"Animation Featured" Launched by BFI and MAF

Animation Featured from BFI and MAF

Calling all Escape Studios students and Escapees looking to develop an idea for an animated feature film - the Manchester Animation Festival (the UK’s largest and only Academy Award and BAFTA‑qualifying animation festival) has just launched "Animation Featured". 

Animation Featured is a "high‑impact development accelerator designed to strengthen the UK’s feature animation pipeline and support the next generation of independent filmmakers".  The deadline to apply is Sunday 16 August 2026. 

A Moment in Time at the BFI Sun 22 Sept 2024

A Moment in Time at the BFI Sunday 22 September 2024

Richard Williams' unfinished masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler - A Moment in Time - will be screened at the BFI on Sunday 22 September 2024, with a Q&A with producer Imogen Sutton.

To buy tickets to see this rarely-screened (only the 3rd UK screening ever) unfinished film, follow the link to the BFI website here.

Jericho & Home Sweet Home at BFI Fest

Escapees at the BFI on Saturday

On Saturday October 5th the makers of Jericho and Home Sweet Home represented Escape Studios at the 63rd BFI London Film Festival, with their films being screened as part of the Family Short Film Programme.

Ten short films were shown, including two from Disney and one from DreamWorks.

Three shorts were shown from the UK, and after the screening was over, our students were invited up to the front of the stage where the BFI's Justin Johnson did a short interview with each team.

Jericho and Home Sweet Home in BFI London Film Festival Saturday 5th October

Many congratulations to the makers of Jericho and Home Sweet Home; both films have been invited to participate in the 63rd BFI London Film Festival from 2-13 October 2019, as part of the Family Short Film Programme. The nominees were officially announced on 29 August.

The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1953 and held in London, running in the second half of October with cooperation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shorts from approximately 50 countries.

Jericho and Home Sweet Home will be screened at the BFI on London's South Bank on Saturday 5th October at Noon.

A Christmas Carol at BFI 9th December

A Christmas Carol, 1971

Richard Williams' animated Oscar-winning adaptation of the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol is to be screened at the BFI on Sunday 9th December at 3pm, along with two other British animated classics: Raymond Briggs' The Snow Man and Father Christmas.

The event is a great opportunity to see some beautiful home-grown animation, and after the screening there will be a Q&A with directors Dave Unwin and Richard Williams.

And, if you are lucky, you might even get a chance to have your copy of "The Animator's Survival Kit" signed by the author. 

Thief and the Cobbler at BFI 25th November

A Moment in Time

Richard Williams' unfinished masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler - A Moment in Time - is to be screened at the BFI on Sunday 25th November, with a Q&A afterwards.

To buy tickets to see this rarely-screened film, follow the link to the BFI website here.

Escape Animators Run Master Classes at BFI

Last weekend Escape studios staff and students descended on BFI Southbank, the London home of the UK film Industry, to deliver a series of talks, masterclasses and software demos to up-and-coming young film makers.

The event was titled BFI Future Film Labs – Post Production, and was a chance for Escape students to meet other film-makers and share ideas.

Among those who helped to deliver workshops were second year animation students Aaron Hopwood and Katerina Zacharakis, demonstrating some cool animation techniques.

Evgenia Golubeva's "I am Not a Mouse"

I I am not a Mouse from Evgenia Golubeva on Vimeo.

Many congratulations to Escapee Evgenia Golubeva who has just released her award-winning animated short film "I am not a Mouse" online at Vimeo, following a highly successful run at international animation festivals, winning many prizes along the way.  "I am not a Mouse" is about a little girl called Lucy, who is nicknamed "Mouse" by her Mother.  Trouble is, every time Lucy is called 'Mouse' by her Mum, she turns into a real mouse. What is Lucy to do?

BFI To Host Special Screening of Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films on 5 Feb

The British Film Institute on London's South Bank is hosting a special screening of the animated short films which have been nominated for an Oscar this year.  

You can see the films on just one night: Friday 5 February 2016 at 7pm. 

The evening is a chance to see some of the best work in our industry, mostly by independent film-makers, and also to hear a Q&A with Richatd Williams, author of The Animator's Survival Kit, who is one of this year's nominees.

Lost Disney Film Found in the BFI National Archive - Meet Oswald The Lucky Rabbit!

The BFI were digging around recently in the back of their sofa (The BFI National Archive) and guess what they found? Not just the missing remote and a ton of loose change, but a long-lost Disney short featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the character created by Walt Disney before he struck gold with Mickey Mouse.

The film is called Sleigh Bells and was first released in 1928. You can buy tickets to see the film yourself at BFI on London's South Bank.

But first - who the heck was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit anyway?

How Do You Become an Animator? BFI Explains

BFI has a remit to promote film in the UK, and the BFI Film Academy have put together a short five minute video titled "How Do You Become an Animator?", which includes interviews with leading animators in the UK on how they got started, and how they made it in the business.

Interviewees include Aardman's Peter Lord, who created "Morph", and indie animator Joanna Quinn, whose unique animation style has won her dozens of awards.  So what can our students learn from their success?