Former Lymm High student wins an Emmy – again!

FORMER Lymm High School pupil Jason Arber has won an Emmy – a top American award which recognises excellence in the television industry.
Jason Arber was part of a five-strong team which won the “Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction” award at this year’s News and Documentary Emmy awards.
They created all the animated graphic sequences for the four-part series “Inside North Korea’s Dynasty” for the National Geographic Channel.
It was a ground-breaking documentary series which examined the extraordinary history of the world’s only communist dynasty – the ultimate story of a family’s power, and the relationship of a father, a son and a grandson.
The series provided a look at the Kim dynasty, more complex and comprehensive than ever attempted before, revealing the workings behind the formidable family dynamics at the heart of an extraordinary country.
It was screened in the US and in this country.
Jason did his O-Levels and A-Levels at Lymm High, graduating around 1987.
He credits his art teacher, Colin Grimes, for encouraging him and setting him on the path.
After Lymm, Jason did a one year art foundation course at Northwich before moving to London to study photography, film and video at the University of Westminster
From there, he became a graphic designer, starting his own company and designing record sleeves for Janet Jackson and Oasis among others.
As the internet became more popular, he switched to web design, creating websites for the BBC and MTV.
He said: “After that I joined a bunch of friends to start a moving image company called Wyld Stallyons, where I directed TV commercials and music videos, and directed a short film for Channel 4, called Mr Lincoln the Butcher.
“Currently, I have a new company that I run with my wife, Rina, also a designer, called Phantom Limb. I work with a handful of clients who use me for my design and animation skills.
“It was in this capacity that I came to animate the series for National Geographic.
“They put the graphics forward for a News and Documentary Emmy and we ended up being shortlisted.
“With no idea if we’d win, we all decided to take a punt and head to New York where the ceremony was to be held. That gamble paid off – we won our category.”
It was the second Emmy Jason and the team had won – the first was for the PBS documentary “How We Got to Now” at the 2014-2015 Primetime Emmy Awards held in Los Angeles.
Jason is based in London now, but is a regular visitor to Lymm to see his proud Mum, Jean.