Blue Zoo Summer Internships Now Open

Blue Zoo's 2026 summer internships are now open

Calling all Animation Apprentice graduates - Applications for Blue Zoo's 2026 summer internships are now open, and close on Friday 29th May at midnight.  

As always, we encourage our students to apply for internships like this one.  Even if you don't succeed, you will learn valuable skills along the way. 

The internship roles available this year at Blue Zoo are: 3D Animator, Social Media Intern and Production Assistant Intern.

All information needed to apply is at Blue Zoo's careers website along with the application pages.  Applications for Blue Zoo's 2026 summer internships can be made here at the official Blue Zoo site.

Blue Zoo Animation and The "AI Manifesto"

Blue Zoo's AI Manifesto

Blue Zoo , one of the UK's leading animation companies, has published their "AI Manifesto".

The AI Manifesto sets out how artists and animators at the studio can navigate the world of artificial intelligence "ethically...leveraging technology for the betterment of society and creativity".  

Happy Birthday Blue Zoo!

Blue Zoo 25th Anniversary Party

Last week the BAFTA-winning animation studio Blue Zoo celebrated their 25th birthday with a huge party that brought together past and present team members, collaborators, and friends of the studio.

The event celebrated a quarter-century of award-winning creativity, from groundbreaking children’s TV shows to acclaimed commercials.  

Blue Zoo has mentored many Escape Studios' animation students at both undergraduate and graduate level, and many Animation Apprentice graduates have begun their animation careers at Blue Zoo.

"Animation Trainee Finder" Launched

Animation Trainee Finder Programme at ScreenSkills

ScreenSkills has launched the Animation Trainee Finder, a paid placement programme for entry-level graduates.

Animation Trainee Finder is being launched by the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Council with the support of UK animationStudios.  The deadline is 27 September 2021.  

Animation Careers Event on 5 August 2021

We're recommending that all our animation students and recent graduates sign up for this free Animation and Careers Event on 5th August at 4.30pm.

Hosted by Escape Studios, this free online Animation Careers Evening includes animation industry leaders Blue Zoo and Jellyfish Pictures.   To sign up for this free event, follow this link.

Henry Fenwick Animator at Blue Zoo

Many congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Henry Fenwick, who is currently working as an Animator at London's Blue Zoo Animation. 

Blue Zoo is one of the UK's most successful independent animation studios. Founded in 2000 by a group of university graduates, they have gone on to produce award-winning commercials and TV Series, and creative independent short films.

Henry Fenwick took our online course in 3D Animation, and used the skills he learned to polish his reel and find work in the rapidly-expanding animation industry.

Belgis Al-Mahdiova Animator at Blue Zoo

Many congratulations to Belgis Al-Mahdiova who has begun work as a junior animator at Blue Zoo, one of the UK's most successful animation houses.

Prior to this, Bella worked as an animator at Polar Media and TikTokRobot, a UK animation studio.

Belgis took our 30 week course at Animation Apprentice, developed her demo reel, and then applied for positions as an animator. 

Blue Zoo To Keep Remote Working Post-Covid

Tom Box (right) with animation students

In a recent interview at Cartoon Brew, Blue Zoo co-founder Tom Box explains why remote working is here to stay.  Since Covid-19 broke, around 700,000 people have left London, and this change is reflected at Blue Zoo animation, where many of their team have left the capital for good.  

According to Tom: "Blue Zoo is no longer really a London based company, even though we have (empty) offices there. Now, just 30% of our team live in London. Over last 10 months lots of staff relocated across the UK for a better work/life balance.  London has changed forever".

Blue Zoo: Real Time Rendering

Blue Zoo's Tom Box at BlueGFX Expo

Blue Zoo's Tom Box explained the Blue "real-time animation pipeline" at today's BlueGFX Expo, exploring new ways to speed up the animation process.

Tom described Blue Zoo as a studio that, since its inception, has "refused to accept industry standards", and has forged its own path in the industry.

Recently Blue Zoo have been pioneering the use of real-time rendering using Unreal Engine - trying to find ways to make the production process faster and more efficient. 

Blue Zoo Animation Recruitment Tips

Blue Zoo's Bader Badruddin

Animation Apprentice students who attended the recent VFX Festival at London's South Centre had the chance to meet recruiters from Blue Zoo Animation, one of London's animation powerhouses.

Among the Blue Zoo staff looking for fresh talent was Bader Badruddin, one of their lead animators (pictured left).

Bader chatted to animators about the kind of work Blue Zoo is looking for, and to make things easier still the company have also put together a very helpful blog post titled "Top Ten Recruitment Stand Tips" for students and graduates hoping to impress the company at a recruitment stand.

Blue Zoo Summer Internships Now Open

Applications for Blue Zoo's summer internships are now open. These 6-8 week paid placements in animation, storyboarding and visual development are described by Blue Zoo as "like a real job but without the demands & expectations, allowing participants to develop and learn how a big animation studio works and real projects are run".

Demo Reel Tips from Blue Zoo

What should go in a an animator's demo reel? It's a question that gets asked by almost every animation student, as they start to polish their shots, cut a demo reel, and start to look for work.

To see our 12 steps to craft a great demo reel, follow this link.  However, it's always good to get multiple points of view, and recently a Blue Zoo director posted his tips on what to put  (and what not to put) in an animation demo reel.  We agree with all of it, especially his advice on keeping it short, and his key observation that your work as an animator is "only as good as the worst thing on your reel".

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.

Storyboard With Panel Forge Pro

At last week's Blue GFX Expo, Blue Zoo’s Tom Box announced that Panel Forge Pro, their new storyboard and pipeline tool, is now available for free for student use.

Blue Zoo Summer Internships

Applications for Blue Zoo's summer internship roles are now open. The 6-8 week paid placements are "like a real job but without the demands & expectations, allowing participants to develop and learn how a big animation studio works and real projects are run".

Animation Masterclass by Blue Zoo

At the recent VFX Festival in London, Blue Zoo's Tom Box introduced one of their animation directors to give a "Masterclass in Cartoony Animation".

Blue Zoo does many styles of animation, trying "not to get known for just one style", but much of their work is done for TV format, where schedules are punishing and animators have to work fast.

Blue Zoo have to be creative, efficient, and find ways to stay competitive - even in a high-cost city like London, where rents and wages are much higher than overseas.

They also encourage their staff to get involved creatively, developing in-house projects which can be brought to the screen, and also doing short films - BZ Shorts - within the studio, developing new styles of animation and experimenting with new ways of doing things.

So - what are their secrets for a fast, efficient animation workflow?

What is Redshift?

Animators need renders to be as quick and efficient as possible.  Long render times increase  the time taken to to get your shots finaled and, ultimately, the cost of production.

I asked one of my former students -  Lyuboslav Angelov - to talk about Redshift, a new rendering tool - which has also been adopted by leading London studios such as Blue Zoo.

I asked Lyuboslav to explain how Redshift works and how students can benefit from its speed and simplicity.

Blue Zoo Launches New StoryBoard Software

One of the highlights of last week's Blue GFX Expo was a presentation of Panel Forge Pro (the first public demonstration of the software), a new storyboard and pipeline tool which has now been extensively road tested at Blue Zoo on the Miffy the Rabbit and Digby Dragon TV Series.

Panel Forge uses 3D Layouts – much like its rival Redboard (also developed here in London) – to save time in Storyboarding.  Panel Forge allows board artists to use low resolution 3D assets to help set up camera angles and layouts, and has been used on “10,000 shots” to date.  So, what is Panel Forge all about, and why should our students be interested?

Blue Zoo at SIGGRAPH tomorrow in London!

Blue Zoo, one of the UK's most innovative indie animation studios, is the star of the next SIGGRAPH event, on Wednesday May 25 at MPC in London's Soho, at 7pm.

The founders of BlueZoo will be talking about how they nurtured their fledgling company from an idea into a multi-million pound animation powerhouse.  Best of all, the event is completely free!

How Do Animators Stay Creative? Blue Zoo's Top Ten Rules

Blue Zoo is one of the UK's most successful independent animation studios. Founded in 2000 by a group of university graduates, they have gone on to produce excellent commercials and TV Series, as well as some very creative independent short films.

But how does a studio like Blue Zoo stay creative, while at the same time managing the demands of a commercial pipeline, and getting their jobs done on time? At the recent Escape Studios VFX Festival, Tom Box explained how they get it done.

"More Stuff" by Blue Zoo Animation!

More Stuff by Blue Zoo Animation from Blue Zoo on Vimeo.

Animation Apprentice graduate Marc Godfrey worked on this excellent short film by Blue Zoo animation, one of the UK's best indie animation houses and a studio that takes seriously the business of keeping its creative juices flowing. One of the ways they do this is by making short films, involving their staff creatively and ensuring that their work is experimental, fun and interesting. Congratulations to Marc on another great piece of animation.