Introducing "Crab Companion"

Introducing "Crab Companion", the latest short animated film from Escape Studios.  "Crab Companion" was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  "Crab Companion" was written and directed by Sam Blackburn, edited by Aya Najib and produced by John Adarlo. 

Why Animators Need to Be Problem-Solvers

Eyeline problem from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"

Studios love animators who are also problem solvers. An animator who helps to solve problems (and, hopefully, doesn't create them) is a golden asset to any organisation.

On the left is an example of problem-solving by animator Simon Wells, on the 1988 feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  

Back in 1987 I was Simon's In-betweener (a job that involved smoothing out the animation flow), and I was always impressed by Simon's ability to solve visual problems, such as the one on the left.

"Cursed Bond" Wins "Best Student Film" in Milan

"Cursed Bond" wins "Best Student Film" in Milan

Many congratulations to the makers of "Cursed Bond", which has won "Best Student Film" at the Milan Gold Awards. "Cursed Bond" was created by our third year graduating class of VFX students at Escape Studios.  

The short film was written and directed by Ted Walker, and produced by Mahak Chowdhary.  Cinematography was by Irene Gomez Emilsson and the VFX Supervisor was Oliver Eveson.  Art direction was by Quimey Dasso.  Ted Walker stars as the Hermit.  This is its third festival award. 

Post-Graduate Open Event 18 June 2025

VFX Created at Escape Studios

Join us on Wednesday 18 June at 6pm for our next Short Course and Post-Graduate Open Evening at Escape Studios, hosted at our North Greenwich Campus, right next to The O2. 

The event offers prospective students a chance to visit our studios and find out what it's like to study with us.   

Come along and explore our studios and meet our tutors. 

Max Howard Returns for Industry Feedback

Max Howard

Escape Studios is delighted to welcome back animation producer Max Howard to review the short films being created by our Second Year Animation Students.

Max was the founder of Walt Disney Animation Florida, and also ran animation divisions at DreamWorks and Warner Bros Feature Animation in Los Angeles.

Industry feedback is at the heart of what we do at Escape Studios; one of the Five Pillars of the Escape Method.  

Max's screen credits include Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Iron Giant, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Igor.

"Cursed Bond" Wins "Best Student Film" in Hollywood

"Cursed Bond" wins "Best Student Film" in Hollywood

Many congratulations to the makers of "Cursed Bond", which has won "Best Student Film" at the Hollywood Gold Awards. "Cursed Bond" was created by our third year graduating class of VFX students at Escape Studios.  

The short film was written and directed by Ted Walker, and produced by Mahak Chowdhary.  Cinematography was by Irene Gomez Emilsson and the VFX Supervisor was Oliver Eveson.  Art direction was by Quimey Dasso.  Ted Walker stars as the Hermit. This is its second festival award. 

Introducing "Life's Gifts"

Introducing "Life's Gifts", the latest short animated film from Escape Studios.  "Life's Gifts" was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  "Life's Gifts" was written and directed by Jason Cole and produced by Vanessa Marques-Navaratnasingam. 

Freefolk "Futurefolk" Internship Now Open

"Futurefolk", is back, and now accepting applications

VFX House Freefolk has announced that their internship scheme, "Futurefolk", is back, and now accepting applications. 

Freefolk's talent team is now "ready to spot the skill, creativity and enthusiasm required to kick-start the careers of the next generation of VFX stars".  Deadline for submissions is midnight on April 29th 2025.  You can apply via the Freefolk website here.

"Crawl Space" Wins "Best Animated Short" Award

Crawl Space wins Best Animated Short Award 

Escape Studios is delighted to congratulation the maker of "Crawl Space", a new short animation created by MA Animation student James Hothi, which as won Best Animated Short Film at the Makizhmithran Film Festival. 

James Hothi is studying the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, taught by industry veteran Kevin Richards.  

James Hothi produced and directed the short film, and did all the animation and FX work.  This is the first festival award for Crawl Space. 

"Cursed Bond" Wins "Best Student Film" Award

Cursed Bond wins Best Student Film at Int'l Gold Awards

Many congratulations to the makers of "Cursed Bond", which has won "Best Student Film" at the International Gold Awards. "Cursed Bond" was created by our third year graduating class of VFX students at Escape Studios.  

The short film was written and directed by Ted Walker, and produced by Mahak Chowdhary.  Cinematography was by Irene Gomez Emilsson and the VFX Supervisor was Oliver Eveson.  Art direction was by Quimey Dasso.  Ted Walker stars as the Hermit.  This is its first festival award. 

"Kueh" Wins Best Animation at Reels Film Festival

Kueh" wins "Best Animation" at Reels Film Festival

Congratulations to the makers of the 2D animated short film "Kueh", which has won "Best Animation" at the Reels Film Festival.  

"Kueh" was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  

"Kueh" was written and directed by Gustav Chin and produced by Mai Lu.  This is its third festival award. 

2025 "Rookies" Open Today - 7 April 2025

The 2025 Rookies is now open

It is now time for our animation, games and vfx students to enter The Rookies Awards 2025, the international competition for young creatives.  The Rookies annual competition opens today, 7 April 2025 and the final deadline is 20th June 2025.

But don't wait until the deadline - it's always a good idea to get your project ready for entry. That way you get more eyes on your project, and a head start on the competition.  

Your checklist includes screen credits (don't forget Special Thanks), a One Sheet poster, stylish pre-production and development art - all these things should be submitted. And remember - only students can enter. Escape Studios' tutors and staff cannot do this for you. 

"Save Yourself" Wins "Best VFX" at EEF Fest

Save Yourself wins "Best VFX" at EEFF

Congratulations to the makers of Save Yourself, the latest VFX short from Escape Studios, which has won "Best VFX" at the Eastern Europe Film Awards.  Save Yourself was created by our third year graduating class of VFX students at Escape Studios.  

The short film was written and directed by Jasmine Patel and produced by Charlie Cope.  Harrison Davies was the 3D VFX lead, and Fiona Lee was the 2D VFX Lead.  Cinematography was by Irene Gomez-Emilsson.  Industry feedback was generously provided by Industrial Light & Magic. 

Filipe Correia Lead Compositor at Flawless AI

Escapee Filipe Correia 

Many congratulations to Escapee Filipe Correia who has joined Flawless AI, creators of AI-powered tools for the creative industries, as a lead compositor.  

Filipe  joins Escape Studios' tutor Allar Kaasik  who is now Visual Effects Supervisor at Flawless AI.

Filipe Correia studied the Art of Visual Effects at Escape Studios, specialising in 2D VFX (Compositing). 

While at Escape Studios, Filipe contributed to many short films, including the award-winning films Slushy, and The Crash.  

Unreal Engine for Film & TV Starts 29 April 2025

Our new Evening Class in Unreal Engine for Film and TV starts on 29 April 2025.  Taught by industry veteran Shaun Foster MFA, this course teaches the Unreal Engine pipeline, showing how digital film-makers can render their shots in real time, rather than the many hours of render times taken by traditional ray tracing packages. To find out more follow this link: https://bit.ly/4hOhLNR

Introducing "Mini Mail"

Introducing Mini Mail, the latest VFX short from Escape Studios.  Mini Mail was created by our third year graduating class of VFX students at Escape Studios; it was written and directed by Thomas Greensmith  and produced by Nilufer Refet.  Asia Gayle  was the 3D VFX lead, and Daniel Beeching was the 2D VFX Lead.  John Oakes-Pearson stars as the delivery guy.  Industry feedback was generously provided by Industrial Light & Magic.