Industry Insights #1 - Future of Animation N.I

Location: Belfast Exposed Thursday 26th September 2024

Scroll below the photos for the full write up!

A special event hosted by AniMates in partnership with HaywardHawk.

This event was one of many firsts for AniMates! Our first sponsored event and our first panelled event! It was also our first time using Belfast Exposed as the venue. Belfast exposed is A non-profit based in Cathedral Quarter that houses 5 public galleries, exhibiting world class art. Well worth a visit in its own right, it made an ideal spot to learn of N.I's creative future.

We had 75 guests for this event which kicked off at 7pm with Pizza & drinks provided by HaywardHawk. After some catching up and networking, we took seats at 7.45pm. Halon, a visualization studio specializing in film, episodic, game and live attraction previs, techvis, postvis and final VFX, took to the stage first via a zoom call. It was a very interesting and informative talk about their work in the industry and following this they took some questions from our community.

Next up, our Panel took to the stage.

(See below for more info on our Panel)

They put on a captivating, honest, informative and entertaining discussion, covering topics from the animation industry of the past, current issues we face, how the pandemic has changed the industry, the effect of A.I in animation, and the future ahead. They also gave insights and tips on how to break into the industry and overall it was an excellent discussion, brilliantly chaired by Daryl Crothers.

Following the panel discussion, the networking went into full swing, we didn’t want the night to end, but sadly as with all events it was eventually time for it to end, but fear not! For those who wanted to keep talking, we moved down the road to The John Hewit, for some excellent beers & conversations!

More info on the venue -
https://www.belfastexposed.org/

More info on the Panel -

Brian Gilmore

Head of Studio at Elk Studios

Brian Gilmore is a 30+ year animation veteran that has seen
the industry transform from Analog to Digital in his career.

Having started out in Murakami Wolf Dublin working on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles he has travelled the world
working on big budget movies and TV series (Inc. Space Jam &
Asterix). He spent most of his time in Ireland (20 years) working for Brown Bag Films in multiple roles. Following that
he spent 2.5 years building a feature film studio for Boulder Media/ Hasbro to produce the CG feature film My Little Pony –A New Generation released 2021.

For the next 3 years Brian worked with TU Dublin managing the CG apprenticeship as well as consulting with Screen Skills Ireland and other Industry training ventures.

He also continues to work in the industry as a consultant with some of the top animation studios around like Cartoon Saloon, Giant Animation and Aardman. Brian has also been focused on developing CMAI as a commercial training venture. Leading it as the industry
expert and building its slate of training courses. Currently he is working with Elk studios to build and grow the studio as it
prepares for a major longform series.

Craig Fish

Animation Direction at Paper Owl Films

Hello,My name is Craig Fish and I am an Animation Director at Paper Owl Films.
I have worked in the Animation Industry for the last 20+ years.

My speciality is budget animation for TV and Film. Assessing 2D animation pipelines and sitting over multiple departments within a production.

I firmly believe in training up talent to be Production ready and sharing the knowledge we acquire as we gain more experience, growing our talent pool and upskilling our teams to compete on a global stage.

Richard Gordon

Managing Director at Jam Media Belfast

Richard heads up JAM Media’s studio in Belfast and is responsible for overseeing operations and productions in the studio.

Richard is currently producing ‘Emerald’ - 20 X 11 minutes for SKY Kids and ‘Tim Rex’ - 60 X 7 minutes for Nickelodeon, in addition to ‘BeddyByes’ - 52 X 11 minutes for CBeebies. He recently completed producing animation on ‘Isadora Moon’ - 52 X 11 minutes for SKY Kids/Warner and a 2D animation feature film entitled ‘A Greyhound of a girl’.

Other recent credits include ‘Nova Jones’ (20 x 24 mins) for CBBC - series producer, ‘Jessy & Nessy’ (40 x 11 mins) for Amazon Prime - series producer, ‘Becca’s Bunch’ (52 x 11’) for Nickelodeon - producer. He has also produced award winning short animated films “The Wiremen” for the Irish Film Board and RTE (2018); Featherweight (2019) and Candlelight (2022) with NI
Screen.

Credits
Isadora Moon Series 1; 52 eps x 11 mins (2023) - Series Producer
Nova Jones Series 2; 20 eps x 24 mins (2023) - Series Producer
A Greyhound of a Girl; Feature Film x 78 mins (2022) - Producer
Candlelight; Short Film x 6 mins (2022) - Producer
Nova Jones; 10 eps x 24 mins; CBBC (2021) - Series Producer
Jessy & Nessy; 40 eps x 11 mins; Amazon Prime (2020) – Series Producer
Aha! Island; 9 eps x 7 mins; WGBH (2019) – Series Producer
Featherweight; Short Film x 9 mins (2019) - Producer
Becca’s Bunch; 52 eps x 11 mins; Nickelodeon Jr (2018) – Producer
The Wiremen; Short Film x 9 mins (2018) – Exec Producer
Little Roy; 52 eps x 11 mins; CBBC/CBeebies (2017) - NI Production Exec
The Roy Files; 15 eps x 14 mins; CBBC (2016) - Business & Finance Exec
Zig & Zag; 26 eps x 11 mins; CBBC (2016) - Business & Finance Exec
Roy Series 3 & 4; 26 eps x 28 mins; CBBC (2015) – Business & Finance Exec

Contact Information
Richard Gordon, Managing Director - Belfast
JAM Media, 1-9 Linfield Road, Belfast, BT12 5DR, UK / 40 Kevin Street Lower,
Dublin 8, Ireland
E: richard.gordon@jammedia.com
T: +44 2890 996656

Daryl Crothers

Head of Commercial - Hayward Hawk

Daryl Crothers is an accomplished Talent Acquisition Leader with extensive experience in building and scaling recruitment strategies for top tech companies in Northern Ireland. Coming from a background as a Director of a multi-award-winning company, Daryl has been recognised with prestigious accolades, including the Prince's Trust Celebrate Success Award, Invest NI’s Business Growth Award, and Mid East Antrim's Young Business Man of the Year.

The original flier