Houdini Taster Evening Tonight 27 January 2026

We're hosting a Houdini Taster at Escape Studios today Tuesday 27th January at 5.30pm. 

There's still time to sign up and find out more about one of the fastest-growing areas of software expertise in the world of VFX.

SideFX Houdini is a digital tool that allows users to create FX work such as smoke, fire and water.  Come along tonight at 5.30pm to find out more.

"Shapla" Wins "Best Animation" at the EEFF

"Shapla" wins "Best Animation" at the EEFF

Many congratulations to the makers of "Shapla", which has won "Best Animation" at the Eastern European Film Awards. 

"Shapla" was created by our graduating class of animation students. "Shapla" was directed by Ruksar Rowza Aziz and produced by Charlie Seeviour.  Erica Sanches was the art director and Tom Price composed the original score.  

This is the latest of many festival awards. 

"Sköll Aurora" Wins "Best Short Film" in Paris

Sköll Aurora wins Best Super Short Film in Paris

Congratulations to the makers of Sköll Aurora, the animated short film created by our third year graduating class of 2D animation students at Escape Studios, which has won "Best Super Short Film" at the Paris Film Awards. 

Sköll Aurora tells the story of light re-entering a dark and desolate world; it was written and directed by Mahamat Souleymane and produced by Amos Mathias.  This is its fourth festival award. 

Motion Graphics Taster Monday 26 Jan 2026

Motion Graphics Taster on Saturday 20th July

Join us on Monday 26 Jan 2026 at 5.30pm for a free taster session in Adobe Illustrator, one of the key pieces of software used on our Motion Graphics MA and Short Course. 

This taster session takes place online and offers prospective students a chance to meet our tutors, try out our software and find out what it's like to study with us.   This Adobe Illustrator Taster is taught by Escape Studios Motion Graphics Tutor Daniel Amor. 

"The VFX Life" With Brooke McGowan 3 Feb 2026

Join us on Tuesday 3 February at 6pm for our next VFX Event, "The VFX Life Blueprint" with vfx compositor (and Escapee) Brooke McGowan.  

Brooke McGowan is a VFX artist and professional life coach whose goal is to "empower the VFX, Film & TV Industry to learn the skills they need to build multiple streams of income".   To sign up for this free event, follow this link. 

Houdini Evening Class Returns 21 April 2026

Houdini Evening Class Starts 21 April 2026

Our next Evening Class in SideFX Houdini starts again on 21 April 2026. 

SideFX Houdini is the leading software for the creation of digital FX, such as smoke, fire, water and - in Houdini 20 - clouds and feathers.  

Escape Studios is a Houdini Certified School.   This evening class is taught by Houdini expert and industry veteran Mark Spevick. 

Producing VFX Evening Class Returns 24 March 2026

Producing for VFX returns on 24 March 2026

Our Evening Class in Producing for VFX is back, starting on 24 March 2026.  Producing for VFX is an eight week evening class, taught two nights a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-10pm). 

Producing for VFX is designed to give students a thorough understanding of how the VFX production pipeline works, and how to apply it in practice.  VFX Producers and Line Producers remain a critical skills gap in industry. 

"Mob Boss Barkino" wins Best Super Short in Florence

"Mob Boss Barkino" wins Best Super Short Film in Florence

Congratulations to the makers of "Mob Boss Barkino", which has won Best Super Short Film at the Florence Film Awards.

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 fifth festival award. 

"Vivid" Wins "Best VFX" at Hollywood Gold Awards.

Vivid wins "Best VFX" at the Hollywood Gold Awards

Congratulations to the makers of the short film "Vivid" which has won an award for "Best VFX" at the Hollywood Gold Awards. 

"Vivid" was created by our third year graduating class of VFX students.  Vivid was written and directed by Kia Claire, and produced by Amber Coventry.  Samuel Greer was the 3D VFX Lead and William Griffith was the 2D VFX Lead.   This is the latest of many festival awards. 

Congratulations to Escapees at 2026 Golden Globes

Congratulations to the many Escapees (Escape Studios' alumni) whose animation and visual effects work was celebrated at the 2026 Golden Globes Awards last Sunday 11th January 2026. 

Eight Escapees worked on Avatar: Fire & Ash.  Eleven Escapees worked on Wicked: For Good.  Thirteen Escapees worked on "Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning".  Four Escapees worked on Sinners. 

The winners of the 2026 Golden Globes Awards were announced during the live telecast on January 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton, Los Angeles. 

EscapeVerse Live 24-26 Feb - Get Tickets Now

Tickets are now available for Escapeverse Live, a global in-person and online event hosted by Escape Studios, celebrating VFX, animation, games and tech art. 

Escapeverse Live  runs from 24th - 26th February 2026, and we'll be sharing behind-the-scenes insights from the best of the screen industries. 

To find out more, and get your free tickets, follow this link: https://lnkd.in/eSp9D26C

Cinematography Workshop at Escape Studios

Understanding the language of cinematography is one of the key skills all our students learn in their first year at Escape Studios. Being able to compose an image, take a picture, and use a moving camera is part of the fundamental language of visual storytelling.  At Escape Studios, Animators and VFX artists learn how to tell stories with pictures.  Watch the video above to see our cinematography class in action, led by Head of VFX Clement Gharini. 

What Escape Studios Means to Us: Student Stories

What Escape Studios Means to Us: Student Stories from Escape Studios' students. If you're think of applying for any of our courses, watch the video above to get an idea of the student experience at Escape Studios.

UCAS "Equal Consideration Deadline" Wed Jan 14th

The clock is ticking for UCAS applications for Escape Studios for September 2026.

The UCAS "Equal Consideration" deadline is tomorrow Wednesday 14 January 2026.  

If you are thinking of applying to Escape Studios to study the Art of Animation, Games, Concept Art, Motion Graphics or Visual effects, it's time to get your application in through UCAS. 

Your career in the creative industries starts here.  

London's Cartoon Museum Seeks Volunteers

Cartoon Museum seeks volunteers

Calling all Escape Studios students and Escapees - London's Cartoon Museum is looking for volunteers to help out at their Wells St home. 

The Cartoon Museum is one of London's artistic treasures, and a great place for cartoonists and animators to meet like-minded members of our tribe. To find out more visit their Volunteering Page here. 

Callum Reeve Joins Framestore as Paint & Roto Artist

Callum Reeve

Many congratulations to Escapee Callum Reeve who has joined VFX house Framestore as a Paint & Roto Artist. 

While at Escape Studios, Callum Reeve studied the Art of Visual Effects, specialising in 2D compositing VFX. 

While at Escape Studios, Callum Reeve worked as a digital compositor on two successful short VFX films: "Joe", and The Lost City of Aztlan, both of which have won many festival awards.  

Short Course & Post-Graduate Tasters Jan 26, 27 & 29

2026 Short Course and Post-Graduate Taster Sessions

Join us on weeknights in January and February for our next Short Course and Post-Graduate Taster Sessions at Escape Studios, hosted online via Zoom.

Our Short Course and Post-Graduate Taster Sessions take place on January 26, 27 & 29, and on February 4. Visit the official site to book your place. 

"Am I Dreaming?" Wins Best Musical at UK Awards

"Am I Dreaming?" wins Best Animated Musical at UK Awards

Congratulations to director Jake Lee and the makers of the short film "Am I Dreaming?" which has won Best Animated Musical at the UK Film Awards. 

"Am I Dreaming?" is a short film 

directed by Jake Lee, and produced by Escapee Emmanouil "Manos" Zervoudakis.  

"Am I Dreaming?" is an animated musical featuring an original song written and composed by Lilianne Coeverden and performed by Kiersten Nielson. 

Short Course and Post-Graduate Open Evening 21 Jan

Short Course and Post-Graduate Open Evening 21 Jan 2026

Join us on Wednesday 21st January 2026 at 6pm both in-person and online (via Zoom) for our next Short Course and Post-Graduate Open Evening at Escape Studios, hosted online at Zoom. 

The event offers prospective students a chance to find out what it's like to study with us.  Meet our tutors, find out about our courses, and have your questions answered. To see more events at Escape Studios, follow this link.

Character Creation Evening Class: 23 March 2026

Gorilla by Michael Davies

Our Evening Class in Character Creation returns to Escape Studios on 23 March 2026.

The Evening Class in Character Creation teaches students how to design and create their own character designs, and bring them to life.  Students learn to design, model, texture, rig and animate your own character.

The Character Creation Evening Class course is taught by Aidan Lonergan.  Aidan's screen credits include The Hunger Games and Aquaman.

Escape Studios' Animation & VFX YouTube Channel

Animation & VFX YouTube Channel

Thinking of applying to Escape Studios to study animation or visual effects? To see what kind of work our students do, check out our Animation & VFX YouTube Channel.

You can see examples of our latest demo reels, samples of character animation, locomotion and mechanics, motion graphics, VFX, and even find a playlist of advice and resources for finding work in the animation industry.

Concept Art Returns on 24 March 2026

Concept Art by Sohaib Mehar

Our Concept Art Evening Class returns to Escape Studios on 24 March 2026.  Concept Art  is a part-time evening class, taught one night a week, running for ten weeks from 7 until 10pm. 

Concept Art introduces students to the skills that make a well-rounded concept artist, including 3D & 2D software and - of course - the growing power of AI.

Young Cartoonist of the Year Awards 2025

The Young Cartoonist of the Year Awards are back. Hosted by the Cartoon Museum in London, the annual Young Cartoonist of the Year competition seeks to reward rising cartoon talent.

Judges include Martin Rowson (The Guardian), Christian Adams (Evening Standard), Banx (FT), Peter Brookes (The Times), Nick Newman (Private Eye), and Matt Pritchett from the Daily Telegraph.  

Hard copy entries can be mailed to the Cartoon Museum,  at 63 Wells St, London W1T 3PT, or emailed to hello@cartoonmuseum.org.  Entry to the contest is free. 

As always, we encourage all our students to enter competitions such as this one.  The deadline for entries is 31 January 2026.

Compositing Evening Class Returns 26 March 2026

Compositing Evening Class returns on 24 September 2024

Our next Compositing Evening Class starts on 26 March 2026.  Taught by our industry experts, this course teaches the art and craft of 2D VFX compositing for the visual effects industry. 

Compositing is the art of combining different images to create a single cohesive image.  Compositors are always in demand in the VFX industry, with high levels of employment among our Escapees.

Happy New Year From Escape Studios

Happy New Year to all our students and staff at Escape Studios. 2026 will bring new challenges - but also new opportunities.  Like last year, AI continues to be the big talking point in our industry.  Will AI replace human jobs, or will it sit alongside our workflow as part of the digital artists' toolkit?

Only time will tell, but in the meantime the wise artist should be experimenting with the new tools, such as ChatGPT, OpenAI and MidJourney.  Test them out, experiment with them, and see what AI can do - and what it can't.