BYOA in Covent GardenTuesday October 20 2026

Next BYOA is on Tuesday, October 20, 2026

The next Bring Your Own Animation (BYOA) event in London is taking place on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. 

The free event will run from 7:15 pm to 10:00 pm upstairs at the Nell of Old Drury, 29 Catherine Street, London, WC2B 5JS). Organized by London ACM SIGGRAPH, this monthly animation gathering is a chance for students, self-taught artists, and industry pros to bring their laptops, share their latest shots or showreels, and get feedback from professional animators.  To sign up, follow this link to Eventbrite.

Escape Studios Animators Visit Framestore

Escape Animators visit Framestore

Friday 22nd May was the last day of term for our Second Year Undergraduate Animation Students, and the term ended with a visit to London VFX house Framestore, led by Escapee Ana Erbasu, and Ian Landman, Framestore's Head of Recruitment. 

Our students visited Framestore's Chancery Lane HQ, and saw some of the impressive work done by Framestore across its many divisions.  Kevin Richards reports.

Kevin Richards Joins "Bring Your Own Animation"

Kevin Richards (on right) joins Bring Your Own Animation

Escape Studios' animation tutor Kevin Richards has become a mentor at Bring Your Own Animation, helping to review animation portfolios at the monthly London animation meetup.

BYOA is a monthly animation event taking place upstairs in a London pub - if you're a current student or a recent Escapee who is working on a shot or an updated reel, bring your work on a USB or hard drive (best not to rely on the WiFi) and get feedback from professional animators - including Kevin.  

Animal & Creature Animation Reel

We're delighted to share the latest edit of Animal & Creature Animation from Escape Studios. This animation reel includes a selection of shots from Module AN5002 - a second year undergraduate module in which students tackle animal and creature animation. The module is supervised by Escape Studios' tutor Kevin Richards. To see more about what happens in the Second Year of Animation at Escape Studios, follow this link. 

"Meet The Masters" with Kevin Richards 16 Dec 2025

"Meet The Masters" with Kevin Richards 16 Dec at 6pm

Join us on Tuesday 16 December at 6pm for our next "Meet The Masters" events with Escape Studios' animation tutor Kevin Richards.  To sign up for this free event, follow this link. 

"The Huntress" by James Hothi

Escape Studios is proud to present "The Huntress", a new short animation created by MA Animation student James Hothi.   James Hothi is studying the Art of Computer Animation at Escape Studios, taught by industry veteran Kevin Richards. "The Huntress" is a teaser/trailer for a feature film project, currently in development.

Kevin Richards To Teach Movement & Narrative

Kevin Richards 

We're delighted to welcome back veteran animator and storyboard artist Kevin Richards to teach Movement & Narrative to our first year undergraduate students at Escape Studios in September 2024.

Movement & Narrative is a mini-module, part of CR4002 Creative Foundations, in which students develop their skills in creativity, design, storyboarding and visual narrative; teaching starts in September 2024.  M&N forms part of the First Year of Undergraduate Study at Escape Studios. 

Kevin Richards To Teach "Movement & Narrative"

Kevin Richards teaching at Escape Studios

We're delighted to welcome veteran animator and storyboard artist Kevin Richards  to teach Movement & Narrative to our first year undergraduate students at Escape Studios in September 2024.

Movement & Narrative is a mini-module in which students develop their skills in storytelling, creativity, design, storyboarding and visual narrative.

Movement & Narrative starts on Monday 23rd Sept 2024. You can see 2024-25 Term Dates here. 

Escape Students Attend "Bring Your Own Animation"

Kevin Richards and Escape Students attend BYOA

BYOA (Bring Your Own Animation) is a monthly event that we recommend all our students and Escapees attend. 

BYOA takes place in London every month at a pub in Soho.  Recently Escape Studios' tutor animation Kevin Richards met with a number of Escape Studios students and Escapees, reviewing demo reels and getting feedback on their work. 

AN5002 Creature Animation Returns 18 Sept 2023

Snake by Bonnie Duncan

On Monday 18 September 2023 our 2nd year undergraduate animators return to Escape Studios to start their next module: AN5002: Advanced Computer Animation, in which students learn to animate animals and creatures.  

AN5002 starts on Monday 18 September 2023 and finishes on Friday 20 October 2023.  The Portfolio assignment, a 7-11 second animal or creature animation, is due on Wednesday 18 October 2023. The Retrospective assignment is due on Monday 23rd October 2023 at 11.59pm.

Kevin Richards' "Crucial Tip" for Animation Graduates

Kevin Richards teaching at Escape Studios

Escapee Kevin Richards is a lead animator at Pop Paper City and has brought many Escapees onto the hit show as Junior Animators. 

In this guest blog post, Kevin offers our animation graduates his "crucial tip" for landing that crucial first job in animation. 

So what is the single most important thing our graduates can do to get hired? Below is the one crucial thing you can do, to place yourself ahead of most of the other applicants for the job. 

Kevin Richards Returns to Escape Mon 10 Oct 2022

Kevin Richards

Lead Animator and Escapee Kevin Richards will be returning to Escape Studios on Monday 10th October to teach our second year animation students who are currently studying Module AN5002 - Animal and Creature Animation.

Kevin is a traditional 2D animator who took our 12 week short course in animation at Escape Studios, and successfully made the transition to 3D animation in Maya.

Kevin is currently working as a Lead Animator on the new Aardman Animation TV Series "Pop Paper City", produced by LoveLove Films.

"How Animators Get Hired" by Kevin Richards

Kevin Richards teaching at Escape Studios

Escapee Kevin Richards took our short course in 3D animation at Escape Studios and is now working as a Lead Animator at the new Aardman Animation TV Series "Pop Paper City", produced by LoveLove Films. 

As a production lead, Kevin reviews animation reels and makes hiring decisions on new talent.

In the guest blog below, Kevin explains how our students can maximise their chances of getting hired in the animation industry. 

Animation Recruiters with Kevin Richards

Kevin Richards took our short course in 3D animation at Escape Studios and is now working as a Lead Animator at the new Aardman Animation TV Series "Pop Paper City". 

As a production lead, Kevin reviews animation reels and makes hiring decisions on new talent.

In the guest blog below, Kevin explains the role of recruiters in the animation industry, and how our graduates can get the best out of them. 

"How to Interview" by Escapee Kevin Richards

Kevin Richards teaching at Escape Studios

Escapee Kevin Richards took our short course in 3D animation at Escape Studios and is currently working as a Lead Animator at the new Aardman Animation TV Series "Pop Paper City".  

As a production lead, Kevin spends a good deal of time interviewing junior animators and making hiring decisions.

In the guest blog below, Kevin offers his tips on how to succeed at a job interview - the second stage in the process of getting hired.  If the company likes your demo reel, they will invite you to interview - below is Kevin's advice on how to get it right.  

Animation Demo Reel Tips From Kevin Richards

Kevin Richards Teaching at Escape Studios

Escapee Kevin Richards, who took our short course in 3D animation at Escape Studios, is currently working as a Lead Animator at the new Aardman Animation TV Series "Pop Paper City".  As a production lead, Kevin spends a good deal of time reviewing animation reels and making hiring decisions on new talent.  

In this guest blog below, Kevin offers his tips on how to put together a great demo reel that will ensure you land that crucial first job in the animation industry.

Kevin Richards Returns to Escape on 13 May

Kevin Richards Teaches at Escape Studios

Animator and Escapee Kevin Richards will be returning to Escape Studios tomorrow Friday 13th May to teach our short course and master's degree animation students.

Kevin is a traditional 2D animator who took our 12 week short course in animation at Escape Studios, and successfully made the transition to 3D animation in Maya, working as an animator on "Shane the Chef" at Cloth Cat animation in Cardiff.

Kevin will be teaching our students the art of character animation. 

Kevin Richards Animator at Paper Pop City

Kevin Richards

Congratulations to Escapee Kevin Richards who is working as a lead animator in Bournemouth at Aardman Animation, on Paper Pop City, a new TV series developed by the Bristol-based studio. 

Kevin graduated from our 12 week course in 3D animation, and soon found work as a 3D animator at Cloth Cat in Cardiff; later working on the Channel 5 series Shane the Chef. 

Kevin has also been a regular guest tutor at Escape Studios, helping to teach a new generation of the students the art and craft of character animation. 

Kevin Richards to Teach Dinosaur Animation

Kevin Richards Teaches at Escape Studios

Animator and Escapee Kevin Richards will be coming to Escape Studios on Wednesday and Thursday to teach our 2nd year animators.

Kevin is a traditional 2D animator who took our short course in animation at Escape Studios, and successfully made the transition to 3D animation in Maya, working as an animator on "Shane the Chef" at Cloth Cat animation in Cardiff.

Kevin will be teaching our students dinosaur locomotion, showing how to use live action reference of birds and reptiles to create believable dinosaur animation. 

Kevin Richards Animates Shane The Chef

Shane the Chef has just launched on Channel 5, featuring the work of Escapee Kevin Richards, who was one of the character animators on the show.

Kevin graduated from our short course in 3D animation in 2017, and since then has been working as a 3D animator at Cloth Cat in Cardiff.

We asked Kevin a few questions about how he got the job, and what advice he would offer to students hoping to break into the industry.