[citation needed] In 1992,[5] Starzak left Aardman to pursue a freelance career during which time he worked in New Zealand as Production Adviser for Oscar and Friends, and wrote and directed 13 episodes of Rex the Runt for BBC2, winning the Carlton Award for International Animation at The Indies in 2000.

[8][11] Following the success of Robbie, Starzak worked for two years on a project for Aardman's feature film department[5][12] as well as directing and writing the second series of Rex the Runt.

[13] From 2003, he directed two series of Creature Comforts – 2x13 episodes for ITV based on the Academy Award-winning Nick Park short film.

[6][8] Aardman's first children's TV series, Shaun the Sheep, was directed by Goleszowski who also wrote several episodes.

[15] In 2015, he co-wrote and co-directed Shaun the Sheep Movie with Mark Burton, for which they both received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.