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It's said that anyone can come up with ideas, but what makes a unique new idea succeed? How do you convince commissioners, heads of department, clients, even rights holders to trust you to create amazing animated work, whether it’s a short commercial or an animated series? In this panel discussion we’ll meet pioneering animators who successfully persuaded powerful people that their idea was worth taking a risk on. They’ll talk about what factors influenced their success in bringing new project proposals to animated life, and how you might apply tips and tricks to your own work too. We’ll also discuss ideas of what makes for a successful translation of a book, drama or even the proverbial idea written on the ‘back of a fag packet’ into compelling animation and get some tips on how to preserve the kernel of a story without sacrificing quality or emotional impact.
LIAF presents the 2025 UK Animation Industry Event – 5 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. The panels will be chaired by Saint John Walker, Postgraduate Media Programme Leader, University of Hertfordshire, Julian Scott, animation consultant at Film London and Babak Jani, Head of Skills at Film London.
For anyone currently working in the film and animation industry, thinking of working in the industry or just plain curious, these 5 talks are indispensable. They are free to everyone and take place live and online on our streaming platform over the 2 days of Saturday December 6 and Sunday December 7.
Panellists
Moderator: Saint John Walker
Saint John Walker is the Programme Leader for postgraduate media at the UK’s University of Hertfordshire and a leading VFX educationalist with over 25 years of experience of teaching and training in the games, animation and VFX industries. Most recently Saint was Dean and Director of Industry Engagement at the UK’s Escape Studios and previous to that he designed, initiated and ran the VFX degree course at Norwich University of the Arts for four years. Saint is an active member of Access:VFX. Saint is also the convenor, designer and chair of the popular Industry panels at the London International Animation Festival each year. In 2024 he has chaired and taken part in panel discussions at the View conference in Turin, the Viborg Animation Festival and FMX, Stuttgart.
Maryam Mohajer
Maryam is a British-Iranian, BAFTA Winning animator-director who was born in Tehran, Iran just before living through revolution, war and immigration. With a background in painting, she discovered animation after moving to the UK in 2000. She got her MA degree in animation from Royal college of Art. Her short films have been screened at many International festivals. She lives and works as an animator, writer, and director in London. She is also a part time lecturer in animation at Kingston University.
Ruth Fielding
Ruth is a multi-BAFTA nominated and EMMY award-winning animation producer who has over 25 years experience making features, shorts and TV series. She is a creative producer holding a masters degree from RADA and Kings College and started her career at UK broadcaster Channel 4. Ruth is a founding member of trade body Animation UK and recently became a member of the Producer's Guild of America. Together with her business partner, Camilla Deakin, they have been running Lupus Films, one of the only animation studios owned and run by women in the UK, for the last 23 years.
Greg McLeod
Greg is a British animator and illustrator, best known for his distinctive hand-drawn short films. His acclaimed works include Codswallop, 365, the BAFTA-nominated Marfa, and most recently award winning Mee and Burd. His films are known for their wit, visual inventiveness, and subtle emotional depth. His films have screened at major festivals worldwide. He’s also worked with many lovely people and organisations - Edgar Wright, Stewart Lee, Adam Buxton, Disney, ITV, BBC, Aardman and Nickelodeon.
Tanya J Scott
Tanya is an Award-winning Director and Creator based in London. She has been working in animation for over 15 years and is a NFTS graduate. Her film ‘The Wolf of Custer’ has gone on to screen at Oscar and BAFTA qualifying festivals worldwide and won a British Animation Award in 2024. Tanya now specialises in Directing and Development for animation and she is also a writer and illustrator. Her original graphic novel series ‘Wizkit: An Adventure Overdue’ and ‘Wizkit 2: A Tail of Disruption’ are published by Simon and Schuster USA and she continues to develop more books alongside her animation projects. Together with writer Sam Morrison, Tanya is co-creator of ‘The Underglow’, a preschool series commissioned by the BBC via the inaugural Ignite scheme. She loves bread, cats, medieval manuscripts and a fair amount of weirdness and whimsy!
Will Studd
Will finished an animation and graphic design degree in 2003 at UWE, Bristol. He has been creating and developing ideas ever since, and now directs commercials and short films for Aardman, completing films for BBC, Innocent, P&O, Toyota, Hellmann’s, Nokia, Thatchers, Braun and more.
It's said that anyone can come up with ideas, but what makes a unique new idea succeed? How do you convince commissioners, heads of department, clients, even rights holders to trust you to create amazing animated work, whether it’s a short commercial or an animated series? In this panel discussion we’ll meet pioneering animators who successfully persuaded powerful people that their idea was worth taking a risk on. They’ll talk about what factors influenced their success in bringing new project proposals to animated life, and how you might apply tips and tricks to your own work too. We’ll also discuss ideas of what makes for a successful translation of a book, drama or even the proverbial idea written on the ‘back of a fag packet’ into compelling animation and get some tips on how to preserve the kernel of a story without sacrificing quality or emotional impact.
LIAF presents the 2025 UK Animation Industry Event – 5 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. The panels will be chaired by Saint John Walker, Postgraduate Media Programme Leader, University of Hertfordshire, Julian Scott, animation consultant at Film London and Babak Jani, Head of Skills at Film London.
For anyone currently working in the film and animation industry, thinking of working in the industry or just plain curious, these 5 talks are indispensable. They are free to everyone and take place live and online on our streaming platform over the 2 days of Saturday December 6 and Sunday December 7.
Panellists
Moderator: Saint John Walker
Saint John Walker is the Programme Leader for postgraduate media at the UK’s University of Hertfordshire and a leading VFX educationalist with over 25 years of experience of teaching and training in the games, animation and VFX industries. Most recently Saint was Dean and Director of Industry Engagement at the UK’s Escape Studios and previous to that he designed, initiated and ran the VFX degree course at Norwich University of the Arts for four years. Saint is an active member of Access:VFX. Saint is also the convenor, designer and chair of the popular Industry panels at the London International Animation Festival each year. In 2024 he has chaired and taken part in panel discussions at the View conference in Turin, the Viborg Animation Festival and FMX, Stuttgart.
Maryam Mohajer
Maryam is a British-Iranian, BAFTA Winning animator-director who was born in Tehran, Iran just before living through revolution, war and immigration. With a background in painting, she discovered animation after moving to the UK in 2000. She got her MA degree in animation from Royal college of Art. Her short films have been screened at many International festivals. She lives and works as an animator, writer, and director in London. She is also a part time lecturer in animation at Kingston University.
Ruth Fielding
Ruth is a multi-BAFTA nominated and EMMY award-winning animation producer who has over 25 years experience making features, shorts and TV series. She is a creative producer holding a masters degree from RADA and Kings College and started her career at UK broadcaster Channel 4. Ruth is a founding member of trade body Animation UK and recently became a member of the Producer's Guild of America. Together with her business partner, Camilla Deakin, they have been running Lupus Films, one of the only animation studios owned and run by women in the UK, for the last 23 years.
Greg McLeod
Greg is a British animator and illustrator, best known for his distinctive hand-drawn short films. His acclaimed works include Codswallop, 365, the BAFTA-nominated Marfa, and most recently award winning Mee and Burd. His films are known for their wit, visual inventiveness, and subtle emotional depth. His films have screened at major festivals worldwide. He’s also worked with many lovely people and organisations - Edgar Wright, Stewart Lee, Adam Buxton, Disney, ITV, BBC, Aardman and Nickelodeon.
Tanya J Scott
Tanya is an Award-winning Director and Creator based in London. She has been working in animation for over 15 years and is a NFTS graduate. Her film ‘The Wolf of Custer’ has gone on to screen at Oscar and BAFTA qualifying festivals worldwide and won a British Animation Award in 2024. Tanya now specialises in Directing and Development for animation and she is also a writer and illustrator. Her original graphic novel series ‘Wizkit: An Adventure Overdue’ and ‘Wizkit 2: A Tail of Disruption’ are published by Simon and Schuster USA and she continues to develop more books alongside her animation projects. Together with writer Sam Morrison, Tanya is co-creator of ‘The Underglow’, a preschool series commissioned by the BBC via the inaugural Ignite scheme. She loves bread, cats, medieval manuscripts and a fair amount of weirdness and whimsy!
Will Studd
Will finished an animation and graphic design degree in 2003 at UWE, Bristol. He has been creating and developing ideas ever since, and now directs commercials and short films for Aardman, completing films for BBC, Innocent, P&O, Toyota, Hellmann’s, Nokia, Thatchers, Braun and more.