BAFTA-Winning Studio Blue Zoo Celebrates 20 Years of Success
Skwigly
Blue Zoo, the award-winning animation studio behind short-form projects such as the BAFTA-nominated short, Mamoon, and commercials for clients including Pokémon & Disney is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year.
In 2000 a group of young, British university graduates set out with a vision to create high-quality visual stories and become the go-to character animation studio in the UK. Over the course of twenty years, their vision became a reality – now with over 300 staff, five BAFTAs, and an incredible client-list with the likes of the BBC, Disney and Nickelodeon, Blue Zoo is a true British success story with humble beginnings.
Bournemouth University graduates Tom Box, Oli Hyatt and Adam Shaw established the company to work for themselves. They set up shop in their investor’s garage and immediately secured their first contract with CBeebies; since then the studio has gone from strength to strength, developing both short form content and series such as Numberblocks for the BBC, for which they won a BAFTA.
The ability to produce exceptional amounts of high-quality content yearly paired with their large team of talented animators makes Blue Zoo the most prolific animation studio in the UK.
In 2008, co-founder Oli Hyatt helped create Animation UK, a collective that champions the cultural and economic significance of animation. Their work has led to some game-changing feats including the establishment of an animation tax relief scheme, for which Oli was awarded an MBE. Oli said:
Animation UK, the tax reliefs and the BFI YAC Fund has ignited the UK animation industry. This is currently one of the fastest-growing industries in the country, with new shows being commissioned by channels like Nickelodeon, Netflix and more which will be written, animated and produced in the UK.
Blue Zoo has twice won the BAFTA for Independent Production Company of The Year, as well as the 2019 & 2020 award for Broadcast Best Places to Work in TV.
Due to ongoing success, the studio is looking to hire a significant amount of new talent. Despite the pandemic, the animation sector is thriving; CG animation continues to work business as usual and almost entirely remotely for Blue Zoo. Co-founder Tom Box added:
At Blue Zoo, we pride ourselves on the highest quality of animation and storytelling. Now in our 20th year, we are more ambitious than ever. It is our intention to bring new business to the UK film industry by making our first feature animated film.
Now that Blue Zoo has certified itself as a fully-fledged animation studio, the studio will continue to pave the way for the next generation of animated British storytelling.