Animation Super Grill – Review
L-R: Stephen Enticott, Jane Davies, Ben Halliwell, Ben Mitchell
This past Saturday marked the first Animation Super Grill in Cardiff, a spin off of Animation Grill, a regular meet-up for animation students and professionals to show and review personal animation work. The Super Grill, however, is a day’s worth of presentations and talks, set up by local animator Gareth Cavanagh who has taken it upon himself to arrange these gatherings at KIN+ILK in the Welsh capital to bring together the newest, the biggest and the best that both Wales and further afield have to offer.
The first of yesterday’s talks was brought to us by Skwigly’s very own Managing Director Ben Mitchell. As an animator, independent filmmaker and writer Ben brought a unique flavour to the day’s proceedings, focusing on the freelancing and independent route, something that most of us will experience in our careers. He talked at length about his current book Independent Animation: Developing, Producing and Distributing Your Animated Films which is the culmination of years of work combining both his personal efforts as an internationally-distributed filmmaker and his work here at Skwigly. As well as this he was able to give clear insights into ways that new graduates can keep themselves productive and motivated through the less interesting ebbs of freelance work.
The second contributor was Jane Davies, a well known animator and director who has worked in Cardiff, Bristol and further afield. Jane is a friend and mentor to many as well as being an amazing artist and animator in her own right. She has often offered young animators advice and given them their first step in their animation career. After working as a director at various studios over the years, Jane let us into some of the exciting projects she has worked on, both in-house and, in more recent years, as freelancer. As always Jane’s talk was littered with helpful tidbits for both students and professionals about working with clients, studios and one another and how treating people as we would like to be treated, with kindness and respect, is often the best policy.
Next up was Ben Halliwell, currently Line Producer at Wales-based Trampires Ltd (Animortal) working on the upcoming feature film Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires. However it was Halliwell’s years as a stop-motion animator and director that was the focus of the presentation, working for some of the biggest names and on some of the most well-known and distinctive projects of recent years including Tim Burtons Frankenweenie and Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. Ben was able to take us on a detailed run-though of the production pipeline using his directorial debut on the preschool show Igam Ogam, going right through from funding, scripting, pitching, production, model making, animating and onwards with helpful hints and invaluable advice gleaned during his career.
The final presentation was from Stephen Enticott, Head of Animation at London VFX studio Double Negative, whose impressive career working on some of Hollywood’s biggest films – including Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Watchmen and I Am Legend to name just a few – made up the focus of the presentation, along with just what it takes to cut it at one of the worlds leading VFX companies. Although the presentation was obviously aimed at CGI animators, the insight into the process as well as an assortment of witty anecdotes ensured there was plenty to take from it from those working in every aspect of animation production, regardless of discipline or role.
The day concluded with an industry panel where the audience were encouraged to ask questions and seek advice form these four top-notch professionals. The day was a roaring success with a full to capacity turnout and a palpable feeling that everyone left the event enriched by the experience. What Gareth has managed to set up here is truly impressive and caters well to all people working – or seeking work – in an often turbulent industry. It was clear to see that, although difficult at times, this industry is enjoying a rather impressive array of projects – and I daresay a renaissance, centered around funding, intuitive ideas and forward thinkers of which I hope at least some of whom were in that room yesterday.
We are expecting the next edition of the Animation Super Grill soon, but in the meantime get yourself along to the next regular Animation Grill for top-notch feedback and advice on your current projects. To find out when and where these events are taking place check out the Animation Grill Facebook page, follow along on twitter @AnimGril or check out the website.