Animated Insights
Join the Aardman Academy as we host a series of online (via Zoom) guest speaker events designed to demystify and give insight into key areas of production within the Animation Industry.
Through a programme of themed events held throughout the year, gain understanding of how industry professionals tackle a range of creative, technical, and aesthetic challenges to develop and create animated content across a range of practices, including:
CHARACTER & PERFORMANCE
ANIMATION DIRECTION & PRODUCTION
STORY
THE ART OF ANIMATION
Previous guest speakers have included:
NIKI LINDROTH VON BAHR – Animation Director –‘The House’
BENEDICT TOMCZYK-BOWEN – Head of Story: ‘Lloyd of the Flies’
JOANNA QUINN & LES MILLS – Animation Director, writer & Producer – Beryl Productions International
JENNIFER LEE – CCO of Walt Disney Animation Studio, Writer & Director of ‘Frozen’ & ‘Frozen II’
.
SARAH GOMES HARRIS - Co-Creator, Creative Director, writer & series designer of BAFTA winning 'SARAH & DUCK'
SAM GAINSBOROUGH - Annie Award nominated Animation Director
IAN MACKINNON - Creative Director, Executive Producer & co-founder of Mackinnon & Saunders
SIQI SONG - Academy Award & Annie Award nominated Animation Director of short film 'SISTER'
Event details and how to register are below.
Character & Performance
Tuesday 20th June 2023 - 11AM - 4:30PM*
Overview:
Join us to hear from 4 Industry Leading guest speakers who will give insight into their approaches and practices into Character & Performance – including Movement Direction, Character Development, understanding animated performance and more.
Confirmed guests include:
JANE DAVIES - Aardman Series Director
11:00-12:00 (UK)
Jane Davies is the Co-Director of the Aardman television series 'Lloyd of the Flies' - for which Jane directed the ensemble voice-cast - bringing to-life the memorable characters of Lloyd, Abacus, PB... & many more!
SARAH PERRY - Movement Director & Coach
12:15-13:15 (UK)
Sarah Perry is a Movement Director and Character & Performance Coach working in Film, TV, Animation, VR and Theatre.
Sarah’s credits include: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, ‘His Dark Materials’, ‘A Discovery of Witches’, ‘Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader’ and ‘Dream’ with The Royal Shakespeare Company.
Sarah’s work focuses on character performance & embodiment, helping actors & animators to develop a movement language & style to suit a project.
CAROLINE LEAF - pioneering independent filmmaker
15:30-16:30 (UK)
Caroline Leaf is the pioneering filmmaker, animator and director of films including 'The Sisters', 'The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa' and the Academy Award nominated 'The Street'.
Much of her work uses 'straight-ahead' methods of animation, often using new methods of image creation including paint on glass, sand animation and direct to film scratch manipulation.
BRET IWAN - the official voice of MICKEY MOUSE
17:00-18:00 (UK)
Bret Iwan has loved the legacy & story of Walt Disney for as long as he can remember, but never dreamt he would one day voice Walt’s most iconic character, Mickey Mouse.
Iwan decided to pursue his love of art at Ringling College of Art & Design. Shortly after, he moved to Kansas City, to begin a career at Hallmark Greeting Cards.
After learning of auditions being held to understudy with the third voice of Mickey Mouse, Wayne Allwine, Iwan wasted no time submitting his high pitched performance.
Since 2009, Iwan has been the official voice of Mickey Mouse, providing the famous falsetto for Disney theme parks around the world, video games, toys, promotional material, game shows, live shows, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2009-2016), Mickey and the Roadster Racers (2017-2019), Mickey’s Mixed Up Adventures (2019), and Mickey Mouse Funhouse (2021) television series.
The opportunities presented by the role continue to surprise him, and he looks forward to “fillin’ in for the boss” far into the future.
Iwan resides in Los Angeles, California.
Price: £30
Location: Online (via Zoom)
* All times shown are UK-based. Full event details & guest speakers will be confirmed nearer the event date.
BUY NOWAnimation Direction & Production
Tuesday 12th September 2023 - 4PM - 9PM*
Overview:
Join us to hear from 4 Industry Leading guest speakers who will give insight into their approaches and practices into Animation Direction & Production – including Directing Animators & Actors, Production & Department Management and more.
Each guest will speak for approximately 45minutes, with a 15minute curated Q&A.
Price: £30
Location: Online (via Zoom)
* All times shown are UK-based. Full event details & guest speakers will be confirmed nearer the event date.
BUY NOWStory
Tuesday 5th December 2023 - 11:00AM - 5:30PM*
Overview:
Join us to hear from 4 Industry Leading guest speakers who will give insight into their approaches and practices to Story – including writing, Directing, development, visualization and more.
Each guest will speak for approximately 45minutes, with a 15minute curated Q&A.
Price: £30
Location: Online (via Zoom)
* All times shown are UK-based. Full event details & guest speakers will be confirmed nearer the event date.
BUY NOW
The Art of Animation
TUESDAY 19th MARCH 2024 - times TBC*
Overview:
Join us to hear from 4 Industry Leading guest speakers who will give insight into their approaches and practices to The Art of Animation – including Art Direction, Character Design, visual development and more.
Each guest will speak for approximately 45minutes, with a 15minute curated Q&A.
* All times shown are UK-based. Full event details & guest speakers will be confirmed nearer the event date.
Price: £30
Location: Online (via Zoom)
BUY NOW*All times shown are UK time and may be subject to change due to speaker availability. All events are held online via zoom.
Event Aim
During each of our Animated Insight events you will hear from 4 of the industry’s leading professionals as they take part in hour-long sessions discussing how they approach focused areas of production – including key skills, individual experiences of creative problem solving, guidance, tips, tricks – and many more animated insights.
Animated Insight events are open to all – whether you are an Animation Student, Industry professional, Graduate or just a fan of all things animated – this might be for you.
Each event offers an opportunity for you to pose your questions to our invited guest speakers – but due to the on-line nature of these events, questions will be curated by the Academy and will need to be submitted in writing 24hrs prior to the event, with selected questions being asked on your behalf during the event.
Who the events are for
The Aardman Academy’s Animated Insight events are designed for anyone with an interest in learning more about the industry! All abilities and ages are welcome.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch with [email protected]
