Welcome To Escape Studios!

Welcome to Escape Studios!

A very warm welcome to our new animation and vfx undergraduate students who recently joined us to study for their BA/Mart in Animation or BA/MArt in VFX. 

Teaching started on Monday 22nd September - you can find the full 2025-26 Term Dates here. 

Classes take place at our North Greenwich Campus at 6 Mitre Passage. In addition to classroom teaching, we have plenty of other resources to help our students to learn the art and craft of animation and vfx. 

Five Best Books To Learn Animation

The Animator's Survival Kit

What are the key books that our new animation students need to learn the craft of animation?

Books may be a bit old school these days, but a good book is still a great place to start learning about and exploring the world of character animation.

The best books will teach you, immerse you - and inspire you to do your very best work.  Books on animation can be found in the 11th Floor Animation & VFX Library. 

Happy 25th Birthday Blue Zoo!

Blue Zoo 25th Anniversary Party

This past week the BAFTA-winning animation studio Blue Zoo celebrated their 25th birthday with a huge party that brought together past and present team members, collaborators, and friends of the studio.

The event celebrated a quarter-century of award-winning creativity, from groundbreaking children’s TV shows to acclaimed commercials.  

Blue Zoo has mentored many Escape Studios' animation students at both undergraduate and graduate level, and many Escapees have begun their animation careers at Blue Zoo.

"Hubris" Wins "Best Animation" at London Fest

Congratulations to the makers of "Hubris" which has won "Best Animation" at the London Movie Awards.  

"Hubris" was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  "Hubris" was written and directed by Sohaib Mehar and produced by Secander Sadat.  The editor was Gleb Migas, and the art director was Leona Lu.  This is its fourth festival award. 

Why Animators Need To Hold Poses Longer

Animation by Sunny Asadi - hold that pose

One of the common mistakes made by junior animators is the “default face.” A character smiles, frowns, gasps — and then, almost instantly, snaps back to a bland neutral expression.  It’s as if the performance forgets itself. 

This also happens in lipsync; where the character will make a vowel or consonant; then snap back into a default mouth shape much too quickly. Much better to hold the vowel or consonant longer, and really get the most out of the pose. 

"Barkino" Wins Best Trailer at HEI Festival

Mob Boss Barkino wins Best Trailer at HEI Festival

Congratulations to the makers of "Mob Boss Barkino", which has won Best Trailer at the Heart of Europe Film Festival. 

Mob Boss Barkino was written and directed by Leon Lau, and produced by Angharad Mathias.  The lead animator was Maisy Rogers, and the Editor was Tobi Ajibola.  Industry feedback was generously provided by Charlie Tetlow and Felipe De Lanteuil from Industrial Light & Magic.  This its third festival award. 

VFX Core Skills Handbook 2025 Launched

The updated Core Skills of VFX Handbook 2025 has been launched at an event at Cinesite in London. 

Collated by Escapee Saint John Walker and funded by UK Screen Alliance and BFI Metro London Skills Cluster, the Handbook serves as both a blueprint for course curricula in higher education and a practical guide for students learning VFX.  You can download it here. 

"Bloom" wins "Best Animated Film" in Milan

"Bloom" wins "Best Animated Film" at the Milan Gold awards

Congratulations to the makers of "Bloom", which has won "Best Animated Film" at the Milan Gold awards. "Bloom" was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.

Bloom was written and directed by Vanessa Marques-Navaratnasingam and produced by Grace Lam. This is its second festival award.

New Euro Scholarship for Undergraduate Students

Escape Studios is proud to announce a new European Scholarship for undergraduate students joining us in September 2026.

This initiative offers a partial fee waiver to all eligible students from EU and EEA countries joining us for any undergraduate degree, with no separate application required.

So, if you’re a student from Europe keen on joining one of the top VFX, games, animation or technical courses, this is the perfect time to apply.

Escape Studios welcome overseas students, who bring with them fresh ideas and different ways of working.

Find out more about our new European Scholarship here at the official site.

Helen Piercy on Grand Jury at Norwich Film Festival

We're delighted to congratulate our external examiner Helen Piercy, who has been selected for the Grand Jury at the 2025 Norwich Film Festival which takes place in November.

Helen Piercy is our External Examiner for our BA in 3D animation at Escape Studios.  External examiners play an important part of quality control in UK higher education, ensuring that our courses meet the highest standards, and the grades awarded are correct and appropriate.

We're honoured to have Helen onboard; she is an experienced animator, published author, education director for Animated Women UK and also animation lecturer at the Norwich University of the Arts. 

Animation Recruiter Tiffany Feeney Returns to Escape

Tiffany Feeney of Talent Outpost

We're delighted to welcome back animation recruiter Tiffany Feeney from the Talent Outpost Animation & VFX Recruitment Agency to help deliver PS6003, our final Professional Practice Module for our undergraduate animation students at Escape Studios. 

Escape Studios VFX Showreel 2025

We're proud to present our 2025 VFX demo reel from Escape Studios, featuring the best work created by our students over the past year.  Visual Effects is at the heart of what we do; it's where we began over twenty five years ago when Escape Studios was first founded to bridge the gap between the needs of industry for studio ready talent, which remains our mission today.

"Dusty Memories" Wins Best Super Short in Paris

Dusty Memories" wins "Best Super Short Film" in Paris

Many congratulations to the makers of "Dusty Memories", which has won "Best Super Short Film"  at the Paris Film Awards.  

"Dusty Memories" was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.   "Dusty Memories" was written and directed by Grace Lam, and edited and produced by Max Ebdon.  This is its second festival award. 

Montse Larque Animator at Illumination Paris

Montse Larqué

Many congratulations to Escapee Montse Larqué who has joined Illumination Paris as an animator. 

Montse Larqué Ferrer joined us at Escape Studios as an Exchange Student from La Salle in Barcelona, working as both concept artist and also Lead Animator on the VFX short film "Sweet Heart", which has won many festival awards.

Escape Studios Post Graduate Term Dates 2025-26

Escape Studios Post-Graduate Term Dates 2025-26

Our postgraduate and short course term dates for the academic year starting in September 2025 have been published - you can see the dates on the left or download the full PDF here.

Enrolment for our new postgraduate nd short course students started on Monday 8th September; Welcome Week starts on Monday 15th September, and formal teaching begins on Monday 22nd September.  As always, we extend a warm welcome to all our new students!

Escapee Lucia Caccavale Animator at Lab Sessions

Lucia Caccavale

Many congratulations to Escapee Lucia Caccavale who has joined the games co Lab Sessions as a game animator.  

Lucia Caccavale studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, graduating in the summer of 2024 with first class honours. 

While at Escape Studios, Lucia contributed to many award-winning short films, including The Descent, Wake Up!, Game Heist and When Life Gives You Lemons.  

"Set in Stone" Wins Best VFX at EEFF

Set in Stone" wins "Best VFX" at Eastern Europe Awards

Congratulations to the makers of the VFX short film "Set in Stone", which has won "Best VFX" at the Eastern European Film Awards.  

Directed by Derek Joel Eniolu, and produced by Akasha Devlin-Clovering,  "Set in Stone" was a collaboration between animation and VFX students at Escape Studios, working together to create original stories.  

This is its second festival award. 

Daniel Beeching Studio Assistant at Escape Studios

Daniel Beeching Studio Assistant

We are extending a warm welcome to Daniel Beeching who joins Escape Studios as a Studio Assistant.

Daniel Beeching studied the Art of VFX at Escape studios, contributing to a number of award-winning short films, including Mini Mail, Socks To Be You and Odd Socks. 

Studio Assistants are a key part of the team at Escape Studios, one of the principal resources for our students, making sure that they get regular timely feedback on their work. 

Elissa Heath Animation Intern at Case & Waterman

Elissa Heath joins Carse & Waterman Productions

Congratulations to Escapee Elissa Heath who has started an internship at the animation studio Carse & Waterman Productions.  Elissa will be learning the Blender animation pipeline at Carse & Waterman.

Elissa Heath studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios.   She also contributed to a number of award-winning animated short films, including "Dusty Memories" and "Bloom", on which she served as lead animator. 

"Save Yourself" Wins "Best VFX" at Roshani Film Fest

Congratulations to the makers of VFX short Save Yourself which has won "Best VFX" at the Roshani Film Festival.  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.  This is the latest of many awards for Save Yourself. 

Emmanuel Rahman Joins ILM's Jedi Academy

Emmanuel Rahman joins ILM

Congratulations to Escapee Emmanuel Rahman who has joined Industrial Light & Magic's Jedi Academy. 

Emmanuel Rahman studied the Art of Visual Effects at Escape Studios, specialising in 2D Digital Compositing.  While at Escape Studios, Emmanuel contributed to a number of award-winning films, including X-Terminate, In Depth, and Outpatient.   He also joined the Escape Studios team as a Studio Assistant.

Wiktoria Swierk Production Trainee at Tiger Aspect

Wiktoria Swierk

Many congratulations to Escapee Wiktoria Swierk who has joined Tiger Aspect Productions as a Production Trainee at Tiger Aspect Kids.

Wiktoria Swierk studied the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios. 

At Escape Studios, Wiktoria worked on a number of award-winning films, including Tatty, Stellar Rescue, Labyrinth Reloaded, Queerbaiting and also The Wanderer, all of which she produced.  Producing animation is a well-tested pathway into industry for our students and Escapees. 

Akasha Devlin-Clovering Intern at Blue Zoo Animation

Akasha Devlin-Clovering

Many congratulations to Escapee Akasha Devlin-Clovering who is joining Blue Zoo Animation as an animation intern. 

While at Escape Studios, Akasha studied the Art of Compputer Animation. She also contributed to a number of award-winning shorts films, including Ongo, Set in Stone and Order Up. 

Blue Zoo is a BAFTA-winning studio responsible for multiple hit TV series such as Paddington and Numberblocks. 

Meet The Masters: Shane Woodson 11th Sept 2025

Are you an aspiring 2D Animator?  Join us at our latest "Meet the Masters" event on Thursday 11th September at 6:00pm with Escape Studios' animation tutor Shane Woodson. 

To sign up follow this link: 👉https://bit.ly/47iNTHJ.

Shane Woodson is an experienced 2D animator whose credits include Mog's Christmas and Peter and the Wolf, as well as Love, Death & Robots and the 2024 feature film Kensuke’s Kingdom

Shane also has extensive experience with Toonboom Harmony, one of the leading software packages for delivering 2d animation. 

Shane has worked at Blue Zoo Animation Studios, Lupus Films, Blink Industries and Passion Pictures.

George Keppy FX Artist at Framestore

Escapee George Keppy

Many congratulations to Escapee George Keppy who has joined Framestore as an FX Artist, or "FX TA", having first completed a successful internship at Framestore. 

Framestore is one of the UK's leading animation and VFX houses, responsible for multiple hit projects, including Paddington in Peru, Wicked, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and James Gunn's Superman.

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"Hubris" Wins "Best Anim" at London Film Club

"Hubris" wins "Best Animation" at London Film Club

Congratulations to the makers of "Hubris" which has won "Best Animation" at the London Film Club.  

"Hubris" was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  "Hubris" was written and directed by Sohaib Mehar and produced by Secander Sadat.  The editor was Gleb Migas, and the art director was Leona Lu.  This is its third festival award. 

Undergraduate Open Day Sat 27 Sept 2025

Escape Studios is hosting two new undergraduate open days on Saturday 27th September 2025 and Saturday 25 October 2025.

Escape Studios' Open Days are a chance to find out about our undergraduate degrees in Animation, The Art of Games and Visual Effects.

An Open Day is an opportunity for potential students to find out how they can follow in the footsteps of our award-winning alumni, and also to check out our North Greenwich Campus.

Looking for advice on what to put in your portfolio? Our tutors are available to help. You can also see what our classrooms look like, what kind of software and hardware we're running, and also find out about current job opportunities in the animation and VFX industries. 

Screen Skills Animation Trainee Finder 2025 Opens

Apply at Screen Skills' official site

Calling all Animation Escapees - on September 1st Screen Skills launched a new paid placement scheme for graduates, The "Animation Trainee Finder". Applications for the scheme are now open, and close on Friday 26th September 2025.

"Animation Trainee Finder" places trainees on animation productions and aims to ensure a steady supply of talent for the UK animation industry.

Erica Sanches Simões Joins King Bee Animation

Erica Sanches Simões joins King Bee Animation

Many congratulations to Escapee Erica Sanches Simões who has joined King Bee Animation in London as an animation intern.

Erica Sanches Simões studied the Art of 2D Computer Animation at Escape Studios, working on a number of award-winning films, including Shapla. 

King Bee is an animation studio based in Ealing Studios, West London.

Escapee Jasmin Patel Joins ILM Jedi Academy

Many congratulations to Escapee Jasmine Patel who has started as a paint artist at Industrial Light & Magic ("ILM"), one of the world's leading animation and VFX houses, as part of their Jedi Academy programme.  

Jasmine Patel studied the Art of VFX at Escape Studios, specialising in 2D Digital Compositing. 

Jasmine Patel also worked on a number of award-winning short films at Escape Studios, including "Set in Stone" and Save Yourself, which she directed.