Animated Exeter - Feb 14th 2010

Update: Giving an Animation Scriptwriting Masterclass on the 14th Feb (10am - 1:30pm) at the Phoenix Media Centre, as part of the Animated Exeter animation festival.

I will be talking to 8 local writers / film-makers, about their projects, how to develop their characters and stories, and how to present their ideas to funding bodies and production companies.

'Lily and Bill's Clifton Village' - Trailer Script February 2010

Now working on the third draft of the 'Clifton Village' Trailer script with Richard Higgs and Debbie Smith of Big Squid Ltd in Bristol.

More details soon.

Hereford College of Arts - 4th & 18th March 2010

After visiting Neil Hadfield (Animation BA course leader) at Hereford College of Arts, I've been asked to give a Story / Scriptwriting lecture, and set a short animation brief to Animation and Illustration students on the 4th and 18th of March 2010.

More details soon.

University of Gloucestershire - Dec 09 to Feb 2010

Returned to Pittville Studios to repeat 2 short film making modules to first year ('Man vs Bird') and second year ('Unconditional Love') Graphic Design BA students.

The standard of ideas and execution of both modules this time round was very high - clearly this years students benefited from seeing the work of the previous year.

More soon.

Ravensbourne Short Films - February 2010

Below are the list of short films currently in production at Ravensbourne College - plus links to their respective production blogs:

'Polished Off' - by Daniel Edgley

'Splayed' - by Philip Brooks

'Pirates of the Produce Isle' - by Lewis Taylor

'Red River' - by Nathan Wright

'Wack'd' - by Sam Saunders and Dan Shufflebottem

'The Gnomes' - by Sarah Verral

'Dummy' by JB Webb-Benjamin

'My Dad and the Kinks' by Louis Neubert - Update

An exhibition of artwork from the film will be on display at the Phoenix Media Centre during the Animated Exeter Festival in February 2010.

Sketches, layout designs, screenshots and other media will show the development process behind this year’s Phoenix Media /Animated Exeter Animation Bursary, ‘My Dad and The Kinks’. 

The film is to be premiered at Animated Exeter’s ‘Screen Out Loud’, Saturday 13 February.

'The Hairy Hands' by Ashley Thorpe - Update

The film was premiered on the 28th November 2009 at the 'Two Short Nights' film festival in Exeter, UK. More information can be found at: www.carrionfilms.co.uk

New Felix Massie website

Felix Massie has a new website:  www.balancedthere.com - and there you can see a clip of 'Francis Cooper' and see how the film has been doing at various festivals around the world.

Script Development Lectures - Ravensbourne College - Sept to Nov 2009

Returned to Ravensbourne College to help final year Animation BA students develop the worlds, characters and stories for the seven short films chosen to be produced by May 2010.

Delivered the first of three 90 minute 'Story' lectures - covering character development, scene design, turning points, themes and controlling ideas, and the hunt for that perfect ending.

The 7 films to be made are:

'Polished Off' - by Daniel Edgley

'Splayed' - by Philip Brooks

'Pirates of the Produce Isle' - by Lewis Taylor

'Red Rock' - by Nathan Wright

'Wack'd' - by Sam Saunders and Dan Shufflebottem

'The Gnomes' - by Sarah Verral

'Dummy' by JB Webb-Benjamin

More on this soon...

'Change For Life' Commercials for Aardman - Sept 09

Swapping my hat, returned to Aardman Animations to help produce 2D effects for their 'Change For Life' commercials.

Script Development Workshop - Animated Exeter 2010

Contacted by Susannah Shaw of Animated Exeter to deliver an animation Script Development Workshop during next years (February) Animated Exeter Festival.

More details on this soon.

'My Dad and the Kinks' by Louis Neubert - Sept 09

Asked by Susannah Shaw of Animated Exeter and The Phoenix Media Centre to script edit 'My Dad and the Kinks' - a short animation script by Exeter based animator and Bournemouth graduate Louis Neubert.

'Clifton Village' - Big Squid, Bristol - July 2009

Contacted by Richard Higgs of Big Squid in Bristol to work on the pre-production (treatments, scripts, bible etc...) of 'CLIFTON VILLAGE' - a Pre-School, 52 x 10 min Stop-Frame / CGI series.

More details soon.

'How to be...' - 2BU Productions - June 2009

Asked by Elspeth Penny, Director at 2BU Productions Ltd in Devon, to read and assess the early scripts and series outline of an internet live action drama series 'How to be...' - with a view to possible involvement as Script Editor.

More soon.

Also looking at 'Mike Fofone' - a children's animation series idea by Carmel Crawford and Clare Dowling (based in Ireland), with a view to possible involvement at scriptwriter / editor in the future.

Also looking at animation series ideas by The Flying Workshop (based in York), also with a view to possible future involvement.

New Toucanhead Logo - May 2009

Here is the new Toucanhead logo - inspired by the work of Charles Harper.

'The Hairy Hands' by Ashley Thorpe - April 2009

Contacted by Sarah-Jane Meredith at South West Screen to provide script development for a 'Digital Shorts 09' animated film being produced through the Phoenix Media Centre in Exeter.

More soon.

Update: The script has now been approved and signed off by South West Screen. Will update again with news of the films production / completion.

30th June 09.