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.

Escapee Alfie Williams Reports from inMotion 2026

Alfie Williams and Glen Keane at inMotion

Escapee Alfie Williams was a volunteer at this year's inMotion event which took place in London last week - part of the We Are Playgrounds series of educational events. 

As always, we recommend that our animation students volunteer for events like this one; they offer huge opportunities to build industry connections and make the most of our prime London location.

BYOA Returns on 22 September 2026

BYOA (Bring Your Own Animation) - 22 Sept 2026 

Calling all Escape Studios animation students - BYOA is back on Tuesday 22 September at the Nell of Old Drury in Covent Garden.

BYOA (Bring Your Own Animation)  is a monthly animation event that takes place upstairs at a London pub. 

The next BYOA takes place on Tuesday 22 September 2026 upstairs at the Nell of Old Drury at 29 Catherine Street, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5JS from 7pm onwards. 

The Art of Caricature at The Cartoon Museum

Does My head Look Big in This? - The Art of Caricature is now on at the Cartoon Museum in London's Fitzrovia.  Come along and enjoy an exhibition of the best caricatures going back over three centuries. 

The Cartoon Museum is at 63 Wells St in London's Fitzrovia, and is dedicated to cartoons, and the history of cartooning.  The permanent exhibition was curated by The Guardian's Steve Bell.

Political Cartooning is arguably the only art form invented in Britain; The UK was the first country to end censorship in the 18th Century, giving rise to political satire - and a free press.

The Cartoon Museum celebrates cartoons, comics and caricatures, and is the only museum of its kind in the UK.

Festivus Returns Thursday 11th June

Calling all Escape Studios' animation students - Festivus is back in London on Thursday 11th June from 6pm at the Betjeman Arms on the Euston Road, N1C 4QL. 

London's regular animation networking event is an opportunity for our students and recent graduates to get to know people in the animation industry, find out who is hiring, and where the jobs are. 

Festivus is all about meeting people in our industry, networking, and - of course - enjoying a drink with friends.

Festivus is an opportunity to meet people from animation studios in the UK and overseas, see what job opportunities there are, and maybe even get some showreel feedback.

Escape Studios at Comicon 22-24 May 2026

MCM Comic Con 22nd - 24th May

Come and join Escape Studios at MCM Comic Con from 22nd - 24th May at ExCel London.

You can find our team at Career Fair stand CRSO1, and also catch talks by our tutors on manga, games and character design at the Career Fair Stage

On Friday 22 May at 11.30am Escape Studios' Character Creation Tutor Aidan Lonergan will introduce "From Concept to Console: A Character's Journey" in the Career Fair Stage. 

On Saturday 23 May at 1.30pm Manga Artist Elena Vitagliano and Comic Artist Oliver Harud will introduce "Panel by Panel: Creating Comics and Manga" on the Career Fair Stage. 

Adobe Next at Tate Modern - AI and Creativity

Technology Evangelist Emily Bisset at Adobe Next Live

At today's "Adobe Next Live" event at London's Tate Modern, software giant Adobe have been presenting their insights into changing technology and how educators and creatives can take advantage of the big changes currently facing the creative industries.  

"Technology Evangelist" Emily Bissett gave the keynote speech exploring how creatives can learn from and embrace the change.  She was followed by Laura Jordan-Bambach, founder and CCO of the creative agency "Uncharted".

Bring Your Own Animation - Tues 28 April 2026

BYOA (Bring Your Own Animation) - 28 April 2026 

Calling all Escape Studios animation students -  BYOA (Bring Your Own Animation)  is a monthly animation event that takes place in London (usually every 3rd Monday of the month) at a London pub. 

Organised by the London chapter of SIGGRAPH,  the next BYOA takes place on Tuesday 28 April 2026 upstairs at the Nell of Old Drury 29 Catherine Street, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5JS from 7pm onwards. 

Young Cartoonists of the Year Awards

Young Cartoonists Awards at the Cartoon Museum

Thursday March 26th was awards night for the Young Cartoonists of the Year Awards, the annual competition hosted by the Cartoon Museum and the British Cartoonists' Association. 

This year the YCOTY Awards were presented by cartoonist and BCA Chair Nicola Jennings.  The awards were sponsored by Léonie Wykes-Mahood in memory of her late husband, the cartoonist Ken Mahood. 

Graduation Day 11 November 2024 - Save The Date

Graduation Day - 11 Nov 2024 at the QE2 Centre

Save the Date! Escape Studios' Graduation Day is back this November.  This year's Graduation Ceremony takes place on Monday 11th November 2024 at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster.  On Graduation Day we welcome all our graduating students for the graduation ceremony and for the reception afterwards. 

VFX Festival - Day 1

VFX Festival - Day 1

Day One of the VFX Festival is now underway - it runs from today 3 June through to tomorrow 4 June 2024 at the BFI IMAX on London's South Bank at Waterloo.  

The 2024 VFX Festival at Escape Studios celebrates the latest developments in Animation, VFX and Interactive Media.  

Today's talks include ILM on how they created VES-award-winning shots on The Creator, DNEG Animation on how they rigged "Under The Boardwalk", and Union FX on the creation of Poor Things.

Escape Studios at the 2024 BAA Awards

2024 BAA Awards

Last night the UK animation industry celebrated the winners at the biennial British Animation (BAA) Awards at London's South Bank.

A number of Escapees and current students at Escape Studios volunteered to help out on the night.  Many thanks to current students Alfie Williams, Yusuf Uddin and Escapee Oliver Gallagher, whose hard work helped make the evening a success.  

MoGraph Mixer in London Sat 9 Dec 2023

MoGraph Mixer at the Fitzroy Tavern on Sat 9 Dec 2023

Calling all Motion Graphics animators at Escape Studios - the London Motion Graphics community is hosting their quarterly get-together at the Fitzroy Tavern in Fitzrovia, London on Saturday 9th December. 

We recommend all our MoGraph students attend events like this - part of the so-called "soft skills" that make up networking and career building in the Creative Industries.

Come along and meet other Motion Graphics Animators and do some in-person networking.

"The Wrong Trousers" at the Cartoon Museum

"Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers Turns 30"

Opening on the 12th of September, "Wallace &Gromit: The Wrong Trousers Turns 30" will arrive at London's Cartoon Museum just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of Aardman Animation's classic animated film. 

VFX Festival 16-18 March 2020

The countdown to Escape Studios' 2020 VFX Festival - the 8th edition - is on.  As in previous years, we've got some great speakers coming to talk about the latest developments in Animation, Games and VFX.  In 2020, the festival will focus on discovering and developing new and emerging talent.  Two parts of The VFX Festival 2020 - EDU and Emerging Talent - will take place on 16 - 18 March at the Southbank Centre - the UK’s largest arts centre on the South Bank of the Thames.

Minuet, Planet Mars, Adam & Eve Mk II and Jericho in ScreenTest on Nov 15-16th

Congratulations to the makers of Minuet, Planet Mars, Adam & Eve Mk II and Jericho.

All four student films were completed at Escape Studios and have made the official selection for ScreenTest, the London Student Film Festival, which tales place in Greenwich, on Friday November 15th and Saturday November 16th. Tickets are just £5, and you can book them here.

Model Making Workshops with Aardman 12 Oct

Aardman animation are coming to London, bringing two model making workshops this Saturday 12th October.

The workshops are one hour long and take place at 4pm at the Hackney Picturehouse (see flyer below) and at 3.45pm at The Ritzy in Brixton (see flyer left).

The workshops form a part of the Aardman Animation day, which includes screenings and activities for kids, starting at 10.30am.

The afternoon workshops are for adults only and will be led by Senior Model Makers from Aardman Claire Cohen and Ellie Hugill.

Claire and Ellie will give an insight into stop-motion animation and what it is like to work at one of the UK's most enduring and well-loved animation houses.

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.

El Suliman Reveals the Secrets of Lion King

Escape Studios was proud to welcome MPC lead animator El Suliman to Escape Studios last night to talk about his work on the Disney blockbuster "The Lion King", now one of the top ten most successful films ever made.

El spoke at one of our regular "Evening With" events.  El Suliman was an animation lead on The Lion King, and he animated many of the key shots on the film.

El explained how the animators approached the animation on this hugely complex and ground-breaking movie, which raises the bar for creature animation. 

BAFTA Guru 14 & 15 September

Mark your calendars, BAFTA Guru Live is taking place on the weekend of Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th September.

We strongly encourage our students to attend at least some of the workshops; tickets are very inexpensive (just £6 for each masterclass) and are aimed at students and rising talent.