Animated films to be screened down under

Two short films produced at Teesside University have been chosen to be screened at a major international animation festival held in Australia.

The animation shorts were selected from over 4,000 entries and will be shown during the Melbourne International Animation Festival in June.

‘Dave’s New Watch’ and ‘The Dream Catastrophe’ were both produced by students in the University’s School of Computing as part of their final year projects.

Ollie Cooke made ‘Dave’s New Watch’ on his own and also worked as part of a group on the longer animation ‘The Dream Catastrophe’ along with Michael Bryant, Samantha Forster, Drew Johnson and Sam Swinnerton.

'I was shocked and excited to discover that my work is going to be screened at the festival,' explained Ollie, who graduated from Teesside University in 2016 with a BA (Hons) Computer Character Animation.

'It is wonderful to be chosen and to know it is going to be seen by so many people.'

Ollie secured a job as a runner at The Mill, a London-based film and video production company, after impressing bosses during ExpoTees London, part of the University’s final year showcase of student work. He has since been promoted to Technical Operator.

'I loved my time at Teesside and it provided me with some fantastic opportunities,' added Ollie.

Michael Bryant graduated with a BA (Hons) Computer Animation and Visual Effects. He is now a Texture Artist at Framestore in London and is currently working on the upcoming Paddington 2 film.

'I chose to study at Teesside because of the Animex festival and its fantastic links with industry,' said Michael.

'The course certainly prepared me for the job I am doing now. It is a huge honour to have The Dream Catastrophe chosen for the Melbourne International Animation Festival. We all worked on it for our final project and are excited about the reaction it is receiving.'

The Melbourne International Animation Festival, held from 18 to 25 June, is one of the largest animation festivals in the world and will screen around 450 animated films.

Sabrina Schmid, Senior Lecturer in Animation at Teesside University, said: 'Our graduates have gone on to work at some of the biggest studios, both in this country and abroad. The work they produce during their time here is of the highest standard and continues to attract significant outside interest.

'We are delighted that these two animated films have been selected for such a prestigious international festival. It is a great opportunity to showcase the talent we have at Teesside University.'

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• Animation
• computing