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
The fact that you recognise that phrase says a lot for the power of animated commercials. Animation has created some of the most recognisable characters in advertising for often seemingly unrelated products, messing with our minds…think about Meerkats selling cars, Koalas selling toilet paper or talking dogs selling insurance. We brought together masterminds of some of the top advertising agencies and production companies to talk about this neglected yet popular area of animation. How did these characters come into being and what is the process to create the animation that brings them to life? What’s it like working with animated characters who become so interwoven with a brand?
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
Tim van Hussen - Untold Studios
Tim is the Animation Supervisor at Untold Studios. Tim is well known for his contributions to character and creature work in the industry. His animation portfolio includes projects such as John Lewis 'Monty the Penguin', 'Buster the Boxer' and 'Excitable Edgar', as well as Samsung 'Ostrich', The Lion King (2019) and many more, for which he has been awarded multiple VES, Cannes Lions, D&AD pencils and British Arrows Craft awards.
Darren Walsh - Commercials Director
Darren is a multi-award winning commercials director creating the Sony Bravia ‘Play Doh’ Ad and the Compare the Market campaign. Darren was also animation director for ‘His Dark Materials’, animated stop frame sequences for Scorsese’s ‘Hugo’ and Tim Burton’s ‘Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar’ and was animation director for Black Mirror ‘The Waldo Moment’, in addition to character designer for the Paddington Bear feature film. Darren is also a director, animator and writer in his own right who is well known for the acclaimed comedy series Angry Kid, which he devised, voiced and directed, winning numerous awards worldwide.
Augustin Paliard - Mikros MPC Advertising
Augustin Paliard has 15 years of experience working in the film and commercials industries. He started his career as an animator at XILAM studio, then joined SPARX FX as a director, supervisor and animator for advertising projects for French and international brands such as Airwick, Mobistar and SNCF. Since 2012 he has worked as a freelance animator at Mikros MPC as lead animator for feature films such as ‘Santa & Cie’ and award-winning advertisements such as Lego ‘Rebuild The World’, Evian and Vittel.
Sam Pilling - Pulse Films
Combining an inherent love of cinema and a methodological mind for craft, Sam Pilling has become an award winning director working across commercials and music videos, collaborating with artists like The Weeknd, J.Cole, Major Lazer and DJ Shadow. No matter who he collaborates with, his videos are highly stylised set pieces based on wildly original concepts. Sam’s branded work includes commercials for AUDI, IKEA, Lloyd’s Bank and KFC and he has won awards at Cannes Lions, D&AD, British Arrows and the UK MVA’s.
Gavin Strange - Aardman Animations
By Day, Gavin is a Director and Designer for the UK’s beloved creative studio Aardman Animations. By night he goes under the alias of JamFactory, indulging in all manner of passion projects from music to movies. He’s a keynote speaker, giving creative talks around the world from Mexico to Manchester and he’s the author behind the motivational mantra ‘DO Fly’, published by the DO Book Company.
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
The fact that you recognise that phrase says a lot for the power of animated commercials. Animation has created some of the most recognisable characters in advertising for often seemingly unrelated products, messing with our minds…think about Meerkats selling cars, Koalas selling toilet paper or talking dogs selling insurance. We brought together masterminds of some of the top advertising agencies and production companies to talk about this neglected yet popular area of animation. How did these characters come into being and what is the process to create the animation that brings them to life? What’s it like working with animated characters who become so interwoven with a brand?
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
Tim van Hussen - Untold Studios
Tim is the Animation Supervisor at Untold Studios. Tim is well known for his contributions to character and creature work in the industry. His animation portfolio includes projects such as John Lewis 'Monty the Penguin', 'Buster the Boxer' and 'Excitable Edgar', as well as Samsung 'Ostrich', The Lion King (2019) and many more, for which he has been awarded multiple VES, Cannes Lions, D&AD pencils and British Arrows Craft awards.
Darren Walsh - Commercials Director
Darren is a multi-award winning commercials director creating the Sony Bravia ‘Play Doh’ Ad and the Compare the Market campaign. Darren was also animation director for ‘His Dark Materials’, animated stop frame sequences for Scorsese’s ‘Hugo’ and Tim Burton’s ‘Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar’ and was animation director for Black Mirror ‘The Waldo Moment’, in addition to character designer for the Paddington Bear feature film. Darren is also a director, animator and writer in his own right who is well known for the acclaimed comedy series Angry Kid, which he devised, voiced and directed, winning numerous awards worldwide.
Augustin Paliard - Mikros MPC Advertising
Augustin Paliard has 15 years of experience working in the film and commercials industries. He started his career as an animator at XILAM studio, then joined SPARX FX as a director, supervisor and animator for advertising projects for French and international brands such as Airwick, Mobistar and SNCF. Since 2012 he has worked as a freelance animator at Mikros MPC as lead animator for feature films such as ‘Santa & Cie’ and award-winning advertisements such as Lego ‘Rebuild The World’, Evian and Vittel.
Sam Pilling - Pulse Films
Combining an inherent love of cinema and a methodological mind for craft, Sam Pilling has become an award winning director working across commercials and music videos, collaborating with artists like The Weeknd, J.Cole, Major Lazer and DJ Shadow. No matter who he collaborates with, his videos are highly stylised set pieces based on wildly original concepts. Sam’s branded work includes commercials for AUDI, IKEA, Lloyd’s Bank and KFC and he has won awards at Cannes Lions, D&AD, British Arrows and the UK MVA’s.
Gavin Strange - Aardman Animations
By Day, Gavin is a Director and Designer for the UK’s beloved creative studio Aardman Animations. By night he goes under the alias of JamFactory, indulging in all manner of passion projects from music to movies. He’s a keynote speaker, giving creative talks around the world from Mexico to Manchester and he’s the author behind the motivational mantra ‘DO Fly’, published by the DO Book Company.