Animation Producer Lab 2024: Meet the Participants

BFI NETWORK South West is excited to announce a new Animation Producer Lab in collaboration with ScreenSkills, supported by the Animation Skills Fund.  The Lab will support animation producers with a focus on key areas of responsibility (generally shared across 2D, 3D and stop-motion) including story development, financing, budgeting, scheduling, pitching and project management.

Erin Hilsdon (she/her) 

Erin is a puppet maker and aspiring producer living in Bristol. Erin has been working for the start-up studio Spare Flesh for the past year and plans to produce and fabricate on their sixth film later this year. Erin enjoys making dark, twisted stop-motion films with elements of comedy and fantasy. 

Jon Roberts (he/him) 

Jon has been working in the education sector for 16 years focussing on media production and film. He currently works for a local radio station providing video and audio workshops to schools and community groups, combining his love of film and animation to enable young people the opportunity to create short moving-image pieces. He has a great love of animation, film and immersive technologies, and of seeing a project come together. He’s keen to help others take their ideas from the page to the screen. 

Cara Bamford (she/her) 

Cara is an award-winning filmmaker and aspiring animation producer from Bristol. With a background in production management, she started her career in animation as a production assistant for Turner, before moving into coordinator and other management roles. Her credits include children’s series with Cartoon Network, Disney and Marvel, as well as corporate shorts and ads. She loves working with artists to help bring their work to life through the production process. 

Jemina Legaspi (she/her) 

Jemina is a Bristol-based Filipino writer and producer who was raised in Qatar. She has led several award-winning shorts, and commercials for companies such as PUMA and Chevrolet. She has also worked on TV shows and feature films to be released on Disney+, BBC One, Sky TV and Netflix. After building her experience in live-action, Jemina relocated to the UK in 2022 with the hopes of steering her career towards animation. She’s attended courses at the renowned National Film & Television School and obtained a Producing Certificate from London Film Academy. She currently works as a Production Manager at Jellyfish Pictures’ original animated content division and uses her spare time to channel her passion for storytelling into writing and producing independent projects, three of which are currently in development. 

Xan Seymour (he/him)

Xan works as a project manager at a sustainable digital agency. He is passionate about animation (particularly stop frame) and started making animations as a childhood hobby, which eventually led to work experience at Spider Eye animation studio. Studying History with Innovation at University of Bristol, Xan took utilised his animation and graphic design skills within his projects, and worked as a freelancer upon graduation – kickstarted by making a parody of Mike Nichols’ The Graduate, set in 2020. Xan is eager to contribute to the film industry by bringing his blend of organisational and creative skills to problem solving in a production role. 

Lily Bennett (she/her)

Lily is a producer from a diverse background who strives to tell unique stories that highlight underrepresented voices. Her student film won ‘Best Animation’ at the Exeter College ‘Oscars’, which led to her participating in the BFI Film Academy Animation Specialist Course and receiving training from Aardman Academy. She is experienced in both scripted and unscripted, working on projects such as Eurovision 2023 and BFI Academy courses, and with organisations including BBC Studios, BBC Natural History Unit and the NFTS in a range of Production Coordination roles. At 19, Lily has demonstrated an aptitude to achieve success early on in her career, as well as a strong determination to see more queer and neurodivergent representation within film and TV. 

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Portfolio 

Anastasia Pillar (she/her)  

Anastasia Pillar is a freelancer based in Bristol with a BA in Animation. Inspired by the infinite story possibilities that animation creates, she is delighted to embark on her journey in animation production. 

Libby Cadman (she/her) 

Libby is an aspiring creative producer. She started her career as an assistant and coordinator for live action across shorts, HETV and independent features, and has spent the last 4+ years working in creative in-house teams to produce motion-graphic and 3D marketing videos and content. Most recently this included supporting the release of original IP (Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings) tabletop games. She is particularly passionate about storytelling, and recently completed the NFTS Script Reading course. As a disabled and neurodivergent creative, Libby hopes to support and collaborate with fellow marginalised folk to create work that can communicate the universality of the human experience through a lens of specificity. 

Amy Upchurch (she/her) 

Amy is a Bristol-based Production Assistant, currently working for Aardman Animations. Driven by a love of comedy and with a desire to support and boost local talent, she is interested in telling funny, compelling stories that bring people together. Drawn to the limitless and abstract world of animation, she hopes to build upon her knowledge to ensure that varied and often overlooked voices get the spotlight and support they deserve. Amy is particularly interested in learning more about story development, financing and budgeting, and her intention is to build positive, collaborative and fun working cultures in all of her projects. 

Eloise Gardner (they/them) 

Eloise grew up in Plymouth and quickly developed their love and enthusiasm for animation, TV and film. They studied Animation & VFX at Falmouth University and produced two short films during their studies. They then started a role as a Production Assistant at Gutsy Animations, working on Moominvalley Season 3 before swiftly progressing into Coordinator and Junior Production Manager positions, with key responsibilities in the voices and edit departments. 

BFI NETWORK South West, in partnership with Blak Wave Productions, Little By Little Films and Grey Moth, are pleased to present our participants for New Voices 2023. New Voices is a three-month talent development scheme for underrepresented writer-directors in the south west of England.

  • Past Lab Participants Read more
  • Animation Lab 2019: Meet the Participants Read more
  • Animation Producer Lab 2024: Meet the Participants Read more
  • Creative Producers Lab 2021: Meet the Participants Read more
  • Directing Workshop 2019: Meet the Participants Read more
  • New Producers Lab 2020: Meet the Participants Read more
  • New Voices 2020: Meet the Participants Read more
  • New Voices 2021: Meet the Participants Read more
  • New Voices 2023: Meet the Participants Read more
  • New Writers Lab 2020: Meet the Participants Read more
  • Producer Lab 2023: Meet the Participants Read more
  • Producer’s Lab 2019: Meet the Participants Read more
  • Queer Storytelling Workshop: Meet the Participants Read more
  • Script Development Lab 2021: Meet the Participants Read more
  • Script Development Workshop 2019: Meet the Participants Read more
  • Shorts2Features 2022: Meet the Cohort Read more
  • Thinking Cinematically Participants Read more

Animation Producer Lab 2024: Meet the Participants

Producer Lab 2023: Meet the Participants

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Creative Producers Lab 2021: Meet the Participants

BFI NETWORK South West are pleased to present our participants for the Creative Producers Lab 2021. 

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New Voices 2020: Meet the Participants

BFI NETWORK South West are pleased to present our participants for the New Voices scheme 2020.

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New Voices 2021: Meet the Participants

BFI NETWORK, in partnership with production companies Blak Wave & Little By Little Films, are pleased to present our participants for the New Voices scheme 2021-22. This talent development opportunity aims to help aspiring South West and Midlands based filmmakers looking to develop their five-minute short film idea.

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