October Shmoctober

The fabulous Manchester Animation Festival is less than a month away, so if you've not yet checked out the schedule then get your arse in gear. Of course, you won't want to miss such standout events as the Skwigly Screening featuring a cavalcade of incredible recent short films that won't be seen elsewhere at the fest, nor the nail-biting adrenaline rush that is the Skwigly Quiz, and for your convenience they'll both be happening on Wednesday November 15th one after the other (7pm and 8:30pm respectively in the HOME event space). Head over to their website and have yourselves an anticipatory peruse of the ol' schedge. Hope to see you there!

My publisher Routledge is having itself a sale, so if you'd been um-ing and aah-ing about treating yourself to a copy of my big sexy book Independent Animation: Developing, Producing and Distributing Your Animated Films - Second Edition, loaded though it is with insight from the indie animation crowd's best and brightest - then why not go ahead and do it now while there's a whopping 20% lopped off the price? And if you buy two or more books from them, they crank the discount up to 25% - dayum, yo. Free shipping on top of all that? Hells yeah.

Here are a few recommendations of other Routledge titles you might want to pair my book up with, benevolent soul that I be:

• Animation: A World History - Giannalberto Bendazzi
• Make Toons That Sell Without Selling Out - Bill Plympton
• Action and Analysis for Animators - Chris Webster
• Acting and Performance for Animation - Derek Hayes and Chris Webster
• Directing for Animation - Tony Bancroft
• Dream Worlds: Production Design for Animation - Hans Bacher
• Mad-Eyed Misfits: Writings on Indie Animation - Chris Robinson
• The Foley Grail - Vanessa Theme Ament

But of course if you really want to give yourself a treat then just go ahead and buy two or more copies of my book. Or pair it up with the First Edition and see how many differences you can spot; there's literally no better way to spend an evening!

Whatever you decide, the sale lasts until the end of the month so act fast. 

In episode 111 of the Skwigly Animation Podcast we welcome back Charles Huettner and Sean Buckelew as well as Benjy Brooke of Green Street Pictures, whose new adult animated series Scavengers Reign kicks off today on Max.

Also discussed in this episode: MAF highlights, Chicken Run and Rick & Morty recasts, mutual Mutant Mayhem enthusiasm, the evolution of Bristol Animation Meetup, upcoming projects from the NFB and the worrying dearth of animation at this year’s Encounters Film Festival.

While you're over in Skwiglyville, I'd urge you to check out some of the wonderful pieces from our fantastic team of contributors, including Mel Cionco's piece on the fear of trans stories in animation, Larry Fried's editorial on audiences' relationship with - and expectations of - Pixar, and Ryan Gaur's interview with the team behind The Spider Within.

Speaking of Max, another show headed to the Network-Formerly-Known-as-HBO is the fifty-fourth (crikey) season of wholesome Muppet extravaganza Sesame Street, which kicks off November 9th over in the States. I spent a big chunk of this past year as comp supervisor on some of the animated segments directed by the always wonderful Jo Hepworth and it's a massive privilege to have been involved in such a long-standing cultural institution. Can't show or tell that much else about it but you can catch a few glimpses of the segments in the trailer below:

September Shmeptember

Following the overwhelmingly positive response to our Summer edition of BAM, Skwigly Online Animation Magazine, Rumpus Animation and Sun & Moon Animation will be returning to the King Street Brew House for our next Bristol Animation Meetup on September 28th.

This time around things will be a little different, as eventgoers can schedule in one-to-one chats with local animation professionals spanning a variety of industry roles, who will be on hand to offer any advice, feedback, guidance or just have a friendly natter.

10 minute slots are available between 7pm and 8:30pm on a first-come, first-served basis and can be requested via email: bristol.animation.meetup@gmail.com

Otherwise it’s business as usual, so come on over to catch up with friends new and old, clink glasses, mend rifts and spin yarns. BAM welcomes all members of the Bristol animation community, professionals, students, hobbyists and enthusiasts alike.

See you on the 28th!

INDUSTRY GUESTS

LOUIS JONES

Creative Director, Sun & Moon Studios

Louis Jones is the Co-founder/Creative Director of Sun & Moon Animation, an award-winning and creative-led, full-service animation studio, that has been producing animation with character since 2008. Louis has worked in animation for over 20 years, starting out as 2D generalist for the likes of Aardman and A Productions. Louis oversees all of the younger audience content at the studio and helps guide the studio strategically and showcase the company at industry events and markets.

During his career, he has directed hours of animated content for BBC Bitesize, Saturday Night TV spots for BBC One, Global TV adverts for Clarks Shoes and bumpers for Fisher Price on Channel 5’s Milkshake. In 2018 he directed the 2D animation for 52 x 5” episodes of CBeebies’ Kit & Pup. Louis also directed the 2D animation across four lost episodes of Dr Who: The Macra Terror and helped to gain the studio a 2020 Best Animation RTS Award.

Louis wrote and co-directed a series of tips and advice animations for BBC Tiny Happy People. In 2022 he directed a series of 15 animations to help teach Phonics to EYFS school children for BBC Bitesize, writing several episodes, including two songs.

Louis has been a professional voice actor since 2005 and has supplied the voice of many characters across TV, short films, games and educational content, most notably as the lead character of Timmy the Lamb from CBeebies/Aardman’s Timmy Time. Louis was on the panel of judges for 'Best Voice Performance' at the 2022 British Animation Awards.

Key discussion areas:

• Portfolio/reel feedback
• Voice reels

JANE DAVIES

Director, Aardman Animations

Jane Davies is a freelance animator and director who has been working in the animation industry for over 27 years.

Jane has worked on long-form and short-form projects for Aardman Animations, A Productions, Sun & Moon Studios, Rumpus Animation, BBC, BBC Worldwide, Reflective Films, TedED, World of Arthur Cox, Disney, The Brothers McLeod, Wonky Films and Daily Madness to name a few.

Her work has included The Tweenies, Robbie the Reindeer Hooves of Fire, Frankenstein's Cat, A Liar's Autobiography, Dr Who - Shada, and a music video for Anna Meridith.

More recently she has worked at Aardman as the Co-Director and Voice Director for Lloyd of the Flies, Aardman's new CG and 2D hybrid series that is playing on ITVX and around the world.

Jane has just completed a short series for Aardman as the Director that is due to premiere on YouTube in October.

Key discussion areas:

• 2D animator, editor, storyboard artist, animation director, director, and voice director as well as budgeting and scheduling long-form and short-form projects.
• Jane has also hired crew for many projects so can also help with any questions about the best ways to market yourself to companies.

BEN MITCHELL

Editor in Chief, Skwigly Online Animation Magazine/Animation Freelancer 

Ben Mitchell (hey, that's me! Who'da thunk it) is a multi-disciplinary animation freelancer, independent filmmaker and industry writer. Alongside 15+ years of freelance experience in character animation, motion graphics and post-production (for CBeebies, Channel 4, WildBrain Spark, A Productions, Rumpus Animation, Shy Guys Studios, Slurpy Studios, Plymptoons, Animortal and Wonky Films among others), as an independent director he has made six multi-award-winning short animated films that have been screened at 200+ festivals and touring programmes across the world.

As an animation industry writer and researcher, Ben is the Editor in Chief of the UK’s largest animation industry resource Skwigly and author of the book Independent Animation: Developing, Producing and Distributing Your Animated Films (Taylor & Francis/CRC Press), whose Second Edition was published this year. Ben has also worked with and alongside many international industry events (including the British Animation Awards, Encounters, ITFS Stuttgart, Animafest Zagreb, Manchester Animation Festival, Cardiff Animation Festival and Fredrikstad Animation Festival) in a variety of capacities spanning preselection, jury participation, panel hosting and programming.

Key discussion areas:

• Skwigly is always on the look out for established and aspiring writers; Ben is happy to discuss the workings of the magazine and opportunities available to those interested in getting involved.
• Being self-employed in the animation industry
• Independent film production and distribution
• Navigating the contemporary animation festival landscape

JOANNA HEPWORTH

Director, A Productions

Joanna Hepworth has worked in the animation industry for 16 years, initially as a freelance 2D animator for studios including Aardman Animations, Sun & Moon Studios, World of Arthur Cox, Wildseed, Calling the Shots and Wonky Films. 

For the past several years she has worked as a Director at A Productions in Bristol, with recent projects including the half-hour television specials Furry Friends Forever: Elmo Gets A Puppy and the 2023 Best Animation RTS Award-winning Sesame Street's the Nutcracker Starring Elmo & Tango as well as two series for Sesame Street with Sesame Workshop for HBO Max. 

Working as a director, Jo is involved in all aspects of the pipeline, from scripts to music and everything in-between. Her daily roles see her working closely with all departments to guide the team and keep everyone on track creatively. 

Key discussion areas: 

• Jo is happy to discuss any aspects of working in the industry regarding animating or directing, for those who are just starting out or interested in specific insight into various roles within animation. 
• Jo is also available to discuss/look at showreels and portfolios.

STEF BOWSKILL

Producer, Rumpus Animation 

Stef Bowskill began her animation career in Bristol at Aardman Animations in 2005. Working across stop-motion broadcast, commercial and feature productions, she has worked in feature development, model making and art departments. From Runner to Production Assistant and Coordinator, her credits include Creature Comforts USA, Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death and Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists. 

In 2012 she joined the Art Department and VFX team producing the long running pre-school series Chuggington. Production was an international operation with teams in Shanghai, New York and Bristol.

After project managing a creative arts incubation programme at Falmouth University, Stef joined Rumpus Animation as Creative Producer in 2019. She manages client communications, proposals, budgets and schedules across a range of sectors. Her most recent work includes animation for Greenpeace International, Disney’s Illusion Island and Cbeebies YolanDa’s Band Jam. 

Key discussion areas: 

• Routes into production. 
• What you can bring to different roles. 
• CV review and interview preparation.

Nothin' But Love

I'm extremely happy to say that the latest Official Selection for Speed will be at the Cardiff Animation Festival, which returns for its second edition this April. The first edition was absolutely tremendous and immediately cemented it as an absolute favourite so it's fantastic to see it continue and even more so to be involved. The film is in grand company too as they've also selected some absolute crackers including Laura-Beth's new film The Gift, to which I contributed some bits and bobs. Although I don't yet know the exact dates/times, The Gift will be part of Shorts 2: Body with Speed in Shorts 3: Heart. Check out their website for updates as they come and hopefully see some of you there!

In the latest episode of our podcast Intimate Animation we meet UK-based director/animator Elizabeth Hobbs, whose 2018 short film I’m OK, produced with the National Film Board of Canada and Animate Projects, explores the passionate and tempestuous love affair between Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka and his lover Alma Mahler.
On top of a BAFTA nomination in 2019, the film has screened at such major festivals as Clermont Ferrand, Annecy, OIAF, LIAF and EIFF and is presently in contention for the British Animation Awards Public Choice alongside her more recent work The Flounder, created for The Happiness Machine project.
Also discussed in this episode: Alternative approaches to animation education, Oscar contenders and love-themed films to look out for during both the British Animation Awards Public Choice screenings and the upcoming Anima Festival in Brussels. Stream above or direct download here.

On the subject of interviews with fantastic animation wimmins, you might want to check out a Q&A with Joanna Hepworth, who's been working up the road from me this past year or so as one of the main Animation Directors on Love Monster, a new series for CBeebies adapted from the books series by Rachel Bright. Give it a read for some insight into the unique production approach (the animation is being simultaneously produced in London at Karrot and Bristol's A Productions), working in CelAction and how the show aims to engage its audience. Having known Jo since I started in animation way back when, it's been a uniquely wonderful and inspiring thing watching her work go from strength to strength over the years and I'm certain even bigger things are yet to come. Be sure to check out the show on BBC iPlayer.

My Crowd

Another March screening for Klementhro has snuck its way into the schedules. The kind folks at Bilbao's Animakom Fest have chosen to include it in their screening Krazykom, a "screening of crazy short films" that will take place after the main award ceremony. If any Animakom-goers fancy checking it out it will be at 11pm March 18th at the BBF Dock. Gracias!
Now to steer the discussion towards a couple of other films I tainted with my involvement. Firstly the never-not-wonderful Jo Hepworth has released her short film The Urban Fox (that may very well feature a couple of tracks from The Birdcage playing in the background) online:

This one wasn't pushed much at festivals, though some of you may have seen it at KLIK! last year or my MAF screening back in 2015. Either way, you can see it now in all its glory. I chatted with Jo a bit about making the film as part of my series of KLIK! podcast minisodes last year, have a listen below: Another film worth keeping your eyes open for is Laura-Beth Cowley's thesis film Boris-Noris that I did some post-production work on. It was just finished this past January but there are a few festival appearances already lined up, the first of which will be at Allentown, Pennsylvania's Alternative Gallery for the Open World Animation Festival. Here's a trailer to whet your whettables:

The festival kicks off on March 23rd and runs until the 26th. I'll post up upcoming, closer-to-home screenings as they come along but in the meantime (or for those of you who may be on that side of the pond already) you can learn more at the fest's event page.

KLIK Tracks

Despite not being able to attend the event in person, I'm happy to be carrying on last year's tradition of Skwigly mini-podcasts for the KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival. As before these consist mainly of short Q&As with attending filmmakers conducted by German animation historian Hans Walther. These include chats with Giovanni Braggio (Cthupid), Junaid Chundrigar (Fixed Fairy Tales: The Princess & the Pea), Fleur Odylle of in60seconds (Manfred the Monkey), Artūrs Lācis (Versus), Carolina Cruz (Balbina: Das IST, die Zeit ist ein Egoist), Evelyne Dubois (Home Sweet Home), Nyan Kyal Say (My Life I Don't Want) and Daphna Awadish (Journey Birds)
One of the talkshow sessions unfortunately got misplaced and so to fill the remaining filmmaker slot my stalwart pal Jo Hepworth gave me some time to discuss her own KLIK! entry The Urban Fox, a lovely piece of work some of you may have caught when I screened it at MAF last year.
You can stream all the entire series below or, if you'd prefer, you can download episodes one, two and three respectively - gratis and for keepsies! Man alive do I ever treat ya right.

Making Pests of Ourselves

I'm all a-quiver with girlish glee as I get prepped for my first jaunt to Annecy next week. It's one of the top five major fests on my wishlist I've yet to get a film in, along with Ottawa (the other three being Encounters, Clermont-Ferrand and Stuttgart, who all threw me a bone). Despite making it into Annecy Plus in 2011, my plan had been to make the jaunt when/if I got something into the main festival - but frankly that could take years, if it ever happens at all. Luckily I now have a fallback position: Journalistic scumbag.

"We don't need no stinkin' - well, they are quite nice..."

 Given the surge of positive Skwigly developments since myself, Steve and Aaron took it over, it's only logical to show my face at one of the industry's most important events. We're hoping to get some podcast and written content out of it, obviously, with maybe some video footage to boot. We're also aiming for some extra reach in general, so to that end we'll be pestering folks with fliers, badges and other tote-filling goodies. For our flier design I really wanted to pool resources and convey the community vibe Skwigly's cultivated over the years. I reached out to some of my favourite animators and illustrators for character designs I could group together in a big crowd shot. Here's how it came out:

Front

Back

I'm really pleased with it and feel happy to have so many talented friends and associates involved. Here's a breakdown of their contributions - click their names to see more of their work as they're all smashing pumpkins worth checking out.

Francesca Adams

Jamie Smart

David Hutchinson

Jane Davies

Joanna Hepworth

Kat Michaelides

Katie Steed

Matt Walker

Robyn Liebschner

Sam Morrison

Seb Burnett

Signe Baumane

Sophie Klevenow & Darren Walker

Steve Henderson

Tanya Scott

The remaining designs are from my own archive of characters I threw in to fill in some spaces. And because I'm an egomaniac.
Given how much fondness people have had for the Skwigly Podcast I've also produced an exclusive sampler CD of some of our personal favourite moments from our first year. It's borderline-impossible to group all of them and have it fit on an 80 minute disc but hopefully this selection does justice to all the amazing interviewees who've given us their time and insight. It's nice to have a little physical souvenir to show for an endeavour I had no clue would still be going strong after a year, especially in these last few days before the entire planet completely forgets what CDs are. Here's the sleeve design:

Front

Back

If you'll be at Annecy yourselves drop us a line at skwigly.com!

The Scene

Hopefully this will eschew the theories that the main character of the book is based on me. For starters I don't even have a beard at the moment... 

Having taken the last couple of days to catch up on sleep, de-stress and give my advance copy of Mr. Plympton's new book a much-enjoyed read, I'm recovered and back to my usual, bloggy self. Hurrah! Later on tonight (knock wood) I'll be conducting perhaps my most intimidating interview yet, for childhood-association reasons. So to stave off anxiety for a little while I may as well report on the Bristol Comic Expo, at which "Throat" made its scintillating debut!

Okay, maybe 'scintillating' isn't the most accurate term, but through glass-half-full eyes the venture was a success; I managed to get a lot of info handed out, glean some thoughts and advice from fellow exhibitors and even shifted some copies of "Throat" to both well-wishing friends and complete strangers - I'm on the fence as to which is more awesome, but either way it's a lovely feeling. Also quite cool was coming home to an unexpected boost of online sales which also included some copies of the "House Guest" adaptation.

Myself and the delightful Jo Hepworth who helped out with the first book. Note my solidarity for Doug Stanhope's short-lived presidential campaign: He might still surprise ya!

Wandering around and checking out the other independent ware-touters was somewhat eye-opening: To have written and illustrated a 230-page graphic novel without a publisher sees me somewhat anomalous, although it might be more accurate to use the phrase 'farcically nearsighted' or 'misguided to the point of idiocy'. Most of the non-represented indie guys'n'gals were going the more realistic route of free giveaways or charging small change for mini-comics. The main recurring factor of these would be one that I'm sure seems extraordinarily catty given my low standing on the totem pole:
They're NONSENSICAL. Deceptively constructed like comic strips with a fundamental absence of context or humour; For the most part they're just inexplicably cartoonised, entirely random minutiae from the average day of the writer,  which end before any kind of setup (let alone payoff) has even been established.  A bit like "Garfield Minus Garfield", without the metaphysical ingenuity. And if you think I'm one of those blowhards so cowed by the notion of online feuding and hurting strangers' feelings that I won't be listing any of them by name...you're 100% correct.
"Okay, chinless, what makes YOUR comic so fucking great, then?" 
Well, humble reader, I don't rightly know, and that 'chinless' remark cuts deep. I can't speak impartially for "Throat", although I guarantee its sense of humour won't be for everyone. I did put a lot of work into fine-tuning it from a structural perspective, however, and canvassed a range of opinions from people I respect on a professional level, as mentioned previously . From that I was able to get enough candid, critical feedback on what needed to be fixed to assume, reasonably, that the positives I got were genuine enough.
So, I'm not sure if I'm going about this the right way. Maybe I've gotten ahead of myself and need to rethink my strategy - is shorter form the way to go, and if so is there a way I can have that work for me as far as "Throat" is concerned?
The first step in terms of shaping how I plan to proceed is outlining what I'd consider the main tiers of 'success' for this type of venture. In hierarchical order, these would be:

1) Selling enough stock to make back all the money I've put into the book's promotion and marketing, including public appearances and giving copies out as gifts.
2) Generating enough revenue from expos and online sales to get any type of notable return on said investment.
3) As above, while factoring in the (mostly free) time spent working on the book itself so that the profit might amount to a salary, of sorts, which would cover that period.
4) Getting enough attention and visibility to fast-track the book to the types of market outreach schemes that would lead to national sales and store distribution.
5) Getting published outright, on a national level.
6) Getting published internationally.
7) Getting published in any respect, with enough subsequent sales to warrant continuous printing.
8) Becoming a millionaire, leading Molly Parker to leave her family for me whilst having no qualms about dressing like Alma Garret for the rest of our days.

While 1 and 2 only really apply to "Throat", I've made it to 4 with the "House Guest" graphic novel and 3 with all the rest (save for the "Mitchells In England" collections, which I don't push and I doubt would sell enough for it to be worth it anyway) on online sales alone, so I know it's possible. I suppose it's down to my own stick-to-it-iveness from this point on. So keep your eyes skinned, folks, if for no other reason than the delicious potential for schadenfreude if I fall on my arse.
To end things on a perky note, here are a handful of some of the more inspiring works I came across, mostly from the Markosia crowd:

 

 

Independent spirit, yo.

Army of One. If that.

I'm something of a lone wolf. Not in an appealing, alpha dog sense - more the limping, out of shape runt who can't keep up with the rest of the pack, whose 'lone' status is out of his hands. As such I'm fending for myself in a lot of respects, questioning of late the satisfaction of freelancing. A part of me is starting to itch for a regular studio gig lasting beyond a few weeks or months at a time. Of course, who's to say as soon as that happens I won't immediately start hankering for the comparative freedom of the way things are now. The grass is always greener on the other side. You like that? I made that up. True story. You can use it if you like.
What?In the meantime I'm prepping for my visit to Cologne where "The Naughty List" will be making its festival appearance at the Cologne Comedy Festival as well as its TV debut on WDR, a network I fondly associate with several pro-shot Faith No More concerts. I'm sure they have other valuable programming too. The film closes the Köln Comedy Kurzfilmfestival broadcast this Friday (15th), beginning at 10:40pm and repeated at 1:45am on Einsfestival.The trip is in the midst of my continuing effort to redefine my professional representation and I'm getting a bunch of materials ready to pimp my sweet self, like new business cards, promo DVDs, flyers etc. As I'm still debating several options for potential sales agents - and having no studio representation to speak of - promotion and marketing is on me. It's kind of what I'm comfortable with, but self-representation is kind of like onanism with a lot more self-hatred, depression and money spent on printer ink. When I describe myself as 'award-winning animator' or list accolades for any given project I cringe and bite my fist, but it's a necessary evil. After five years it would be fatuous to say that there isn't a direct correlation between the amount I big myself up and the frequency of work that comes in or festivals that pick up my films.To supplement the "Naughty..." bumph I've put up some new web teasers for "House Guest" and "Ground Running". In the case of the former it's to help promote the DVD, delayed from last year's planned release after the film got an unexpected second wind on the festival circuit. Have a gander:

In case you didn't see it when I put it up previously, I may as well throw in a snippet of "The Naughty List" for your viewing pleasūr:

On a closing, non-me note, my pal and former "House Guest" helper elf Joanna Hepworth has her latest film "Dinnersaurs" included in this year's Animated Encounters online selection. Give it a vote because it's cute and you'll glean some dating tips: