Conversations with filmmakers selected to the festival.
A conversation with filmmaker Joanna Quinn and Les Mills.
SPEAKERS
Joanna Quinn
Animator, Director // Beryl Productions International
(Affairs of the Art, Dreams & Desires: Family Ties, Wife of Bath, Britannia)
Joanna studied Graphic Design at Middlesex University, and it was here that Joanna first discovered the magic of animation, quickly adapting her unique drawing abilities to produce beautifully fluid and dynamic animated passages. Her first film, Girl’s Night Out (1986), won 3 prizes at the Annecy Animation Festival in 1987 and thrust her into the international animation scene.
Joanna's drawing skills, humour and wonderful characterizations have made her a highly-acclaimed figure in world animation. She has won many international awards, including Emmys, BAFTAs and Jury prizes at all the major animation festivals. Two of her films, Famous Fred (1996) and The Wife of Bath (1998) have received Oscar® nominations.
Joanna continues to be a committed educator and is an Honorary Fellow at the Royal College of Art, London and University of Wales Newport and Honorary Doctor at the University of Wolverhampton and Middlesex University. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and sits on the executive committee for short film and animation.
Joanna works collaboratively with writer-producer partner, Les Mills, on their new short film, Affairs of the Art, which was released in Jan 2021.
Les Mills
Writer, Producer // Beryl Productions International
(Affairs of the Art, Dreams & Desires: Family Ties, Wife of Bath, Body Beautiful)
Les studied at Cardiff University, Goldsmiths College University of London and at Rutgers University in the US, where he completed a Masters Degree in Fine Art and Art History. His teaching experience is extensive, initially teaching Art & Design but gradually becoming more interested in Filmmaking and Animation. He became course director in Film and Animation Production at the Film School of University of Wales, Newport but left full-time teaching in 2002 to concentrate on directing Beryl Productions International, the animation production company formed with Joanna in 1988.
He first collaborated with Joanna on her graduation film Girls Night Out while teaching basic animation on the Graphic Design course at Middlesex University. Since that time the two have worked very closely together. He wrote and produced the next Beryl film Body Beautiful and produced Wife of Bath, one of the Canterbury Tales series, which won a BAFTA, 3 Emmys and received an Oscar nomination. He wrote and produced their last film, Family Ties, which won 45 international awards including a BAFTA nomination and the European Cartoon d’Or 2007. He’s just written and produced the latest Beryl Film, Affairs of the Art.
MODERATOR
Sue Rowe
VFX Supervisor // Scanline VFX
(Uncharted, Dune, Hobbs and Shaw, Godzilla King of Monsters)
Sue Rowe has been a Visual Effects Supervisor for over 20 years. Sues credits stack up. She has worked an in-house VFX sup and an overall VFX supervisor on Films like The Maze Runner and for TV A Series of Unfortunate Events for Netflix.
Sue's most recent credit will be on the forthcoming The Eternals for Marvel. Sue is currently working in Virtual Production at Scanline, shooting real-time VFX on LED screens. However, Sue's first love will always be animations which is why she loves to be involved with SPARK!
Conversations with filmmakers selected to the festival.
A conversation with filmmaker Joanna Quinn and Les Mills.
SPEAKERS
Joanna Quinn
Animator, Director // Beryl Productions International
(Affairs of the Art, Dreams & Desires: Family Ties, Wife of Bath, Britannia)
Joanna studied Graphic Design at Middlesex University, and it was here that Joanna first discovered the magic of animation, quickly adapting her unique drawing abilities to produce beautifully fluid and dynamic animated passages. Her first film, Girl’s Night Out (1986), won 3 prizes at the Annecy Animation Festival in 1987 and thrust her into the international animation scene.
Joanna's drawing skills, humour and wonderful characterizations have made her a highly-acclaimed figure in world animation. She has won many international awards, including Emmys, BAFTAs and Jury prizes at all the major animation festivals. Two of her films, Famous Fred (1996) and The Wife of Bath (1998) have received Oscar® nominations.
Joanna continues to be a committed educator and is an Honorary Fellow at the Royal College of Art, London and University of Wales Newport and Honorary Doctor at the University of Wolverhampton and Middlesex University. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and sits on the executive committee for short film and animation.
Joanna works collaboratively with writer-producer partner, Les Mills, on their new short film, Affairs of the Art, which was released in Jan 2021.
Les Mills
Writer, Producer // Beryl Productions International
(Affairs of the Art, Dreams & Desires: Family Ties, Wife of Bath, Body Beautiful)
Les studied at Cardiff University, Goldsmiths College University of London and at Rutgers University in the US, where he completed a Masters Degree in Fine Art and Art History. His teaching experience is extensive, initially teaching Art & Design but gradually becoming more interested in Filmmaking and Animation. He became course director in Film and Animation Production at the Film School of University of Wales, Newport but left full-time teaching in 2002 to concentrate on directing Beryl Productions International, the animation production company formed with Joanna in 1988.
He first collaborated with Joanna on her graduation film Girls Night Out while teaching basic animation on the Graphic Design course at Middlesex University. Since that time the two have worked very closely together. He wrote and produced the next Beryl film Body Beautiful and produced Wife of Bath, one of the Canterbury Tales series, which won a BAFTA, 3 Emmys and received an Oscar nomination. He wrote and produced their last film, Family Ties, which won 45 international awards including a BAFTA nomination and the European Cartoon d’Or 2007. He’s just written and produced the latest Beryl Film, Affairs of the Art.
MODERATOR
Sue Rowe
VFX Supervisor // Scanline VFX
(Uncharted, Dune, Hobbs and Shaw, Godzilla King of Monsters)
Sue Rowe has been a Visual Effects Supervisor for over 20 years. Sues credits stack up. She has worked an in-house VFX sup and an overall VFX supervisor on Films like The Maze Runner and for TV A Series of Unfortunate Events for Netflix.
Sue's most recent credit will be on the forthcoming The Eternals for Marvel. Sue is currently working in Virtual Production at Scanline, shooting real-time VFX on LED screens. However, Sue's first love will always be animations which is why she loves to be involved with SPARK!
