BAM | Bristol Animation Meetup | 🌷 Spring 2024 🌷
The weather’s getting warmer (sort of) and the first Bristol Animation Meetup (BAM) of 2024 is right around the corner! Join your pals Skwigly, Sun & Moon and Rumpus at King Street Brew House, Wednesday March 27th for our Spring 2024 edition where you can catch up with your fellow animation locals!
At the start of the evening we will again be offering eventgoers slots where they can grill, glean advice or just natter with a selection of industry professionals who have graciously offered their time and expertise. These one-to-one slots have proved enormously popular at past BAMs and so we advise those who plan on attending to get in touch sooner rather than later. The sessions are 15 minutes long and span from 7pm – 8:30pm. These are on a first-come, first-serve basis, so if you’d like to book a slot email bristol.animation.meetup@gmail.com
The evening will kick off at 6:30pm – spread the word, bring your friends, make new ones! We’re looking forward to seeing all your fabulous faces.
This latest edition also marks the launch of our official BAM Instagram account, which will be your first port of call moving forward for all BAM-related events in the future! Give us a follow @bristol_animation_meetup
INDUSTRY GUESTS
Mohamed Orekan
Mohamed is a senior animator, currently living in Bristol with a decade of experience working for studios including Turner, Blind Pig, A Productions, Lighthouse Studios, Kavaleer Productions, Interference Pattern and more!
Mohamed started as an intern through Creative Access at Illuminated Films. Since then he has gone on to work in a variety of positions – recently finished as a Lead Animator at A Productions on Sesame Street: Nature Explorers with Elmo, Tango & Gabrielle and is currently working at Blinkink as a Senior Animator.
Mohamed has given workshops in schools and Masterclasses online, talking about his experience and helping to support BAME/underrepresented communities get into the industry.
He is happy to discuss:
- Experience in Animation
- Questions about the Animation industry and career progression
- Starting out in the industry, how to begin
- Animation advice: discussing showreels and feedback
Sam Shaw
Sam Shaw is a Bristol based director, animation generalist and duck fan working at Sun & Moon Animation. From art direction to storyboarding, Sam has helped out in pretty much every stage in a production pipeline.
Highlights of his decade long career include being a storyboarder and lead designer for the Cbeebies show Kit & Pup, a senior animator on Doctor Who, getting to design, animate and direct music videos for Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, and recently finishing up as 2D animation director for Aardman and Netflix’s film Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.
Sam was also a successful applicant of BBCs Ignite scheme and is in the process of developing a show for CBBC (it has a duck in it so he’s happy). When he’s not animating in work hours, you can usually find him… Still animating anyway because he thinks it’s fun.
Key discussion areas:
- Portfolio/showreel reviews
- Character design feedback
- Job advice and balancing personal work with a full time job
- Happy to just chat about your favourite cartoons too
Robyn Liebschner
Robyn is a freelance 2D animator who has worked in the industry for over a decade. In that time she has worked her way up from layout artist to animation supervisor. She even had a short stint as an assistant director, but enjoys animating the most.
She has worked on pre-school series, commercials and web content for Arthur Cox, A Productions, Funko Animation Studio, Lighthouse, Wilchild Animation and most recently Scribble Room. Her work has included Nina Needs to Go, Battle World, Little Ellen and The Brilliant World of Tom Gates.
Key discussion areas:
- Happy to look over Showreels and portfolios
- First steps in the business of freelancing
Back To Front Studios
Back To Front is an independent, craft-based animation studio based in Bristol, UK. Founded by Emma Windsor and Aiden Whittam, Back To Front Studios is committed to exploring new ways of working that support traditional craft but harness new technologies for amazing creative results.
Key discussion areas:
- Stop motion, stop motion, stop motion!
Andy Fossey
Andy is a 3D and 2D animator who has worked in the industry since 2010. In that time he has worked his way up to Animation Director.
Andy’s main passion is Character Animation, particularly in 3D. Andy has worked in Pre-school TV, Commercials and Features for A Productions, Aardman, Arthur Cox and Spider Eye working with some great clients such as Sesame Workshop, Disney Jr and Magic Light Pictures. During this time, he worked on some fantastic projects such as Pip and Posy: Let’s Learn, Early Man, Bea’s Block, Numtums and The Monster at the End of this Story, to name a few. Andy has most recently worked as Animation Director on Pip and Posy: Let’s Learn for Magic Light Pictures at A Productions.
Key discussion areas:
- Feedback on Showreels/Portfolios
- Tips to help elevate your animation
- Career progression and gaining experience in 3D animation