SHAKY NORA

Shaky Nora is a little project I am working on for an illustrated book about a little urban voodoo girl with a whimsy for shrinking heads. Early days.

ANNA SPUD

Exciting news - I have finally handed over my precious 'Spuds' for development towards the idea of presenting it to broadcasters as a series, I am working with Illuminated Films and aim to work with another writer to whip my scripts ideas into shape, and I am redesigning the overall look. Development in earnest will commence in 2010, it's exciting times for the Spud saga







Click above to play. Animated short. Finalist at the Royal Television Awards and British Animation Awards (The BAA'S), Anna Spud went on to pick up best animation at the Chichester International Film Festival as well as a commendation & special mention at the learning on Screen awards and MECAL film festival at Barcelona respectively. The future for Anna Spud?, I am currently working on variety of further ideas based around Anna Spud, including further scripts. See links for a review.
Latest - 'Anna Spud' screened onboard Virgin Atlantic Planes as a finalist of the Virgin Atlantic/NFTS Film festival.

PUPPET COOKING SHOW

I have just submitted a proposal for a cooking show (not animated!) which I am very excited about,  there are lots out there in TV land already to choose from - but we could do better, have a little more fun with the genre -  cannot say too much at this early stage, other than it would involve puppets.  I really , really hope that this one happens - as it will be such fun.

Image of Gilbert the alien from the 1980's show 'Get Fresh' and the fantastic cooking slot  'Gilbert's Fridge'

BUDDY & ELVIS

Directed pilot based on the 'Buddy & Elvis' books, written by Andrew Murray and Illustrated by Nicola Slater, published by Macmillan Children's Books. Features the vocal talent of Reece Shearsmith (League of Gentlemen) as Elvis and Mark Benton (Nationwide ads, Early Doors) as Buddy. 'Buddy & Elvis' won 'best Pilot' at the Pulcinella Awards/Cartoons on the Bay 2008 Property of the Illuminated Film company - you can watch the pilot here:

Illustration - RUNNING CHICKEN

'Running Chicken' I did a lot of large chicken paintings for a while - and a collection of these were exhibited in Cardiff, where I won 'National Artist of the year' for Wales. You can't go wrong with chickens in my opinion.

Painting of our hay Barn in N.Wales.

CAT MUSIC

Cat Music. Animation created by photographing home made puppets from different angles then piecing it all together in aftereffects. Music composed by Alexander Ellerington. With their logo added - MTV used this as an ident.

Slide the bolt and open the front sections to reveal ....a complete nonsense!

METAL POP-UP CHICKEN BOOK

Bit of an odd one - A lift the flap/pop up book bound in a metal cover with clasp and metal chicken claw book mark. On the cover you can see a flap - lift this and behind more metal netting is a little illustrated chicken. Open the book and the story is a simple one about a particularly repellent man who keeps chickens locked up in his 'Brihen Matthews' chicken factory - one night they escape and drive him crazy by taking over his house. Using word play around the words hen and chicken 'curt-hens, microwave ov-hen' you get the idea, eventually he wakes to find even more chickens under his duvet in bed and he goes insane, and that was that.

SKETCHES

A collection of sketch book images that went on to inform Animation film 'Pensioner Penny' . Watch film above. The grumpy pensioner based short was shot using b/w film stock on an old rostrum camera and edited on an old Steinbeck. Pensioner Penny won best animation at Royal Television awards & at Glasgow's 'Reel to Reel' film Festival.

HAROLD & MABEL

Harold & Mabel Watch Television. Animation short. charity shop dolls stitched to a sofa (an old crapston villa's prop), deliberately crude - Aardman featured this on the directors commercial reel alongside Anna Spud.

A scrapbook of images from a variety of work projects in development that in their infancy I was delighted to be asked to have a go at the designs for.

DUMB PETS

My George Dog, part of the ongoing 'Dumb Pets' series of books thats going to be presented to publishers for the first in April at the Bologna Book Fair 2008

Miss Linda Goldfish (Dumb Pets Series) - Part of an ongoing personal project for a set of children's books on the subject of pets with a variety bizarre/dumb behavior traits and the resulting consequences this creates. I now have full mock up books for Miss Linda Goldfish and Mr George Dog.

AXIOM BODYWORKS

Axiom Bodyworks . Design job for a male client based body grooming studio. Brief was a logo based on the human form with an Angel/Devil twist. The type/written 'Axiom'logo was supplied, so I was not to alter that, with the logo to be aimed at the pages of selected men's glossies. The logo was designed to be able to split in half and work independently - based on the look of a belt buckle.

LITTLE PRINCESS

Above is a poster and two edited clips for 'Little Princess' - the series I have been directing.
Little Princess episode 'I Want to Whistle' picked up the 'Gold Cairo' award for best TV show at the Cairo International Film Festival For Children 2007 and 'I Don't Want To Go To Bed' episode won 'Best TV film' award at the Tehran International Film Festival 2007. 'I want My Snail' episode took Best television series at Stuttgart Animation festival. Little Princess was also nominated for the best Preschool series at BAFTA in 2007 & 2008, and nominated twice at the 2008 British Animation Awards (BAA'S), and has now been sold to over 160 territories worldwide.
Latest: series three is well underway production wise, featuring more Uncle Walter (voiced by Brian Blessed) and also new characters of Algie and Horrace (shetland pony)

The Christmas Special has been nominated for this years BAFTA, hopefully this will be our year.