One way that I try to build connections in the animation industry, as well as find inspiration for my own work, is by attending animation film festivals and screenings. This has been a really valuable tool for me in meeting other animators and filmmakers. In fact quite a few of my close friends, I initially met through film festivals that I or my friends were part of, so I really value it as a tool for meeting like-minded filmmakers. I recently attended the 2025 Brighton Animation Festival,which took place in April. Because I’m obviously familiar with Kate Jessop who runs the festival, from her involvement as a tutor on this course, I have been aware of Brighton Animation Festival for a while, and also attended last year’s festival.
This year there were several films in the festival by MACA alumni, so it was a great opportunity to catch up with some of the graduated students that I hadn’t seen in a while, hear about what they have been up to since graduating and get advice from them. I saw Maria João Lourenço who had her film ‘Clothilde’ screening in the ‘Queer as F*ck’ category, we had a really good conversation about her journey since graduating in 2023, and she told me about how she has been balancing making her own work with taking on some freelance projects, as well as continuing to work at UAL in the CSM library. This was really helpful to see an example of how it can be useful to have regular part time work in a non-animation role, and continue making your own work at the same time, which I think is a definite option for me after graduating, as I’d really like to be able to continue making my own films after graduation. I also saw other alumni including Jonathan Webb and Hannah Roza Fisher, and it was great to be able to reconnect with them and hear about what they were up to.
Whilst at the festival I also spoke to Lily Human, an animator and filmmaker who I had met before at a different screening event. Her film “Scaredy Crow” was screening at Brighton. We ended up talking about her experience attending the Aardman academy, which is where she had made the film. It was interesting hearing about Aardman academy and her experience there. Although she had a really wonderful experience, her description of the academy made me realise that it’s probably not a route that I would go down myself. It sounded very structured, with not much room for experimentation, and it seems that the majority of people on the course have the end goal of ending up working as an animator at Aardman, which isn’t really the direction that I’m personally interested in.
Overall I found attending Brighton Animation festival 2025 a really valuable experience, not only through getting to watch some really amazing and inspiring animation, but through getting to talk to other animators which I find really helpful in getting a better sense of the industry and what I would like my place to be within it.
