The Bristol-based animation studio has appointed
Mark Simon Hewis to head up its Aardman Academy training facility in a new role designed to support and develop upcoming talent, and provide opportunities for students to connect with the animation industry.
Hewis will oversee a 12-week online training program that launched in November 2020 with a course in stop motion. He initially joined Aardman in August as producer, and was instrumental in setting up the program. Hewis was promoted to head of Aardman Academy in March.
Prior to joining the company, Hewis worked on multiple film projects for Channel 4 and the BBC. His 2007 short film
Sunday, April 25, 2021
Ore Oduba is set to return to the theatre later this year in the Rocky Horror Show on its UK tour, and seemed elated to be getting back to in-person jobs.
The broadcaster, actor and all-round talent joined us in the studio on the Graham Norton Radio Show with Waitrose to chat about the show s run and how excited he is to get back to it: I ve been so lucky and I m really enjoying being able to tell people about it but there s that element of just being so cagey because I can t imagine it until I m on that stage and there are genuine humans in the audience watching back. That s when it ll feel like it s actually happening
Gruffalo, Paw Patrol creatives tell Secret Story
A host of renowned children’s content creators have signed up to write stories that underrepresented creatives can illustrate and animate to win paid internships with UK companies such as Aardman and Jellyfish Pictures.
Jon Mason
The Secret Story Draw, set up last year by Jon Mason, MD of Brighton-based digital studio Jollywise, wants to unlock opportunities for illustrators and animators from underrepresented ethnic groups to enter the industry.
The Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler, Paw Patrol creator Keith Chapman and The Demon Headmaster writer Gillian Cross are among the line-up of writers and judges who are part of initiative.
TVKIDS
U.K. Animation Industry Initiative for Underrepresented Ethnic Groups
ADVERTISEMENT
The Secret Story Draw is a new initiative dedicated to placing illustrators and animators from underrepresented ethnic groups in some of the U.K.’s best animation studios.
The Secret Story Draw sees some of the U.K.’s most renowned children’s writers provide an anonymous story written exclusively for the initiative, with aspiring animators and illustrators invited to bring the stories to life. The author of each story will remain anonymous until the winners are revealed in June.
Entries are now open, and applicants must be 18 years or older at the time of the competition closing date, which is May 28, with winners announced in June 2021.