A Long Overdue Update!

Hello all!

It's been a little while since l've posted anything of any substance in the blog other than a few pieces here and there. As I've previously discussed in a few different posts, I have been working hard on an animation since last July - the first since Hashtag Live in late 2022. This project is now 95% completed including sound and we are now awaiting final approval from the client. I plan to cover more about this animation in the blog - breaking down the processes behind the work. This will be planned out once everything has been approved and the final production is public.

In September last year I also completed illustration work on a feature length film titled "Make it to Munich." The film follows Ethan Walker, a young Scottish footballer who, following a life-changing car accident, makes the decision to cycle to Munich for Scotland's opening match against Germany in Euro 2024 - only nine months later.

The film premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival on March 9 2025. I am pleased to say that I was in attendance, getting to spend some time on the red carpet and soak in the experience of a film premiere. I initially had the opportunity to meet with all the cast and crew in a function at the Dakota Hotel and even got the chance to catch up with Martin Docherty and lan Bustard, whom we animated in "Marty Goes to Hollywood" in 2014.

Make it to Munich itself was fantastic, a deeply enjoyable film on many levels with the ideal balance of emotion and comedy. The film will be released in Scottish cinemas in May, though could possibly see a wider release.

I have also taken part in two local fayres (Christmas and Easter) in which I have been selling my prints. These have been an enjoyable experience and not entirely outside of my comfort zone since I have a background in sales and upselling.

Going forward I have a checklist of smaller projects that I intend to get through before taking on anything bulky. I will be taking a laid-back approach and treating this period as a break whist I recharge for what's next. However, I do have a few ideas for future graphics work and there is a certain animation that I started a few years ago that I may just revisit.

On the subject of animation, I have learnt over time that these projects tend to be few and far between, my next animation project may well be 2 years away. I have no idea what the future holds in this regard, how exciting!

Animex, The International Festival of Animation

So, as mentioned in a previous post, me and another few animators headed to Animex at Teeside University in Middlesbrough for a series of interesting and very informative talks. The particularly enjoyable presentations were those by Ed Hooks and David Au, a pretty down to earth guy who we caught up with later in the student union. He offered some pretty useful tips and advice for effectively getting into the industry and gelling with fellow animators.

We were also gifted with free Disney notepads upon entering the lecture theatre, which was a nice little addition:

Dork face on (and slightly hungover)

The "Life of Pi" talks were particularly interesting as Stuart Sumida and Hans Rijpkema (both of whom we'd listened to before) were close friends and co-ordinated their back-to-back talks very effectively. The festival unfortunately fell a couple of days before our inanimate object assessment was due and therefore we had to work on it in the hotel (all work and only a little play)

                           Stuart Sumida, professor at California State University, San Bernadino

   The work behind the effects was positively astounding