BFI NETWORK South West are hosting a number of industry events with the team at Encounters, inviting animators in the region to learn and network alongside peers and professionals.  

Encounters Film Festival is the UK’s leading short film, animation, and virtual reality festival. It has been running since 1995; discovering, supporting and developing new talent, and providing a platform for filmmakers from around the world – Encounters continues to be a unique meeting place for the industry. Encounters Film Festival 2021 is running from 1 September until 31 September entirely online.  

This year in three events on Tuesday 14 September, animation writers, directors and producers based in the South West are invited to join in online (for definition of areas covered by the South West, please see the BFI Regional Map). 

Starting off the day with a masterclass between 10.30am – 12pm, join us for How to Budget  an  Animated Short with BAFTA winning, Oscar nominated producer Chris Hees. In the masterclass, Chris will explore the most common issues faced when putting together an animation budget for a funded short film.  

Hee’s recently produced BFI NETWORK South West backed stop-motion animated film KNOT is screening as part of the ‘Elemental Moods’ programme at Encounters, make sure you get your festival pass (only £10!) and tune in via their online player.  

Find out more and register here. 

Following this comes a mid-day Animation Roundtable. Hosted by our regional Talent Executives, this informal session will give space for a small group to meet possible future collaborators, and ask questions about BFI NETWORK Short Film Funding. This session takes place between 12.30pm – 1.30pm. 

Find out more and register here. 

To finish of the day, at 4.30pm – 6.00pm, our bi-monthly online networking event NETWORKED is back with special guest speakers Wildseed Studios. 

Bristol based production company Wildseed Studios will join us to talk about their current slate of animated and live action projects for young adult audiences, and how they support new talent to develop features, series and shorts for platforms like Netflix. The event will be followed by 1:1 speed networking via Watershed’s own online networking platform.  

Find out more and register here. 

We are really looking forwards to joining these events online, and whether you are an animator looking to launch or develop your career, an industry professional wanting to stay abreast of what’s new, then register now for a truly inspiring day of animated film activity!