Undergraduate (UG) Taster Day 17 Oct 2026

UG Taster Day Saturday 17 October 2026

Join us on on Saturday 17 October 2026 for our next Undergraduate (UG) Taster Day for an introduction to our undergraduate degrees in animation, games and vfx.  

Come along and find out what it's like to study at Escape Studios. 

Escape Studios' Taster Days are a chance to find out about our undergraduate degrees in Animation, Games & Visual Effects, and to get hands-on experience of how we teach.  

The next Undergraduate Taster Day takes place on on Saturday 16th May 2026 at 6 Mitre Passage, North Greenwich. 

To sign up, follow the link below:

https://bit.ly/43fTl8B.

"Superhero Pets" - a Creativity Exercise

via GIPHY

Welcome to Super Hero Pets! This is a fun exercise designed to help imagine an original TV or web series.  Your goal is to learn the basic building blocks of story, story-telling and character, by imagining a short film based on your first pet, or cuddly toy.  Start by imagining the characters, who they are, and what they do. Then design your four main characters.  

"Pretty in Pink" wins "Best Animation" at the EEFF

"Pretty in Pink" wins "Best Animation" at the EEFF

Many congratulations to the makers of "Pretty in Pink", the latest animated short film created by our Second Year 2d Animation Students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Animation" at the Eastern Europe Film Festival. 

"Pretty in Pink" was created as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  "Pretty in Pink" was directed and produced by Eric Dulieu; this is its second festival award. 

Escapee Matt O'Reilly Joins ILM

Matt O'Reilly joins Industrial Light & Magic

Many congratulations to Escapee Matt O'Reilly who has joined Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) as a FaceSwap Artist.

Industrial Light & Magic' is arguably the world's leading VFX house, responsible for multiple hit movies and series. 

"Evening With..." Framestore's Paul Roberts 23 Sept

Join us tomorrow on Wednesday 23 September at 5.30 pm for "An Evening With..." Paul Roberts - Framestore Creature Effects Technical Director. 

Paul Roberts has 14 years of film-industry experience and has 

worked on a wide range of high-profile film and episodic projects, including Christopher Robin, His Dark Materials Seasons 2 and 3, Paddington in Peru, How to Train Your Dragon and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. 

This is a great opportunity to hear about Paul Roberts' career, his creative and technical work in creature effects, and his experiences working on some of the industry’s biggest productions.

The role of Creature Effects Technical Director is one which is currently in high demand across the industry. Framestore is a global VFX house and an industry leader.

Escapee Alfie Williams Reports from inMotion 2026

Alfie Williams and Glen Keane at inMotion

Escapee Alfie Williams was a volunteer at this year's inMotion event which took place in London last week - part of the We Are Playgrounds series of educational events. 

As always, we recommend that our animation students volunteer for events like this one; they offer huge opportunities to build industry connections and make the most of our prime London location.

La Salle Exchange Returns for 2027 & 2028

La Salle, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona

Calling all first year undergraduate students at Escape Studios - we are delighted to announce the return of our Exchange Programme with La Salle, part of the Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, Catalonia.

La Salle offers degrees in Digital Arts and Animation, a perfect fit with our courses at Escape Studios.  The Exchange will take place in the Spring of 2027 and 2028, and we are currently looking for expressions of interest from our first year undergraduate students.  

Since 2021 a number of Escape students have travelled to La Salle to study, and a similar number (up to five) have come to Escape Studios, studying the Art of Computer Animation, Games and Visual Effects.

The La Salle Exchange Programme is a welcome opportunity for our students to study overseas in one of Europe's most beautiful cities. 

The Animation Courses at La Salle are taught in English. 

"Power Up Your Portfolio" Wed 30 Sept 5pm via Zoom

Power Up Your Portfolio on 30 Sept at 5pm

Thinking of studying with us at Escape Studios? Join us on Wednesday 30 September at 5pm for a free webinar to "Power Up Your Portfolio" - online via Zoom. 

Prospective students often ask What should go into a portfolio when applying to Escape Studios?  Find out on Thursday 30th September.  

You'll hear from our Dean of Visual Storytelling Alexander Williams,  Programme Leader for VFX Klaudija Cermak and Programming tutor Michael MacKinnon. 

We'll be showing samples of portfolio work from our current students, and offering insights into the sort of work you could include in your own portfolio.

Sign up here for this free event. 

"Sweet & Salty" Wins "Best Short" At Int'l Gold Awards

 

Sweet & Salty" wins "Best Super Short Film" at the IGA

Many congratulations to the makers of Sweet & Salty which has won "Best Super Short Film" at the International Gold Awards. 

Sweet & Salty was created by our second year animation students; the film was directed by Oleksandra Zakorodon and produced by Sarina Musab.  

This is its first festival award. 

Escape Students Visit "The Answer" Studio in Tokyo

Escape Studios' animators visit The Answer Studio

Many thanks to our hosts at The Answer Studio in Tokyo who welcomed a small group of Escape Studios' animation students to visit their animation studio in Tokyo last week. 

The Answer Studio is the successor studio to Walt Disney Animation Japan, headed by former Disney Japan president Motoyoshi Tokunaga.

"Sparky" Wins "Best Indie Short" at Milan Awards

"Sparky" wins 'Best Indie Narrative Short" in Milan

Many congratulations to the makers of the VFX short "Sparky", which has won 'Best Indie Narrative Short" at the Milan Gold Awards. 

"Sparky" was a collaboration between students studying the Art of Computer Animation and the Art of Visual Effects.  Rae Silapasoonthorn was the  writer, director and producer.  

Sebastian Armstrong stars as the gamer.  You can watch Sparky at Vimeo here.  This is its first festival award. 

Taku Kishimoto and The Art of Writing for Anime

Taku Kishimoto and the Art of Writing for Anime

Last week in Tokyo our animation students were introduced to The Art of Writing for Anime by writer Taku Kishimoto.

What is the job of a writer for anime and manga? Japanese screenwriters write original stories, working with the director and producer to come up with new material for TV and movies.  

Anime stories have a certain structure; successful writers for anime learn to follow this structure, but at the same time they must find originality and invention within this framework.

"An Evening With..." Grant Orchard 7 October 2026

Grant Orchard introduces Hey Duggee on 7 October

We're delighted to welcome Grant Orchard, the Oscar-nominated creator of "Hey Duggee" to our next "Evening With..." event at Escape Studios on Wednesday 7 October at 5.30pm. 

Grant Orchard will talk about his career in animation and especially about how he created the award-winning TV Series "Hey Duggee", first broadcast in 2014.

This "Evening With..." event is open to all our currently enrolled students. 

Welcome to Escape Studios!

Today is the start of Welcome Week! And we're extending a very warm welcome to all our new undergraduate students at Escape Studios.

Teaching starts next week on Monday 21st September - you can find the full 2026-27 Term Dates here. 

Classes take place in person at our North Greenwich Campus at 6 Mitre Passage. 

In addition to classroom teaching, we have plenty of other resources (especially online) to help our students to learn the art and craft of animation, games, visual effects, concept art, character creation and motion graphics. 

We also have a Vimeo and Panopto Tutorial Channel which is exclusively for our students and recent Escapees.

Kazuyoshi Takeuchi and The Art of Character Design

Character Designer Kazuyoshi Takeuchi

This past week in Tokyo Japanese animator and character designer Kazuyoshi Takeuchi introduced the art of Japanese character design to our animation students, who have been studying in Tokyo, learning about manga, anime and Japanese animation techniques. 

Kazuyoshi Takeuchi has over 75 animation credits to his name, including the legendary "Akira", which was the foundational moment of his career.  He described it as "a great honour" to work with Akira director Katsuhiro Otomo. 

Escapee Allie Maraqan Joins ILM

Allie Maraqan joins ILM as a paint & roto artist

Many congratulations to Escapee Allie Maraqan who is joining Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) as a paint and roto artist.  

Allie Maraqan studied the Art of VFX at Escape Studios, specialising in 2D Compositing.   While at Escape Studios, Allie Maraqan worked on the award-winning short film "Protose" as a compositor. 

Hikaru Yajima Introduces The Art of Manga

Manga artist Hikaru Yajima and Baton no Hoshi

This week in Tokyo professional manga artist Hikaru Yajima introduced the art of manga to our animation students, who have been studying at Digital Hollywood University in Tokyo.

Manga forms much of the source material for Japanese anime, part of what gives Japanese animation its unique character and flavour.

In this interactive workshop our students had the opportunity to draw their own manga panels, with a theme set by Hikaru Yajima.

"An Evening With..." Fabrizio Arzani on 15 Oct 2026

Calling all Escape Studios students - come and join us on a journey to Pandora on October 15th for "An Evening With..." Fabrizio Arzani, lead VAD (Virtual Art Development) artist on "Avatar Fire & Ash". 

Fabrizio Arzani is a visual effects artist who has worked on multiple VFX hits, including James Cameron's 2025 blockbuster movie Avatar Fire & Ash, which won the Oscar this year for Best VFX. 

This event with WETA Digital's Fabrizio Arzani takes place online via zoom, and is open to all our currently enrolled students at Escape Studios. 

Where and When 

Online via Zoom at 6pm on Thursday 15th October. 

Shirotomo Aizawa: Japanese Art, History & Culture

Shirotomo Aizawa on Japanese Art

Today in Tokyo the composer and multimedia creator Shirotomo Aizawa introduced our animation students (who are currently studying anime and manga in Tokyo) to Japanese history, art and culture.  

Shirotomo Aizawa explained that Japanese culture was historically influenced by China, but grew and developed to have its own unique cultural identity. 

The origins of manga and anime can be found in Japan's unique cultural history and identity. 

Keisuke Mori and The Art of Acting for Anime

Japanese anime voice actor Keisuke Mori 

Japanese anime voice actor Keisuke Mori talked to our animation students in Tokyo this morning about his career performing voice overs for Japanese anime.   His credits include the 2018 movie Mirai.

Voice actors have to have to be able to perform a wide range of voices in order to do multiple characters. Vocal range is the key, the ability to perform in multiple different voices and styles.

Keisuke Mori explained that his voice is an instrument, one that he has learned to play over many years of practice working in anime.