BAF award for St Aidans!!

I'm absolutely thrilled that my former school, St Aidans CE Hight School in Harrogate, won the Bradford Animation Festival award for Best Film by Young Animators with their film "Hungy for Health"! I worked with teachers and pupils at St Aidans earlier this year to help with with their film, which was made in partnership with the National Media Museums Anim8ed programme and the British Libraries Campaign Make an Impact and funded by the DCMS.

Headmaster, Mr Dennis Richards and along with one of my old art teachers, Mrs Smith, and a huge group of pupils who made the film, made a special trip to the BAF to collect the award. Sadly Jane Smithson, who ran the project in Art was ill and unable to be their. The film was made in collaboration with departments in History, English, Art, Music and Drama and is testament to the talents of the pupils concerned and the commitment of the school from Mr Richards down to go the extra mile and produce something that is expectational in every sense of the word.

The jury said:

In awarding Hungry for Health the top prize, the Jury admired the filmmakers' ambition and success in creating an engaging, funny and pacy film with a clear message. The jury particularly admired the creation of films within films, each of which had a clear a distinct style, as part of the overall story."

A still from of the films adverts praised by the BAF Jury.

BAF 2010

Well I'm currently at BAF, and have been immersing myself in an amazing films and speakers from all occur the world. This year, Sunderland University invited me to take a group of their students so I've had the immense privilege and excitement of travelling around with the group and being inspired in animation together. Highlights so far include a look at the visual effects of Inception with Double Negatives Frankin, the wonderful Gene Deitch, Clair Kitson, Paul Mendoza from Pixar and Phil Mulloy's feture film, "Goodbye Mr Christie".

Tomorrow at 10.30am I'm marking the 50th anniversary of AISFA and presenting the UK premiere of a film made by young people all over the world including here at the National Media Museum.

Then I'm going to be cheering on 4 schools I've had the privilege to work with, who all have films battling it out for the prized Film made by Young Animators Award.

Leeds Pals made my pupils at Kellbank Primary Scool as won awards at Encounters Film Festival and Silver Salt Animation Festial, India.

Also nominated and playing in competition for the first time are:

Journey to Gaurna, Dishforth Primary School

Hungry for Health, St Aaidans CE High Scool, Harrogate
I Have a Dream, ASIFA UK group, National Media Museum

The Astronomers Sun is also in official selection, with a nomination for Best Children's Film, so it's going to be a busy and exciting day!

Ralk and screening of The Astronomers Sun in Bradford

Lion and Home and Leeds Pals tour USA with Kids First!

 I am pleased to anounce that two wonderful films made by children, The Lion at Home (Bricknell Primary School/National Media Museum), and Leeds Pals (Kell Bank Primary School/Awards For All) have been selected for screening at one of the world major children’s festivals in the USA. KIDS FIRST! Film Festival showcases new and classic children's films and videos from studios as well as independent and youth filmmakers. The Festival partners with more than 150 venues who host screenings year round to an audience of more than one million. They will be included with approximately 75 films at our events running through January 15, 2010.

 

The Kids First Adult jury said about "The Lion at Home"

Very enjoyable story about a lion who gets shaken out of his picture at an art museum and visits the other artwork. It's told by claymation figures, statues in the museum. Their voices, with British accents are hilarious and very easy to understand. Wonderful student film by elementary students!

The Kids First Adult jury said about "Leeds Pals"

Accurate portrayal of a real battle using hand-made drawings and cut-outs. I especially liked the short section where they showed in fast speed a kid's hand drawing the pictures. It was a tribute to an important battle, and set to poetic lyrics which were clearly read and delivered an easy to follow story.

The Astronomers Sun scoops Silver Blaster

We were thrilled to accept the audience award at the National Irish Science Fiction Film Awards this weekend. Thanks to the audience in Dublin who made our Irish premiere so special. We've been touched by how The Astronomers Sun has resonated with peoples in Ireland.

The awards host, John Vaughan said,

The Astronomer's Sun runs a gamut of emotions in under six minutes, covering hope, loss, friendship and loyalty... if you don't go "Ahhhhhhh!" at the end of this picture and try to hold back a tear... then there's something wrong with you!

The Golden Blasters (The National Irish Science Fiction Film Awards) is a film festival dedicated to short science fiction, fantasy and horror stories. We aim to bring the best speculative fiction to Octocon and expose more people to the wonderful art of the short film.

watch The Astronomers Sun on 4oD!

If you missed the network premiere of The Astronomers Sun last Thursday, you can watch the whole film, for a limited time only, on Channel 4s 4oD, along with some of the rest of the fantastic 4mations series. 27 days left and counting... Go on! don't miss it!

The Astronomers Sun TV Broadcast Premiere

The UK television premiere of The Astronomers Sun is on Chanel 4 Television, Wednesday 06/10 at 0125 (i.e. early Thurs am) It will show after a selection of 4Music programmes.

Apparently it’s impossible to get short animation on TV earlier than 24.30 these days, such is the cultural decline of British TV!! This is a landmark for the film on the week of news of our 30th festival screening. There is a press embargo on this screening right now – so check the Astronomers Sun blog for updates!

Autumn screeings

There are lots of opportunities to see The Astronomers Sun this Autumn. Highlights include Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S, the Spainish Premiere of The Astronomers Sun at the Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya,  Imagine Science Film Festival competition a unique film event that celebrates the integration of science in New York, a special screening at the world famous Ottawa International Animation Festival and screenings at Encounters, Flip and BAF in the UK. Check the Astronomers Sun blog for full details.

2 awards for The Astronomers Sun in USA and Russia!

Saturday 11th September was a big night for “The Astronomers Sun”. It is with huge pleasure I am able to announce two new awards.

“The Astronomers Sun” won the animation award at the 2010 Rome International Film Festival on Saturday in Georgia, USA!

Then across the Atlantic, the VI International Short and Animation Film Festival OPEN CINEMA awarded "THE ASTRONOMER’S SUN" Special Prize from the Organizing Committee «For the mystery of liberation»! I’m told the film was highly estimated by the members of International Jury, organizing committee and rose an enthusiastic response from the side of public.

I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Simon and Jessica and our wonderful team who got behind this film and to realise the director’s vision so exquisitely.

Congratulations!

To see the recent BBC TV news report about the films recent success at the Northern Futures Awards, you can view it on the BBC news page here.

BBC TV interview for The Astronomers Sun

We had a very special guest in the potting shed this week. Amanda Harper from BBC Look North came to do a story following the films success at the Northern Futures Awards. We invited her to Simons potting shed in Ilkley to show her were the animation was filmed. You can see the report on BBC news.

From left to right: Amanda Harper, Jessica Cope and Simon Cartwright. With most of the set on display at the National Media Museum, there’s not much left in the potting shed but Simon managed to pull together a small set corner perfect for day.

Henry was let out on day release from the National Media Museum. Here he is having his interview.

Amanda was so friendly and professional and made the whole experience a delight.

Smile - Henry,Simon Cartwirght and Jessica Cope and in the potting shed.

Henry accepting his award.

Well done Peter!

Congratulations to my college and freind, Peter Kershaw who's succsfully completed pre-production funds for his new short film What? Or a Road trip to Europe. Peter has now launced a funding drive for production. To find out more, and become a film supporter and even an producer, visit the films IndiGoGo page.

Astronomers Sun wins Best Film at the Northern Future Awards

Great news that "The Astronomers Sun" won the Best Film award at the Northern Future Awards last night. The award recognises and rewards the best emerging creative talent in the north of England, showcasing it to a wider national and international audience and confirming the north as a hotbed of creativity.

The award was jointly awarded to directors Simon Cartwright and Jessica Cope, and myself as an emerging producer. It represents the incredible talents of everyone who worked so hard on this film, and I'd like to thank the entire crew for making this film what it is today and my co-producer at Duchy Parade Films, Peter Kershaw. Huge hurrars and thank you's!

My thanks to Simon who wrote a great piece on our Astronomers Sun blog which, dear readers, you can read see below:



All the shortlisted films had their own screen and some information about the productions beside them.


































Myself and the other nominees sat together on the film table waiting nervously!







David and myself accepting the award off head judge Caroline Cooper Charles









David making his acceptance speech.



















The both of us chatting with Caroline afterwards.







The judges for Film were Eddie Berg Artistic Director, BFI (British Film Institute) Southbank; Caroline Cooper Charles, Head of Creative Development, Warp X Ltd; Claire Spencer Cook, Senior producer / Curator, Onedotzero; Michael Knowles, Producer and Creative Director, Made up North Productions; Keith Dando, Northern Film School; Rob Speranza, Film producer, South Yorkshire Filmmakers’ Network; Brett Wilson, TV Production, BBC North/The Peoples Republic.

The Astronomers Sun is continuing to perform well on the worldwide festival circuit. So far, we have the film in 17 festivals worldwide. This summer it’s been playing in Melbourne, New York, London, Toronto and Seattle and is due to screen in Rome, St Pietersburg Seol and Albuquerque in early Autumn.
Full details on screenings on the Astronomers Sun webiste.

See Goole Silent Movie on Yorkshire Film Archeive!

It's great to see the "The Lost Princess" and Doctor A.D Holmes up for prosperity at the new Yorkshire Film Achieve.

To this day it remains one of my most special projects I've had the pleasure been part of, which seems to be born out by the demand for the film at Yorkshire Film Achieve. The project started in October 2006, with local young people between the ages of 13 and 20, co-ordinated by  Goole Town Council. With the help of outside professionals, all the writing, acting, directing, filming, animation, editing, and research for the films, was undertaken by this committed group of young people.

The origin of the project began when Goole Arts Officer, Nicola Dixon, took a group of young people from Goole to an International Youth Theatre festival in Poland. One of the items in the festival was a showing of Charlie Chaplin's 'The Kid'. The young people enjoyed the film so much they began thinking about creating our own silent film based on the history of our local area.

I am a huge fan of silent film and as soon as I head about this project I got in touch with Peter M Kershaw (producer and film-maker) and Madeleine Frost (dramatist) both of whom came on board, and the rest as they say, is history!

One of the first things I did was to get in touch with the Yorkshire Film Archive to find some local film history on from the period. who found a 1920s Pathé newsreel. This inspired one of the styles of film that they decided to make. The idea for this story of Dr A. D. Holmes came about from reading old newspaper clippings on display at one of Goole’s Museums. The project got going in October 2006 and the two films premiered at the National Media Museum the following October.

Whilst Dr A.D Holmes is based on a real person from Goole, Dr Home, "The Lost Princess" is a fictional story that nevertheless has its roots in Goole’s heritage as an international port – one where many refugees have arrived. The film is based on the life of a real person, Anastasia Nicholaevna Romanov, the youngest daughter of the Tsar Nicholas II and Russian Royal Romanov family.

Fascinating backgrounds on both films can be found on the their websites accompanying the films.

What? A raod trip to Europe

My long time producing colleague and friend, Peter Kershaw has a new short film in development from his new base in New Mexico, And in an new innovative indie funding scheme, you have the opportunity to fund the film and get a credit for doing so from just $5. There are some great film perks and it is easy to click on the green button to become a supporter for very little.

The film concept was born out of Peter, who has just relocated to New Mexico, reading a description of 20 things to look for in Arizona when looking for illegal immigrants. As an immigrant from Europe who has recently moved legally to America, he was a little shocked to think, if but for my official papers, he could fail all 20! He says, "The more I’ve seen and read the more their answer reminded me of a road Europe went down in the 1930’s. Every journey starts with the first step, the destination is all a matter of the direction you’re facing".

Check out Peter's 2 minute pitch to find out more.

Anim8ed website online

The new Anim8ed website is finally online! I've been working hard on creating content for this website and helping on the new design. A one stop place for teachers, parents, museum educators and group leaders get started animating, it features films made as part of the National Media Museums animation programme which I'm been privileged to lead delivery for over the last three years. The website will continue to be developed over the coming months and I'd love to hear comments.

Last chance to vote!

It's the last chance to see and vote for the award winning anim8ed films "The Lion at Home" and "Immersion Emergence" at the Seattle International Film Festival. Voting closes om 4th June. Don't miss out! www.indieflix.com/siff2010

Official selection success in Edinburgh

We are proud to be screening in the official selection of the Edinburgh International Film Festival!

The Astronomers Sun plays in the McLaren Animation 1 programme on the following dates:

Thursday 17 June 15:00 Filmhouse 3 (McLaren Animation 1)

Saturday 19 June 11:45 Filmhouse 3 (McLaren Animation 1)

official screening success in London!

The Astronomer's Sun has just been selected for official screening in this year's Rushes Soho Shorts Film Festival held in London, UK, in June 2010. Tickets for the Official Screenings will be available from Wednesday 16 June.

Check out all of our other official competition selections, about the directors and the crew who made the film at: http://www.theastronomerssun.com/ the new site from Duchy Parade FIlms dedicated to The Astronomer's Sun.

SIFF Spotlight: The Lion At Home

SIFF Spotlight: The Lion At Home

Lion at Home wins in the Czech Republic!

Yippee! The “The Lion at Home” received an award in the Animated Films Made by Children category at the 9th annual AniFest 2010 – the International Festival of Animated Films, which took place from the 18 - 23 May in the city of Teplice, Czech Republic.

The jury said:

"The children´s jury selected this film unanimously for its originality, meaningful story line and beautiful art.“

Bricknell Primary school have won a photo-camera with the award. Congratulations!!

Don't forget, you can see The Lion at Home" and vote for it at the Seattle International Film Festival!

We've been picking up some great comments including this from Simon Green, Director of Hull Museums & Gallery who worked with us on the film.


"Superb! This kind of creativity is the reason why I decided to move from the private sector to work in culture. The kids have clearly enjoyed the work and this shows in the end result. I am currently arranging to have this work shown on our service web site."

 My storyboarding tutor at Aardman Animation, ex head of training at Disney Feature Animation and DreawWorks Feature Animation and all round animation God, Frank Gladstone says:
 
"Most excellent. Hurrah for the director, the teachers and especially the kids. Great work and storytelling!"