cannes Lions Grand Prix and Gold Lion in Health & Wellness plus a D&AD Wood Pencil for Pearson's Project Literacy campaign via FCB Inferno. His commercial portfolio includes Old Speckled Hen (traditional 2D animation featuring Henry the Fox mascot), Peperami (brand mascot revival), VOXI, Pilgrims Choice, Old Spice, Dubai Tourism, Miral, and ESB. Thiele's most significant recent achievement is directing animation for The Velveteen Rabbit (2023), a 40-minute Apple TV short film produced by Magic Light Pictures, which earned two Emmy Awards and a BAFTA Children's Craft Award. His technical expertise spans 3D, 2D, stop-motion, XSI, Nuke, lighting, compositing, and motion graphics developed through supervisory roles at leading VFX houses.