Locksmith, Paramount, DreamWorks and Comcast

London is a busy hub for animation these days, and animation is much in the news. The business is growing, with industry crying out for talent with the right training. Here is a link to a great story at arstechnica.com about how London became one of the global centres for visual effects work, creating global smash hits made right here in the UK.

London's cutting edge VFX skill is, of course the reason we're all here. Escape Studios has been training talent for the VFX industry for the last fourteen years, with around 4,000 Escapees working in the business. For my part, I came back to London from Hollywood in 2007 to work on a series of LA-funded pictures that had their VFX work done in London.

Coming soon to London

And the word on the street is that business in the capital continues to expand, with animation especially ramping up this summer and fall.  One of the best pieces of recent news is the announcement by Paramount Pictures that they will be working with London's Locksmith animation to develop a while new slate of feature films.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, my old alma mater DreamWorks is being sold, with industry legend Jeffrey Katzenberg stepping down from the company he founded. The buyer is Comcast, with Chris Meladandri, who built the Despicable Me and Minions franchises, helming the re-born studio. But the fear in Los Angeles now is all about likely job losses and cuts.

Here at Escape we're excited about the future of our industry, and especially in our city.  Outside my window, summer is here at last, and for animators with the right skills and the right training, the future looks bright.

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To find out more about our new BA/MArt starting in September 2016, follow this link.  To apply, visit the offical page here.