Tim Jones Animator at Compost Creative

Congratulations to Escapee Tim Jones who is a now working as an animator at Compost Creative, an Emmy award-winning studio based in the UK.

Tim took our master's degree in 3D animation at Escape Studios, taught by veteran animator Lee Caller, after which Tim put together a strong animation demo reel, and built a LinkedIn profile with embedded links to his demo reel and website.

You can find Tim Jones at his LinkedIn page here.

"Tech Troubles" Wins "Best Score" in Singapore

"Tech Troubles" wins "Best Original Score" in Singapore

Many congratulations to the makers of the VFX short "Tech Troubles", which has won the award for "Best Original Score" at the Indo Singapore International Film Festival.

Directed by David Akinyose and produced by Louis Gaffney,  Tech Troubles was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.  

The original score was composed by Ben Salwey. 

Escape Studios Visits Westminster Kingsway College

Westminster Kingsway College 

Last week Escape Studios visited Westminster Kingsway College to talk to with students and young professionals about careers in animation. 

The event was hosted by Film London to provide aspiring artists with guidance on how to break into the creative industries  and, specifically, into the animation industry.  

Today the animation industry continues to grow, despite Covid and Brexit, boosted recently by expansion of the UK Govt Tax Credit. 

  

"Game Knight" Hon Mention Best VFX in Athens Fest

"Game Knight" wins Best VFX (Hon Mention) in Athens

Congratulations to the makers of "Game Knight", which has won an Honourable Mention for Best VFX at the Athens International Film Festival.

Directed by Wyndham Brunt and produced by Christopher Marsden-Carleton,  Game Knight was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students.  

This is the latest of a number of festival awards. 

Escapee Priya Shah 3D Layout Artist at Locksmith

Priya Shah

Congratulations to Escapee Priya Shah who is now working as a Layout Artist at Locksmith Animation in London.  Locksmith is one of London's leading animation studios, responsible for the critically acclaimed animated feature film "Ron's Gone Wrong". 

While at Escape Studios, Priya worked on a number of short film projects, including directing "Our Ocean", an animated short created by our fourth year animation and vfx students, studying the Art of Computer Animation and VFX.

"Papercut" Wins "Best Super Short" in London

"Papercut" wins "Best Super Short" at London Awards

Many congratulations to makers of the VFX short film "Papercut", which has won "Best Super Short Film" at the London Movie Awards.
  

Directed by Giorgos Konstantinou and produced by Victoria Arraez, Papercut was a collaboration between 3rd year undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original short.   

This is the latest of many festival awards for Papercut.

Escapee Alex Williams Developer at Wix Games

Alex Williams

Congratulations to Escapee Alex Williams who has joined Wix Games as a developer. Alex took our short course in Computer Animation, taught by veteran animator Lee Caller. 

Wix Games Ltd.is a online and application games company based in London.  It is home to many internationally successful games, such as the DuckLife series, Monster Truck Maniac and Faceshot.

Our next Short Course and MA in Computer Animation returns in September 2023.

"iCare" Wins "Best Sci-Fi" at Int'l Gold Awards

"iCare" wins "Best SciFi" at International Gold Awards

Congratulations to the makers of the short VFX film "iCare", which has won the award for "Best SciFi" at the International Gold Awards.

Directed by Bruno Urzi and produced by Alex Sellen,  iCare was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.

This is the latest of many festival awards for iCare.

"The Crash" Wins "Best Trailer" at Robinson Awards

"The Crash" wins "Best Trailer" at Robinson Awards

Many congratulations to the makers of "The Crash", a short VFX film created by students at Escape Studios, which has won an award for "Best Trailer" at the Robinson Film Awards.

"The Crash" is a sci-fi VFX short written and directed by Lewys Rhodes, and produced by Daniel Rowe.   The Crash has won many festival awards. 

External Examiner to Visit Escape Studios

Adam Twycross 

On Monday 24 April we welcome Adam Twycross to Escape Studios - Adam is our external examiner for our undergraduate course in The Art of VFX.  

Adam is a senior lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, and an experienced vfx artist.

External examiners play an important part of quality control in UK higher education, ensuring that our courses meet the highest standards, and that the grades awarded are correct and appropriate.

"Lucky Break" Wins "Best VFX" Award at EEFF

Many congratulations to the makers of "Lucky Break", which has won "Best VFX" Award at the Eastern European Film Festival.

Lucky Break was directed by Victoria Stoykova, edited by Rohnak Sharma, and produced by Adewale Ogunbekun. 

Lucky Break was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.  

Daniel Dutton CG Designer at Orange

Daniel Dutton

Many congratulations to our Escapee Daniel Dutton who has recently started work at global telecoms giant Orange as a CG Designer. 

Daniel studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, and worked on many award-winning short films during the course of his studies.  He was the editor on the BAFTA-shortlisted Jericho, a short film about a lonely robot searching for a friend.

Daniel was also the Technical Director on the award-winning short film Minuet, managing the Unreal Engine pipeline. He also directed the award-winning short film "Working with Dinosaurs".

"Sweet Heart" Wins Best LGBT Film at Vesuvius Fest

"Sweet Heart" wins "Best LGBT" film at Vesuvius Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Sweet Heart", which has won Best LGBT film at the Vesuvius Film Festival.

Sweet Heart is a short VFX film created by students at Escape Studios; it was directed by Liam Mann, co-directed by Shenaaz Suliman, and produced by Emmanouil "Manos" Zervoudakis.  

"Sweet Heart" tells the story of two cake figurines who fall in love.  It has won many festival awards.

Aidan Lonergan Tutor at Escape Studios

Aidan Lonergan

We're extending a warm welcome to our newest tutor at Escape Studios - Escapee Aidan Lonergan, who will soon be teaching our short course and MA in Character and Creature Creation, now recruiting for September 2023.  

Aidan comes to us from MPC, one of the UK's longest-established VFX and animation houses, where he worked as a rigger, and from Factory 42, an immersive and television content production studio based at Somerset House on the Strand.

Aidan takes over teaching the short course and MA in Character and Creature Creation from Michael Davies, who first developed the course content.   

"Game Knight" Wins 3 Stars Award at BIAFF

"Game Knight" wins "3 Stars Award" at the BIAFF

Congratulations to the makers of "Game Knight", which has won a "3 Stars Award" at the British International Amateur Film Festival.

Directed by Wyndham Brunt and produced by Christopher Marsden-Carleton,  Game Knight was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students.  

This is the latest of a number of festival awards. 

"Tatty" Wins "Best VFX" at Rohip Film Festival

"Tatty" wins "Best VFX" at the Rohip Film Awards. 

Congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Tatty", which has won "Best VFX" at the Rohip International Film Awards. 

Directed by Amelia Watson and produced by Wiktoria Swierk, "Tatty" was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students at Escape Studios, working together to create an original story.  

This is the latest of many festival awards for Tatty.

"Mechamorphosis" Wins 3 Stars Award at BIAFF

"Mechamorphosis" wins "3 Stars Award" at the BIAFF

Congratulations to the makers of "Mechamorphosis", which has won a "3 Stars Award" at the British International Amateur Film Festival.

Mechamorphosis was written and produced by Alberto Scotti and directed by Ilaria Colavito, both of who are now working as Studio Assistants at Escape Studios.  

Animation was completed by Steven Lall.  Hélios Lyons did the sound design and composed the original music.  The project was overseen by Head of Animation Michael Davies. 

Get "Job Ready" - with the Talent Development Dept

Time for our soon-to-be-graduates to get "Job Ready" - with the Talent Development Dept at Escape Studios. Talent Development are offering our students a series of one-on-one sessions to help get your CV, cover letter, portfolio, Demo Reel and LinkedIn profile into shape - before graduation day.

All these sessions are completely free, and involve a personal look at all the elements needed to succeed in the Creative Industries.  Is your CV short and to the point? Is your animation demo reel polished, and as good as it can be? Is it online, and easy to find?  Have you polished your LinkedIn Profile? 

At Escape Studios we focus on making sure our Escapees are "Studio-Ready Talent", prepared for industry and the needs of the jobs market.  To sign up, follow the QR code on the image on the left. Note that these sessions are for currently enrolled students only.

Introducing "Backtrack"

Introducing "Backtrack" - the latest short film created at Escape Studios.   "Backtrack" is a teaser/trailer for an animated film telling the story of a young athlete who is bullied at school.  Can our hero overcome the odds and win the school track competition?  The Backtrack trailer was directed by Philippa "Pip" Cowen and produced by Sihaam "Simu" Weheliye.

"Chosen" Wins "3 Stars Award" at 2023 BIAFF

"Chosen" wins "3 Stars Award" at BIAFF

Congratulations to Escape Studios animation student Pietro Mingione whose short animated film "Chosen" has won a "3 Stars Award" at the British International Amateur Film Festival. 

Chosen was animated and directed by Escape Studios animation student Pietro Mingione.  "Chosen" is a short animated film about the power of faith.  

Pietro took our MA in 3D Animation at Escape Studios, taught by veteran animator Lee Caller.  

Steve Sole to Teach 2nd Year Short Film Projects

Steve Sole

On Monday 17th April 2023 we welcome back film-maker, designer & visual development artist Steven Sole to teach our 2nd year undergraduate students, who are currently starting their second group film project at Escape Studios, part of Module PR5001, a Studio Project Module in which students work together as a group to create an original animated short film. 

Our students have five weeks from Monday until the end of the summer term to create a new short film, taking it from pitch to final render, closely mirroring the production pipeline of a real animation studio.

Meet "Squeaky Clean"

Meet "Squeaky Clean", the latest short film created by our second year animation students at Escape Studios.  Squeaky Clean was directed and produced by Luis Yarroll, and co-directed by Amy Little. The Art Director was Samun Garung, the animation lead was David Martin and William Cunningham wrote the original Score.  Squeaky Clean was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.

"Birds Connect Our World" Wins at UAE Film Fest

We're proud to congratulate the makers of the short film "Birds Connect Our World", written, directed and animated by Escapee Wing Lan Lilian Fu, which has won an award for "Best Environmental Short" at the United Arab Emirates International Film Festival.

Lilian Fu took our evening class in animation in ToonBoom Harmony. Birds Connect Our World was animated in Toonboom Harmony; this is its second festival award.

Toonboom Harmony is an increasingly important part of the 2D animation pipeline at Escape Studios; the software allows for artists to combine traditional drawing with a rig-based approach to animation, streamlining the animation process.

"Tatty" Wins Hon Mention at Art Film Awards

"Tatty" wins Best Super Short Film (Hon Mention) at AFA

Congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Tatty", which has won an Honourable Mention for "Best Super Short Film" at the Art Film Awards. 

Directed by Amelia Watson and produced by Wiktoria Swierk, "Tatty" was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students at Escape Studios, working together to create an original story.  

This is the latest of many festival awards for Tatty.

"Liminal" Wins Best Horror Short in Singapore

"Liminal" wins "Best Horror Short Film" in Singapore

Many congratulations to the makers of "Liminal", which has won "Best Horror Short Film" at the Indo Singapore International Film Festival.

"Liminal" tells the story of a young girl in a hospital ward who is beset by demons of the imagination.  It was written and directed by Zoe Walker, and produced by Alex Sellen.  

This is the latest of many festival awards for Liminal.

"Tech Troubles" Best SciFi at Future of Film Awards

"Tech Troubles" wins "Best SciFi" at Future of Film Awards

Many congratulations to the makers of the VFX short "Tech Troubles", which has won the award for "Best SciFi" at Future of Film Awards

Directed by David Akinyose and produced by Louis Gaffney,  Tech Troubles was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.  

The score was composed by Ben Salwey. 

Cartoon Forum Welcomes the UK to Europe

Cartoon Forum - Toulouse 18-21 September 2023

The European film agency "Cartoon", organisers of "Cartoon Forum" and "Cartoon Movie", has announced that UK animation will return to Cartoon Forum this year in a special initiative titled "Animated UK Meets Europe", led by Animation UK, and supported by the BBC, Disney, and other major UK Partners. 

"Lucky Break" Wins 5 Stars Award at BIAFF

"Lucky Break" wins Five Stars Award at the BIAFF

Many congratulations to the makers of "Lucky Break", which has won a Five Stars Award at the BIAFF.

Lucky Break was directed by Victoria Stoykova, edited by Rohnak Sharma, and produced by Adewale Ogunbekun. 

Lucky Break was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.  

Animation Tax Relief Increased to 39%

One less-reported aspect of the Chancellor's Spring budget was an increase in the tax relief granted by HMRC for UK animation to a generous 39%. 

This new expanded tax break appears to be in response to lobbying by the UK Creative industries, who have argued that the UK tax credit encourages animation production, and nurtures domestic talent and creativity.

Here at Escape Studios we are delighted that the Government is supporting the UK animation industry, and we welcome the news, which will surely boost UK animation production, and create a jobs pipeline for animation graduates in the UK. 

Marc Stevenson Ranks No 4 in 11 Second Club

Congratulations to Escape Studios' tutor Marc Stevenson on his successful entry into the March 11 Second Club - you can watch his animation "Horsin' Around" above.  Marc's entry was ranked no 4 in this month's 11 Second Club (out of 126 entries) - a very impressive result.  "The 11 Second Club" competition is a monthly contest in which animators compete to animate the most inventive and entertaining take on a piece of dialogue.

Escapee Alex Maynard Animator at Pop Paper City

Alex Maynard joins "Pop Paper City"

Many congratulations to Escapee Alex Maynard who has recently joined Aardman Animation's "Pop Paper City" as an animator.

"Pop Paper City" is a new animated TV series being distributed by Aardman Animations and produced by Lovelove films.

Pop Paper City is a preschool craft TV show. The series focuses on a group of paper friends as they find ways to have fun together by creating new parts of their paper world. 

Alex Maynard contributed to a number of award-winning short films at Escape Studios, including Hannibelle, which he directed.  Alex also contributed to "Freefall" (on which served as Lead Animator and CG Supervisor) "Our Ocean" and "Game Knight".

"Tatty" Wins 5 Stars Award at BIAFF

"Tatty" wins "Five Stars Award" at BIAFF

Congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Tatty", which has won a "Five Stars Award" at the British International Amateur Film Awards. 

Directed by Amelia Watson and produced by Wiktoria Swierk, "Tatty" was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students at Escape Studios, working together to create an original story.

This is the latest festival award for Tatty.

"Lucky Break" Wins Best VFX at Future of Film Fest

"Lucky Break" wins Best VFX at Future of Film Awards

Many congratulations to the makers of "Lucky Break", which has won as award for Best VFX at the Future of Film Awards.

Lucky Break was directed by Victoria Stoykova, edited by Rohnak Sharma, and produced by Adewale Ogunbekun.

Lucky Break was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.  

"Tech Troubles" Wins 5 Stars Award at 2023 BIAFF

Many congratulations to the makers of the VFX short "Tech Troubles", which has won a "5 Stars Award" at the 2023 British International Animation Film Festival. 

Directed by David Akinyose and produced by Louis Gaffney,  Tech Troubles was a collaboration between undergraduate animation and vfx students, working together to create an original story.  The score was composed by Ben Salwey. 

"Giles & Rupert" Wins Best Trailer at VIZ Fest

Giles and Rupert's Prehistoric Predicament - Best Trailer

Congratulations to the makers of Giles and Rupert's Prehistoric Predicament, which has won an award for Best Trailer at the VIZ Film Awards.

Giles and Rupert's Prehistoric Predicament is a teaser/trailer for an original animated TV series created at Escape Studios by director Toby Haslam and producers Samia Chowdhury and Georgia Baird.  Giles and Rupert are Victorian inventors whose time machine invention goes horribly wrong - creating a world of Jurassic trouble.