All Animated: the Northern Animation Network introduced by Steven Carter …
My name is Steven Carter and I’ve been animating for roughly six years, ever since I was lucky enough to be asked by my employers. I’ve been eagerly developing different styles and trying out new software, and I publish mostly online. It was a good start but it felt quite isolated, having nobody else to bounce ideas off. Recently I was invited by a friend to a networking evening and I stood up to talk through my work with fellow animators. It felt great and I enjoyed seeing others do the same. I don’t mind standing up next to my designs and talking about them. In fact I see it as a great opportunity for other people to do the same. This has been my main motivation to be part of a new version of that network: All Animated.
All Animated just wants to be loved. And you probably shall in the end.
In short we are a community for animators based in the North who want to help and represent ourselves in the animation world by thinking global and acting local. Creative England, the University of Bradford and Imagine Animation Magazine love us and sponsor us, along with many other good people involved behind the scenes.
As a network we share work, discuss techniques, and debate relevant topics. All levels of experience are welcome, from enthusiasts to adepts, students to professionals, and anyone at all who can contribute to the creation of animations. Character designers, writers, model makers, sound designers, general arty people, and anyone with a funny voice or a peculiar walk can come round our house and make themselves at home. If I’ve missed anyone out it’s not deliberate or laziness, you’ll just know how you can creatively benefit and contribute to us.
A constant way we are connecting people is with our online presence on Facebook and twitter. A web site will be ready any moment which will be a much bigger outlet, but for now we are happy just socialising.
As mentioned, this social aspect extends into the real world with meetings in Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds roughly every 2-3 months. Kath Shackleton, producer at the brilliant Fettle Animation and general font of knowledge about the business side of animation, is head honcho and hosts the Newcastle evenings. Manchester evenings belong to freelance animator Kim Emson who draws in a good crowd with her numerous industry contacts. And Leeds nights are organised by myself, Steven Carter, animator at Tigerprint studios and general talent spotter.
We each aim to get all the hunchbacked, pasty-faced animators like me out of their darkrooms, away from the screen or drawing board, and give them an opportunity to connect with like minded creative types and stand up next to their work and say ‘I did this for this reason for these people and they liked it because it was funny/informative/contemporary’. Or whatever you like. It’s your talk. Knock yourself out. What I want from it personally is for people to show their work, to connect and work together, and to benefit creatively and financially. Yeah, deal with it, money matters.
Or you can just come along to check out some animation bits and bobs.
And that’s what’s been happening. We collect people to connect people.
We’ve had successful collaborations from past meetings. Music man John Waugh has helped me with some sound track sparkle, plus contributing to multiple animation projects as a result of attending the Leeds and Newcastle events. Mark Hewitt and Steven James, both traditional animators, have had the chance to get some professional experience due to their attendance and proved their skills when it mattered. Businesses have started up from us, in particular Bill Beaumont’s Distant Future Animation Studios in Shipley, after meeting his business partner at an event of ours about three years ago.
Our future will see us being a bigger entity offering a whole lot more. Numerous features will make us an essential service and go to place for a professional and creative output. Details of our membership packages to be announced shortly when our new website goes live – meanwhile please sign up to receive our free e-newsletter and join us on our social media sites facebook.com/AllAnimated and @allanimateduk. You can also email us at info@allanimated.co.uk. But most importantly come and meet us, check our eventbrite for upcoming events, and eventually, you’ll have no choice but to love us. Or maybe just like us.