Pete Nicholson Starts Anchor Animation

Many congratulations to Animation Apprentice Pete Nicholson who has founded a new startup animation studio - Anchor Animation.  Anchor Animation specialises in "high-quality animation that enables brands to communicate with confidence.”  We wish Pete every success with his new venture; you can find out more here at the official site: www.anchoranimation.co.uk/

Jinng Hwee Tan Animator at Framestore

Congratulations to Animation Apprentice student Jinng Hwee Tan who has joined Framestore as an animator. 

Jinng Hwee Tan studied animation with us, taking our Online MA in 3D Animation, being awarded a Master's Degree from Buckinghamshire New University. 

Framestore is a leading global animation and VFX house, responsible for multiple hit movies and series.

You can see Jinng Hwee Tan's demo reel here.

Phil Loeffler MoGraph Supervisor at Discovery

Congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Phil Loeffler who has been promoted to Motion Graphics Animation Supervisor at Discovery.

Phil has been successfully working as a freelance animator, illustrator and designer for some time, building on the skills he has learned at Animation Apprentice.

Motion Graphics is a key part of the animation industry, an expanding area of jobs, creativity and new business.

Steve Woodhouse - Founder of Skyline Visuals

Skyline Visuals - founded by Steve Woodhouse

Many congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Steve Woodhouse who has founded his own successful architectural visualisation company - Skyline Visuals. 

Skyline Visuals creates  3D visuals & photomontage for the architecture & landscape industry.  Skyline Visuals "provides effective solutions to assist with planning pipeline and visual marketing".  

Oliver Canovas 3D Artist at KAN Engineering

Many congratulations to Animation ApprenticeOliver Canovas who is working as Digital Modelling Engineer at KAN Engineering. 

Oliver Canovas took our Online MA in Computer Animation (the first of its kind) with our Higher Education partner Buckinghamshire New University, graduating with honours.

"Early Bird" Best Animation at IndieFilmopolis

Dan Fitzgerald Wins Best Animation 

Congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Dan Fitzgerald who has won another festival award for his short film "Early Bird".  

Early Bird won "Best Animation" at the IndieFilmopolis Film festival.

Early Bird is about a bird who catches the early worm - or tries to.   Dan's short film has won many festival awards.

Dan Fitzgerald took our 26 week course at Animation Apprentice, learning 3D Animation skills to a professional level of quality. 

Dan recently won the BAA Ident Challenge for his awesome BAA Ident Animation.

Marc Godfrey Launches "MarcoLooks" at Patreon

Animation Apprentice graduate Marc Godfrey

Animation Apprentice graduate Marc Godfrey-Murphy (aka "MarcoLooks") has launched an Online Character Drawing Class on Patreon, aimed at a family audience.

Marc Godfrey-Murphy is a York-based animator and illustrator, graduate of Animation Apprentice, former Cbeebies animator and founder of the MarcoLooks Print Swap. 

Marc has now launched his own online character drawing classes hosted at Patreon.

Benn Garnish Product Manager at fTrack

Many congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Benn Garnish who is working as Integrations Product Manager at fTrack.

Benn's remit at fTrack is creative direction and strategy, currently leveraging the technology of Virtual Reality to treat mental health conditions. 

Benn leads a team of developers and digital artists, with successful releases in the NHS, Hong Kong and the United States.

Benn's career shows how many animators are now moving into areas of medical animation, VR and AR, literally helping to save lives. 

Pete Nicholson Animator at NRG Digital

Pete Nicholson

Congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Pete Nicholson who has started work as an animator at NRG Digital. 

Pete began his animation career working at Nano Films, King Bee, and Dead Ready Productions.

NRG Digital is a visual communications agency based in Fleet, England.

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. 

Nik Couzens Junior Animator at BBC Studios

Many congratulations to Nik Couzens, who has recently started work as a Junior Animator at BBC Studios. Nik took our 30 week course at Animation Apprentice, working hard to develop his demo reel and apply for work in the expanding UK animation industry. 

BBC Studios is "home to the very best of British creativity". It is UK’s "most-awarded production company" and also a "world-class distributor" of original creative content.

We are delighted that Nik has landed his first job in the animation business.

Kristis Bandzevicius Animator at Quadmark

Kristis Bandzevicius

Animation Apprentice congratulates our student Kristis Bandzevicius on his new job as a Motion Designer at Quadmark. Kristis took our MA in 3D Animation, delivered through our academic partner Buckinghamshire New University. 

Quadmark is a creative training and enablement agency that builds learning experiences for companies.

"Motion Designer" is really another way of saying "animator", and we're delighted that Kristis is using the skills learned at Animation Apprentice and BNU to forge a career in the creative industries.

Priya Chitnis 3D Layout Artist at ILM

Priya Chitnis

Many congratulations to Animation Apprentice Graduate Priyanka Chitnis, who has a secured a new position as a Layout Artist at Industrial Lights & Magic (ILM) in Sydney, Australia.

Priya took our online MA in 3D Animation, delivered in partnership with Buckinghamshire New University, and this is her first role in the animation and VFX industry.

ILM is a global powerhouse in animation and vfx, the pioneering studio that created the animated dinosaurs for Jurassic Park and has since gone on to create the Star Wars franchise of films. 

Sarah Al Runner at ILM

Sarah Al

Many congratulations to Sahra Alsheekhamid (known as "Sarah Al"), who starts work as a runner for Industrial Light and Magic (ILM)  tomorrow, Monday 1st February.

Sara took our online course at Animation Apprentice, graduating from Buckinghamshire New University with an MA in 3D Animation. 

Working as a runner is a well proven path to break into the animation and visual effects industry.

ILM is of course one of the world's leading animation and VFX houses, responsible for the pioneering work on Jurassic Park and on the Star Wars series of box office hits. 

To see more about working as a runner, and the benefits it can bring, read this blog post.  

Victoria Bailey Releases "Turtley in Love"

Many congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Victoria Bailey, who has just published her new book: "Turtley In Love", a short animated story for children.

"Turtley In Love" was written and animated by Victoria through her new publishing venture Wonky Pictures.

Join Tommy the Turtle as he battles the elements and journeys through the unknown in his quest to find Celia, his one true turtle love.

Angelo Garrizone Animation Intern at King Bee

Angelo Garizzone

Many Congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Angelo Garrizone who has recently landed an animation internship with King Bee animation, based at the historic Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, just outside of London.

King Bee have worked on many animation projects, including music videos and TV series. They use Maya, Flash and Photoshop to do much of their work.

Angelo worked hard at building an animation demo reel, and also had to complete a test in Adobe Animate in order to secure the position.

Lee Caller "Special Mention" Award at ANSFF

"Jelly Cars": Special Mention at ANSFF

Animation Apprentice is proud to congratulate Lee Caller whose short film Jelly Cars has won a "Special Mention" Award at the Arte Non Stop Film Festival in Argentina. 

This is the second award for Jelly Cars; earlier this year the short won a "Five Stars" Award at the British International Amateur Film Festival.  Lee graduated from Animation Apprentice several years ago and now teaches animation at Escape Studios in London. 

Dominic Rayner at Immersive VR Education

Dominic Rayner

Many congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Dominic Rayner who is working as Senior Animator at Immersive VR Education.

Immersive VR Education is a virtual and augmented reality company working in the field of training and education, based in Waterford City, Ireland.

Dominic is based in the UK, working remotely from England, where he has built a complete home office from where he is able to work for global clients.

Dominic's career is an example of the importance of flexible working in the post-Corona economy. The animation industry continues to thrive, but animators must be flexible and be prepared to work from home, managing their own tech support and working with their own equipment.

"Jelly Cars" Wins Award at the BAIFF

Many congratulations to Animation Apprentice graduate Lee Caller, whose short film "Jelly Cars" has won an award at the British Amateur International Film Festival.

Lee Caller, created the short film while studying at Animation Apprentice; based on one of the weekly animation exercises completed all our students.

"Jelly Cars" has been selected for a number of animation festivals, but this is its first award.

Today, Lee teaches animation classes at Escape Studios in London, and is also studying for his MA in 3D Animation at Buckinghamshire New University.

You can see more of Lee's work at his website here.