LIAF presents the 2020 UK Animation Industry Event – four panels giving insider access to some of the hottest topics of the year. We’ve gathered together some of the most passionate, honest and insightful experts from a wide range of different areas and backgrounds who are ready to cover all manner of vital topics to give you much food for thought.
Animation doesn’t stand still; and debates and discussions with animators and creative experts are the best way to get in touch with what’s happening, whether it’s how online animation courses are booming and changing the landscape of the way we teach, the current state of the TV commercial industry, how animation can be used to enhance outdoor events such as projection mapping, public concerts and VJ-ing, and several of the world’s most inspiring filmmakers and animators talking about the sequence of animation that changed them forever.
For anyone currently working in the film and animation industry, thinking of working in the industry or just plain curious, these four talks are indispensable.
The panels will be chaired by Saint John Walker, Deputy Dean/Director at Escape Studios.
With Special Thanks to the Arts Council England
Long before COVID, online animation training courses were booming. But is there a real choice of how to learn the art remotely, or is it all bouncing balls and facial gesture exercises? Does it rely on having an expensive kit at home? And what’s it like learning on a course at your own pace as opposed to attending a physical class? We got together (virtually) some of the various online schools and animation tutors to tell us about what they offer and how they might compete with (or complement) physical animation courses!
Recommended age 15+
Chair
Saint John Walker - Deputy Dean/Director at Escape Studios, the UK’s leading VFX, Games and Animation industry training institution in the heart of London.
Saint is the author of the Core Skills of VFX Handbook and has designed and run VFX courses across the UK. He has been LIAF’s industry panel coordinator for a few years now, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. At Escape he has chaired panel discussions for the annual VFX Festival, and has taken part in many Access:VFX activities online and in person as well as recently interviewing Peter Ramsey, Co-Director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, for the 2020 View Conference.
Panellists
Alexander Williams - Escape Studios and Animation Apprentice.
Alex Williams is a cartoonist and animator whose film credits include Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Lion King, The Iron Giant, the last three Harry Potter films, and The Chronicles of Narnia. He has worked for many studios including Disney, DreamWorks, Fox, Warner Bros, and Sony. Alex is Head of Animation at Escape Studios in London, and the founder of the online animation school Animation Apprentice. Alex also draws the weekly cartoon strip Queen's Counsel which has appeared in the law pages of The London Times since 1993, and has published many books.
Peter Kemp - 3dami
Peter Kemp is Lecturer in Computing Education at King's College London. In his spare time he helps run 3Dami, a non-profit organisation founded to promote 3D digital art amongst pre-university students. 3Dami runs camps where school students use Blender to create every part of their own 3D animated films. It also produces resources aimed at 11-14 year olds helping them to get started with Blender. 3Dami has been recognised as one of the few examples of an event that “genuinely combines creative and digital learning”.
Tom Box - Blue Zoo Animation and AnimDojo
Tom is the co-founder and joint managing director of Blue Zoo Animation. Over the last 20 years, the studio has grown to become the biggest dedicated CG animation studio in the UK, picking up a few BAFTAs along the way. Tom has been the driving force behind the studio’s continuous exploration of new technology, experimenting with cutting-edge tools to see how they can improve animation workflows and facilitate artists’ creativity. He is also co-founder of AnimDojo, an online training website whose mission is to give everyone a helping step up the career ladder in the animation industry regardless of age, wealth, location or time-availability.
Hugo Guerra - Director & VFX Supervisor
Hugo is a Director & VFX Supervisor working in both the VFX and the Videogames industry for the past 20 years. After working as a freelancer in Portugal, Sweden and the UK, he became the Head of Nuke and VFX Supervisor at The Mill London. Most recently, Hugo worked as a Director for Fire Without Smoke, as a VFX Supervisor for Sony Playstation and is currently working as a Film Director for Rebellion Games. He is also a VES Jury member, teaches VFX in several universities and runs the largest YouTube channel about Nuke compositing called Hugo’s Desk.
LIAF presents the 2020 UK Animation Industry Event – four panels giving insider access to some of the hottest topics of the year. We’ve gathered together some of the most passionate, honest and insightful experts from a wide range of different areas and backgrounds who are ready to cover all manner of vital topics to give you much food for thought.
Animation doesn’t stand still; and debates and discussions with animators and creative experts are the best way to get in touch with what’s happening, whether it’s how online animation courses are booming and changing the landscape of the way we teach, the current state of the TV commercial industry, how animation can be used to enhance outdoor events such as projection mapping, public concerts and VJ-ing, and several of the world’s most inspiring filmmakers and animators talking about the sequence of animation that changed them forever.
For anyone currently working in the film and animation industry, thinking of working in the industry or just plain curious, these four talks are indispensable.
The panels will be chaired by Saint John Walker, Deputy Dean/Director at Escape Studios.
With Special Thanks to the Arts Council England
Long before COVID, online animation training courses were booming. But is there a real choice of how to learn the art remotely, or is it all bouncing balls and facial gesture exercises? Does it rely on having an expensive kit at home? And what’s it like learning on a course at your own pace as opposed to attending a physical class? We got together (virtually) some of the various online schools and animation tutors to tell us about what they offer and how they might compete with (or complement) physical animation courses!
Recommended age 15+
Chair
Saint John Walker - Deputy Dean/Director at Escape Studios, the UK’s leading VFX, Games and Animation industry training institution in the heart of London.
Saint is the author of the Core Skills of VFX Handbook and has designed and run VFX courses across the UK. He has been LIAF’s industry panel coordinator for a few years now, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. At Escape he has chaired panel discussions for the annual VFX Festival, and has taken part in many Access:VFX activities online and in person as well as recently interviewing Peter Ramsey, Co-Director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, for the 2020 View Conference.
Panellists
Alexander Williams - Escape Studios and Animation Apprentice.
Alex Williams is a cartoonist and animator whose film credits include Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Lion King, The Iron Giant, the last three Harry Potter films, and The Chronicles of Narnia. He has worked for many studios including Disney, DreamWorks, Fox, Warner Bros, and Sony. Alex is Head of Animation at Escape Studios in London, and the founder of the online animation school Animation Apprentice. Alex also draws the weekly cartoon strip Queen's Counsel which has appeared in the law pages of The London Times since 1993, and has published many books.
Peter Kemp - 3dami
Peter Kemp is Lecturer in Computing Education at King's College London. In his spare time he helps run 3Dami, a non-profit organisation founded to promote 3D digital art amongst pre-university students. 3Dami runs camps where school students use Blender to create every part of their own 3D animated films. It also produces resources aimed at 11-14 year olds helping them to get started with Blender. 3Dami has been recognised as one of the few examples of an event that “genuinely combines creative and digital learning”.
Tom Box - Blue Zoo Animation and AnimDojo
Tom is the co-founder and joint managing director of Blue Zoo Animation. Over the last 20 years, the studio has grown to become the biggest dedicated CG animation studio in the UK, picking up a few BAFTAs along the way. Tom has been the driving force behind the studio’s continuous exploration of new technology, experimenting with cutting-edge tools to see how they can improve animation workflows and facilitate artists’ creativity. He is also co-founder of AnimDojo, an online training website whose mission is to give everyone a helping step up the career ladder in the animation industry regardless of age, wealth, location or time-availability.
Hugo Guerra - Director & VFX Supervisor
Hugo is a Director & VFX Supervisor working in both the VFX and the Videogames industry for the past 20 years. After working as a freelancer in Portugal, Sweden and the UK, he became the Head of Nuke and VFX Supervisor at The Mill London. Most recently, Hugo worked as a Director for Fire Without Smoke, as a VFX Supervisor for Sony Playstation and is currently working as a Film Director for Rebellion Games. He is also a VES Jury member, teaches VFX in several universities and runs the largest YouTube channel about Nuke compositing called Hugo’s Desk.