Alan was born and educated in North East Derbyshire. He studied traditional animation at West Surrey College of Art & Design and has worked in all aspects of the animation industry since graduating in 1991.

He spent nine years at Aardman Animations in the UK, during which time he animated and directed numerous high-profile commercial campaigns. In 2007 he was appointed Head Of CGI at Aardman and subsequently became Animation Director on the Aardman/Sony animated CG feature 'Arthur Christmas'.

Between 2016-2018, Alan was co-director on the mini-series production of the Richard Adams' classic 'Watership Down' for BBC/Netflix.

He has won three Royal Television Society awards as well as a BAFTA craft award, and has been nominated for an International Emmy. His 2010 short film 'Fly' picked up several awards, including Best Animated Short at both Rushes Soho Shorts Festival and Newport Beach Film Festival in California.

Alan also writes and develops original shorts and feature-length scripts for animation and live-action productions, and has recently collaborated with both the BFI and the IFB.