"Immersive Media & Live Events" at EscapeVerse Live

Escape Studios' tutor Dan Shutt hosted a panel on Wednesday on "Immersive Media and Live Events" at EscapeVerse Live.  Dan Shutt teaches VFX at Escape Studios and creates live installations at venues such Glastonbury and, in 2022, a live installation at the Science Museum.  

The panel explored the challenges and pitfalls of curating live events, creating imagery and ensuring that all the elements work together on the night.  They also discussed the all-important question of how students and graduates can break into the business. 

Did We Mend The Gap?

Julian Scott, Natalie Busuttil, Greg Wade, Kate O'Connor & Alex Williams

Last week we co-hosted an event with Film London titled "Mend the Gap" - an evening of discussion and debate around the current animation training and employment landscape.

Chaired by Film London’s Animation Consultant, Julian Scott, a panel of industry experts and university representatives came together to examine how academia and the animation industry might help solve the growing animation skills challenge.  So, did we manage to help Mend The Gap last week?

Mend the Gap! at Escape Studios

Mend the Gap: an evening of discussion and debate around the current animation training and employment landscape.

Currently up to 30% (or more) of the team at British animation studios are artists sourced from overseas, often from schools in Europe.

But with Brexit looming, and the likely loss of free movement of labour, the future of UK animation could be under threat.

UK universities produce over 600 students with degrees in animation every year - so why are many UK animation graduates not ready for work when they leave university? On 1st November our panel event, organised by Film London and hosted at Escape Studios,  will debate what can be done to Mend the Gap.

Animal & Creature Animation at Annecy

Annecy, France

Escape Studios will be heading over to the Annecy Animation Festival next week, checking out the latest developments in our industry at what has become the world's biggest animation festival.

I'll be on a panel tomorrow, Tuesday 12th June, talking about how to animate non-human characters, sitting alongside my fellow panelists Alonso Martinez from Pixar, Joeri Christiaen from Thuristar, and independent animator Nicolas Deveaux.

Why Animation Recruiters Live at LinkedIn

VIEW panel. From left: Amy Smith, Giorgio Xhaxho, Alex Williams, Tiffany Feeney, Angie Wojak

What do Animation recruiters look for from recent graduates?  How do they find fresh talent? At last week's VIEW conference in Turin I sat on a recruitment panel hosted by New York's School of Visual Arts (SVA) with two recruiters, Amy Smith from Framestore and Tiffany Feeney of Talent Outpost, an independent recruitment agency based in Switzerland.  Both of them had a lot to say on the subject of student demo reels, websites and how to be easy to find online. But most of all, recruiters want just one thing from animation graduates:

VFX Recruitment Panel - Where are the Jobs?

Careers and Recruitment Panel 2017

The Careers & Recruitment Panel at the recent Escape Studios VFX Festival is always well attended. Where are the jobs? Who is hiring? What skills are in demand right now?

This year we had Andy Brassington from Escape to host the panel.  Guests included (from left) Harriet Finney from the Creative Industries Federation, Amy Smith from Framestore, Tom Box from Blue Zoo, Paul Wilkes, recruiter for MPC advertising, Jill Wallace from Axis, Henry Bull from The Mill, and Clare Norman from Milk FX.

SIGGRAPH Screening of LAIKA’s “Kubo and the Two Strings” on Tuesday December 6

SIGGRAPH's London chapter is hosting a local screening of Laika's latest stop motion triumph - the Annie-nominated “Kubo and the Two Strings”.

After the movie I'll be hosting a Q&A with Director Travis Knight and Producer Arianne Sutner who will talk about the making of the film.

Events like this are a great way for our students to meet leading film-makers in person, and find out what makes the industry tick.

Blue Zoo Animation Lunch Club at FaceBook - "Graduates Special"

Blue Zoo, one of London's biggest and most inventive animation studios, has been doing a series of round table discussions on the craft of making animation and working in the industry.

The most recent "Lunch Club" Round table took place on Facebook took place at Facebook today, and can be viewed here.

In this video, Blue Zoo interviews some of its recent hires, to hear animation graduates explain how they broke into the industry. It's full of useful information and tips on how to make it in this fast-growing but very competitive field.

An Amazing Week at the VFX Festival

Industry Panel

It's been an extraordinary ride at the Escape Studios VFX Festival this past week.

Industry royalty turned out in force at London's O2, including a spectacular presentation yesterday by ILM on the making of Star Wars.

Anyone who was looking for insights into the state of our industry, how VFX movies and games get made, and what the future holds - will not have been disappointed. And the industry stands were buzzing with recruiters - VFX in London is hiring fresh talent.

Yesterday's industry panel saw some of the leaders in animation and VFX talk about the latest trends in the business, and what the future will bring.

2016 Animation Roundtable by The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter has interviewed six leading animation directors: Pete Docter (Inside Out), Pete Sohn (Good Dinosaur), Richard Starzak (Shaun the Sheep), Steve Martino (Peanuts Movie), Charles Kaufman (Anomalisa), and Roger Allers (The Prophet). The directors talk about their shared journey bringing animated films to the screen, and the many challenges they had to overcome along the way. The panel discussion is one hour long.