Marc Godfrey Animator at BBC Bitesize

BBC Bitesize

Marc Godfrey was one of the first students to sign up for our course at Animation Apprentice.

He is also one of the most dedicated, and we are proud that his dedication and commitment to the craft of animation has been recognised by the industry in the form of a job witha new Glasgow-based company "Once Were Farmers".

Once Were Farmers

1. Tell us about your new job!

I'm working on a project with a studio up in Glasgow, making short scenes for a BBC Bitesize GCSE series.

2. How did you get it?

I regularly send out my CV and showreel to different studios across the UK. I built up a nice rapport with this one studio in Glasgow, but they didn't have work for a while. At the end of last year they contacted me out of the blue, as they had a big project come in, and they remembered me. So they asked me to come and work with them.

Cinema 4D

3. What kind of work will you be doing?

It's 3D character animation. They work in Cinema4D, which I have no experience in. I was up front about the fact that I didn't know their software, but reassured them that I would be able to pick it up. So, I spent a couple of weeks watching tutorials and learning how to use it properly, so I was ready to go.

Cinema4D isn't too dissimilar to Maya, so it wasn't really a problem for me. The rigs I'm using are pretty simple, so it's a real joy to work on. We're working to a really tight schedule though, we're having to produce 12 seconds of animation, a day!

Glasgow Town Hall

4. What advice would you give to other students at Animation Apprentice to break into the industry?

Don't give up. It took well over a year to land a job. When I was contacting studios, it was the same story of either there not being any work, or them having work but needing experienced animators to hit the ground running.

Around the middle of last year, I began to feel that I needed to brush up my skills, I was worried about my animation techniques and ability going stale. So, I applied for a short animation course with Aardman and the NFTS.

Aardman and NFTS

Working at Aardman really demonstrated to me what you need to do to work in a studio, and apart from having the skills and talent, a lot of it is all about your attitude and how you apply yourself.

Keep working on your own projects and shots for your reel, and most importantly keep sending it out to studios that you want to work for. Eventually someone will call you back, and you'll find opportunities start popping up. No one will pluck you out of thin air and give you a job, you have to work at getting in contact with studios, so they know who you are and where to find you.



Marc Godfrey Animation Showreel 2015 from Marc Godfrey on Vimeo.


To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link. For more information on finding work and surviving in the animation and visual effects business, read our post on how to find a job in the animation industry, and check out our post about what not to do at a job interview. Also see our post on starting your own small animation business, learn how to create an invoice, and see how we are helping our students find work through our film co-operative Nano Films.  Download the free Escape Studios Careers in VFX Handbook. Take a look at how awn.com can help you find a job, and read our piece about how to survive as a freelance animator. Also, find out what Cinesite look for in a student's demo reel, and read our post on setting up your own animation business. Also see our post about freelancers and taxes.