Escapee Leon Lau joins Rekindled Studios

Leon Lau joins Rekindled Studios

Many congratulations to Escapee Leon Lau who has started work as an animator at Rekindled Studios,  a UK-based video games company.  

Leon Lau studied the Art of 3D Animation at Escape Studios, and worked on a number of award-winning short films, including Mob Boss Barkino (2025) (which he directed), Countdown (2024) and Checkmate (2024). Leon Lau has won many festival awards. 

"Mob Boss Barkino" Wins "Best Animated Short"

"Mob Boss Barkino" wins Best Animated Short Film

Congratulations to the makers of "Mob Boss Barkino", which has won Best Animated Short Film at the Makizhmithran 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 is the latest of many awards. 

"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. 

"Barkino" Wins "Best Super Short" in London

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

Congratulations to the makers of "Mob Boss Barkino", which has won Best Super Short Film at the London Movie 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 fourth festival award. 

"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. 

Introducing "Night Terrors"

Meet "Night Terrors", the latest VFX short film from Escape Studios.  Directed by Erminas Surgautas and produced by Xhoana Tola, "Night Terrors" was a collaboration between undergraduate animation students and VFX students at Escape Studios, working together to create an original story.  The Art Director was Ruby Ebbs, Yusuf Saddique was the 2D VFX Lead, and Samuel Greer was the 3D VFX Lead. 

"Mob Boss Barkino" Wins "Best Animation" Award

"Mob Boss Barkino" wins Best Animation in Hollywood

Congratulations to the makers of "Mob Boss Barkino", which has won Best Animation at the Hollywood Gold 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 second festival award. 

"Mob Boss Barkino" Wins Hon Mention at EEFF

"Mob Boss Barkino" wins Hon Mention at the EEFF 

Congratulations to the makers of "Mob Boss Barkino", which has won an Honourable Mention in the category of Best Animation at the Eastern 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. 

Introducing "Mob Boss Barkino"

Introducing "Mob Boss Barkino", the story of "Barkino", a criminal pup mastermind who leads a mob syndicate.  Mob Boss Barkino was created by our third year graduating class of 3D animation students at Escape Studios.  The short film 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. 

"Countdown" Wins Hon Mention at Milan Gold Awards

"Countdown" wins Hon. Mention at Milan Gold Awards

Congratulations to the makers of "Countdown", which has won an Honourable Mention at the Milan Gold Awards for "Best Animated Short".

"Countdown" was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects. "Countdown" was written and directed by Leon Lau and produced by Xhoana Tola.  This its second festival award. 

"Countdown" Wins Best Animated Short in London

"Countdown" - Best Animated Short at London Movie Awards

Congratulations to the makers of "Countdown", which has won Best Animated Short at the London Movie Awards.

"Countdown" was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  "Countdown" was written and directed by Leo Lau and produced by Xhoana Tola.  This its first festival award. 

Introducing "Countdown"

Countdown from Catinca Munteanu-Buciuman on Vimeo.

Introducing "Countdown", a new short animated film from Escape Studios.  "Countdown" was completed as part of Studio Module PR5001, a collaborative module in which second-year animation students work together on short film projects.  "Countdown" was written and directed by Leon Lau and produced by Xhoana Tola.  "Countdown" is currently being entered into film festivals.