This year I had the pleasure to be invited at Animex Festival with Dan Lund to give a talk about our Global Barn, how we made "Aria for a Cow" and to have some of the art Amos Sussigan and myself had made displayed at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art.
The festival runs for a week with speakers coming in to give lectures about their different field of work and experiences, networking events with the students/attendees, and workshops. I had gone for 2 days in 2014 but this year was to outdo anything I have had the chance to go to before. This wasn't only because of the range and quality of the talks, the various events that went on each day, a special screening of Zootropolis, and even an engagement to round up the week, but mostly for the people I have had a chance to get to know. I was told about the "Animex family" before hand but I now really understand it's meaning, and I was welcomed with open arms into it. I have left the festival with many new friends, stories that inspire me from people with their individual journeys and just happiness enjoying how much fun it was to all hang-out and share our joint passions.
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| Aria's display at MIMA |
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| Aria's display at MIMA |
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| Dan bringing the audience to tears |
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| Dan Lund and Renato Dos Anjos handing out school's animation prizes |
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| Daffy, Renato Dos Anjos and myself |
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| All the speakers introduce themselves at the networking night |
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| The crowd |
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| One of the many family meals |
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| Derek Sakamoto and myself on a day trip to Durham |
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| MIMA |
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| The week ended on a intense game of Mafia in the hotel bar. |
Here are some of the inspiring people I have had the chance to meet:
Andrew Whitehurst Vfx supervisor/double Negative
Daffy VFX Supervisor / Director
Elizabeth Rega Professor of Anatomy
Pascal Etangsale Environment Lead / The Moving Picture Company
Renato Dos Anjos Head of Animation/ Disney
Gabrielle Kent Festival Director / Author
Jez Hall Director/ Brown Bag Films
Louise Bagnall Director & Artist/ Cartoon Saloon
Austin Wintory Composer Musician
Christine Phelan Animator/Valve
Ken Wong Lead Designer/ Ustwo
Will Byles Executive Director/ Supermassive games
Louise O'Connor Incubation Director/ Rare LTd
Emil Kraftling Senior Game Designer/ Avalanche Studios
Gary Napper Lead Game Designer/ Sony
Michel Koch Art Director/ DONTNOD
Raoul Barbet Co-Game Director/ DONTNOD
Derek Sakamoto Lead User Interface Designer/ Blizzard Entertainment
Bianca Iancu Games Artist at Stainless Games Ltd
