Pitch Your Project at APD - Enter by Tomorrow

Animation Production Days in Stuttgart is an event that should be on every animator's radar.

Like Cartoon Movie and Cartoon Forum, APD offers a unique opportunity for animation graduates to pitch their ideas to producers, financiers and sales agents - the people who can bring original animation content to the market. But hurry - submissions close tomorrow.

Producing Animation Webinar Wed 23 August

Learn from the producer of Ultramarines

Veteran animation Producer Bob Thompson is hosting a webinar on Producing Animation on Wednesday 23 August.

The webinar, which is completely free, is titled "An Artist's guide to Animation Producers".  

Bob Thompson is an industry veteran with a long and successful track record of producing animated feature films, commercials and VFX projects, including Ultramarines and the Bionicle series.

The purpose of the webinar is to introduce artists to the business side of animation, which artists often don't understand, or tend to ignore.

But a good artist needs to get the business side of animation. After all, producers need artists who can be relied upon to deliver quality work, on time and on budget.
 

David Thompson Explains How to Produce Movies

David Thompson at BAFTA

BAFTA recently held a series of lectures and masterclasses on film production, welcoming members of the public to hear industry professionals give lectures on all aspects of the business.  One of the best presentations was a talk by David Thompson, formerly head of films and single drama at BBC, and a producer with a clutch of BAFTAs and Golden Globes on his shelf. Most importantly, he has over 100 screen credits, including Billy Elliot and Mandela. Here at Bucks we recommend that all our students attend industry events like this whenever possible. You never know who you will meet, and what you will learn about the way the industry actually works.

Reminder - Producing Animation Workshop with Steve Burch on Tuesday 26 May!

Steve Burch

Don't forget! On Tuesday 26 May we welcome Steve Burch visit Bucks for a lecture and workshop on Producing Animation.  Steve has 26 years experience in the animation industry, having worked on around dozen animated features including Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant.  His roles have included Special Effects Supervisor for Dreamworks and Warner Bros Feature Animation. Steve has worked with three Oscar winning directors and has produced and directed many commercials and animated shorts. So, what can our students expect on Tuesday?

Max Howard Teaches our Students How to Produce a Hollywood Movie

Max Howard and Bucks animation students. From left: Felix Deacon, Ellouise Benjamin, James Hatton, Jack Copley, Max Howard, Kalim Momen, Alex Williams, Georgia Nichols, Anton Alfimenko, Ben Gray

Earlier this year Producer Max Howard came to Bucks to talk about how to produce an independent animated film.  He talked in detail about how films get financed, walking our students through all the steps necessary to get a film off the ground and into theatres. With a wealth of experience at major Hollywood Studios, and also with a number of independent animated features under his belt (plus one coming out this year - The Hero of Colour City - there are few producers better qualified to explain how the system actually works.

What Does a Producer Do, Exactly?

Jeffrey Katzenberg - the uber producer

What does a producer do, exactly? This is an important question for anyone who hopes to go into the entertainment business. Here at Bucks we teach students to animate. We teach art, design, computer skills, everything you need to become a digital artist. But we don't teach producing. As a result, most of our students have only a slender grasp of what actually is involved in producing a project. Arguably, we should teach producing. After all, when you go to the movies and watch the credits, there seem to be a lot of producers. And also sub-species of producer. Like associate producers. And executive producers. And line producers. And creative producers. And what do all these titles mean anyway?