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Here are all the wonderful winners of 2024. Congratulations to all!

20 March 2024. Now the dust has settled, the BAA team just want to say one big thank you to everyone involved in the BAAs this year. The animation community throughout the UK has so much to be proud about….we couldn’t have done it without you!

The BAAs would also like to thank the amazing volunteers who gave up so much of their time and worked hard making the night the success that it was, thank you: Christopher Wright, Sophie Torry Cook, Isabella Newbold, Tom Lynas, Lucy Highet, Martha Williams, Hannah Lee Miller, Ruby Argo, Elena Garcia Sirvent, Alfie Williams, Yusuf Mohammed Uddin, Oliver Gallagher, Louis Chevis.

Congratulations again to all nominees, winners and everyone who supported and helped us. Here’s to 2026…..please continue to support the keeper of the rainbow cape! Best wishes (l-r) Ellys, Helen, Kieran, Harriet xxx

The British Animation Awards 2024 winners were announced at a fun-filled ceremony on the evening of March 7th, at the BFI South Bank. The ceremony, hosted by comedian Henning Wehn, revealed the 22 award winners.

All the winners can be found here. Congratulations to all nominees and winners.

Submissions are now open for the three categories of the 2024 BAA’s.

These are the:

• Best Undergraduate Film Award

• Best Postgraduate Film Award

• Best Short Film Award

It’s FREE to submit to these categories.

Please read the T&C’s on Film Freeway and be aware of the deadline. We can’t wait to see your films!

For the first time The British Animation Awards (the BAAs) are delighted to announce additional live events on the evening of March 10th 2022.

The main awards ceremony at the BFI Southbank, London will be live streamed to four additional gatherings in Salford, Stirling, Cardiff and Bristol where the great and the good of the British animation world will be celebrating together.

The BAAs have partnered up with Manchester Animation Festival, Wild Child Animation in Stirling, Cardiff Animation Festival and Encounters Festival in Bristol to put on their party hats and celebrate in style at their respective venues: University of Salford, Codebase in Stirling, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff and Watershed, Bristol. 

Presented by comedian Miles Jupp and headline sponsored by Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe the London ceremony will unveil the latest names to join the list of illustrious winners from past years which includes Nick Park, Joanna Quinn, Tim Burton, Martin Freeman, Simon Tofield and Gorillaz.

For tickets and availability please contact: bookings@britishanimationawards.com

The British Animation Awards – Thursday March 10th 2022 – is now open for submissions. Please take a look at the categories and make your submissions on FilmFreeway HERE.

Final shout out this week to Derek Hayes, Grant Orchard and Steven Appleby for their amazing generous prizes to the 2020 Awards. Thank you!

Huge shout out this week to Alys Scott-Hawkins, Paul Galloway and Rich Webber for their amazing artwork donated as prize art for the BAAs in 2020.

The British Animation Awards team up with RubyBlosse Events Agency.

The British Animation Awards announce today an exciting new partnership with leading events agency RubyBlosse.

The BAAs are the leading biennial awards ceremony in the UK and celebrate the outstanding contributions to the world of animation from British creatives and companies.

Clare Ruby & Sophie Morgan set up RubyBlosse Events five years ago, having worked in the event industry for twenty years prior to that. Throughout their careers in the event industry they have planned and delivered a huge number of diverse events working with Prime Ministers, royalty and celebrities. They have consulted into numerous organisations to review and design event strategies and launched many new events (TechSmart, IBC Leader’s Summit and Kindfest to name a few). They love the creative nature of designing and delivering events.

Clare Ruby from RubyBlosse says:

“The British Animation Awards is a high profile and super exciting event in the international animation industry calendar, and we are thrilled to be bringing our experience and ideas to the 2022 event after the success of the 2020 event at London’s National Film Theatre. Building on the success of that event, the 2022 event on 10 March, will encompass new ideas and features, and we think you’ll love it!”

Helen Brunsdon director of BAA says:

“For the next British Animation Awards we want to keep all the best aspects of previous ceremonies and also offer some new and exciting strands and highlights. RubyBlosse, with their expertise ideas and amazing track record, fit the bill exactly. We are delighted to be working with Clare and Sophie and look forward to making an even better BAAs in 2022.”

The next BAAs are on March 10^th 2022

Take a minute to look at a few more of the 2020 BAA prize artworks and artists in the ‘Raising the BAAs’ gallery.

Huge thanks this week go to Jim Le Fevre, Nathan Jurevicius and Richard Keith-Wolff

Take a look at the amazing 2020 BAA prize artwork and artists in the ‘Raising the BAAs’ gallery.

This week we give thanks to Mole Hill, Felix Massie and Sara and Simon Bor.

https://www.britishanimationawards.com/raising-the-baas/mole-hill/

https://www.britishanimationawards.com/raising-the-baas/felix-massie-2/

https://www.britishanimationawards.com/raising-the-baas/sara-and-simon-bor/

After a challenging and disrupting time for us all we’re now back on the case working hard to bring you BAA 2022  – the 14th British Animation Awards. 

We certainly didn’t think the March 2020 event at the Southbank was going to be the last big UK animation physical gathering of the year so we were delighted it all went so well.

You can see a group picture of the wonderful 2020 winners along with their names on the homepage of the website.

Please sign up to the newsletter so we can keep you informed of submission deadlines, along with any new activities or events and some of the treats we have in store for the next big BAA of 2022.

BAA is delighted to partner with the French Association of Animation Cinema (AFCA) to present a short series of online events including a programme of highlights from the 2020 BAA Public Choice films plus a case study of UK/French co-production plus an insight into the UK Tax Credit system. There will also be opportunities during the sessions to meet some of the experts and creatives and answer any questions.

The online festival runs from the 7th until the 20th of April so please do take a look if you can.

VISIT WEBSITE

In the ‘Galleries‘ section of the website you can find the ‘Raising the BAAs’ page which is a treasure trove of amazing artists who have contributed prize artwork over the years.

Over the coming months we will be publishing the art from the 2020 awards along with short biographies, quotes and photos of the contributors.

This will give you an opportunity to become more familiar with the artist and their clever, beautiful and generous gifted artwork.

Wednesday 11th March

The British Animation Awards has been monitoring the situation regarding Coronavirus/COVID-19. This is a rapidly evolving situation and we continue to regularly check and follow guidance from Public Health England and the World Health Organisation as well as local government.

THE BRITISH ANIMATION AWARDS on Thursday 12th March at BFI Southbank – is going ahead.

There will be extra hand sanitisers around the venue and may we politely remind everyone of the importance of maintaining good hand hygiene at all times.

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

[caption id="attachment_3277" align="alignleft" width="300"] Chris Garbutt and friend[/caption]

The British Animation Awards team were over the moon when Chris Garbutt of Pinky Malinky fame kindly agreed to design the first-ever BAA delegate bag for 2020. The bag also features The Cartoon Museum in London who are one of the BAAs esteemed sponsors this year.

For those not familiar – Chris, along with Rikke Asbjoern created Pinky Malinky. Pinky Malinky is a wacky American children’s series for Nickelodeon and Netflix that first aired in 2019 featuring no ordinary boy Pinky who just happens to be a hot dog! It’s a fast-paced hilarious rollercoaster of a show.

[caption id="attachment_3321" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pinky Malinky[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3473" align="alignright" width="300"] Pinky Malinky characters[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3471" align="alignnone" width="300"] Pinky Malinky backgrounds[/caption]

Chris graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University in 1998 with a First Class BA Honours degree in Graphic Arts and Illustration. Soon after completing his degree, Chris left West Yorkshire to peddle his wares in London, Paris and then the USA. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Chris works in the animation industry for TV, Features and Commercials, enjoying various roles from creating, executive producing, show running, producing, writing, directing and art directing, to storyboarding, character design and background design. Projects have included The Amazing World of Gumball, Gorillaz, The Fairly Odd Parents, Mr Bean, Robotboy, and Stressed Eric.

He and Rikke are currently producing a brand new animated project that they created at Netflix Animation Studios.

Thanks Chris for ensuring nobody goes home empty-handed.

Five nominees were announced today for the inaugural LAMB Award at the British Animation Awards. This new award, sponsored by Disney and introduced under the stewardship of new BAA Director Helen Brunsdon bridges the gap between current categories that recognise student achievements and general best-in-class awards, and is open to any young professionals working in the animation and VFX industry.

The entrants were judged by a panel of experts and the winner will be announced on 12^th March at the 13^th edition of the biennial event, which is being held at the BFI in London and hosted by comedian Miles Jupp.

Each candidate was nominated by a UK Studio and required to have over 12 months but under 5 years experience and demonstrate great future potential. A strong track record of work so far helped with the assessments.

The nominees are:

Rory Hunter nominated by Fonic

Katie Gascoyne nominated by Blue Zoo Animation Studio

Roxannah (Roxi) Linklater nominated  by Aardman

Kadesha Drija nominated by Cloth Cat Animation

Corinne Ladeinde nominated by NERD Productions

The British Animation Awards (BAA), the only ceremony in the UK devoted to rewarding animation, has announced the five finalists for the Best Immersive Award 2020, recognising the most innovative and exciting use of immersive technology in animation. The winner will be announced on 12th March at the 13th edition of the biennial awards, which is being held at the BFI in London and hosted by comedian Miles Jupp.

Virtual reality story Glimpse, from directors Benjamin Cleary and Michael O’Connor, is a highly emotive visual feast set in the imaginative mind of a panda.

We Live in an Ocean of Air, directed by Marshmallow Laser Feast, is a multi-sensory immersive installation that illuminates the invisible – but fundamental – connection that ties the human and natural worlds.

Porton Down, directed by Callum Cooper, is an illustrated cyberdelic descent into the chequered past of a government’s human experimentation programme.

1943 Berlin Blitz, directed by David Whelan, is a breath-taking virtual reality experience that joins the crew of a Lancaster bomber on an air raid over Berlin during World War Two.

Britannia VR: Out of your Mind, directed by Kim-Leigh Pontin is set two years after the Roman invasion of Britannia and allows viewers to choose whether to immerse themselves in a world of Roman imperialism, or a psychedelic world of druid mysticism.

The panel of experts judging the entrants comprises Steve Blake, Principal Visual Media Consultant Digital Solutions, Jacobs; Jessica Driscoll, Head of Immersive Technology, Digital Catapult; Cathy Hutton, Freelance Creative Director at Pablo; Mitch Turnbull, Documentary TV, Film and XR Producer/Director and consultant, Founder of Bramble Media Ltd; and Saint Walker, Deputy Dean/Director, Escape Studios, Pearson College London.

All the finalists’ works will be available to view first-hand at the offices of Digital Catapult, the UK’s leading advanced digital technology innovation centre, at a date to be announced. This date will be published on the BAA website and via their social channels.

One of UK animation’s landmark events, The British Animation Awards (BAA) have been celebrating all that is great about the industry in the UK since their introduction in 1996. BAA are passionate about the art form and help to support, promote and credit the very best of the past couple of year’s productions. The winners receive an original artwork produced by some of the finest artists and animators working in the creative industries.

For further information: 

Valerie Taylor, Publicity Consultant 

E mail: valerie@valerie-taylor.co.uk

Tel: + 44 7889 666594

British Animation Awards sponsor, the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Fund, gives us an insight into the invaluable work that they do…

Developing and sustaining a world class animation workforce is the mission of the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Fund. Much like the British Animation Awards, we strive to support the talent working hard in our industry to make exceptional animated productions.

To give you some background, less than 10 years ago our industry was in sharp decline, faced with international competition from countries who could offer substantial tax breaks making their production budgets more attractive to the public service broadcasters in the UK. Thanks to research and lobbying by Animation UK, the Animation Tax Relief was launched in 2013 and since this time, the industry has doubled in size. To meet the demands of the production boom, the industry acknowledged the need to skill-up the workforce and Creative Skillset (predecessor to ScreenSkills) led the campaign for the formation of the Animation Skills Fund. 

Productions claiming the tax relief, such as the BAA-nominated The Tiger Who Came to Tea, pay a small percentage of their budget into the fund. This contribution enables us to invest in the skills development of the animation workforce at all levels. The fund’s spending is guided by a council made up of industry leaders from across the country as we believe that, through united action, we can build a stronger, highly skilled and diverse workforce.

Initiatives that we have supported to develop professionals’ careers include Animated Women UK’s (AWUK) Helen North Achieve Programme, which has had a demonstrable impact on the careers of the 72 women who have participated to date. We are continuing to support this work and assist AWUK in extending the offer to reach more people nationwide. In recognition of the storyboarding skills gap, we will be supporting Lupus Films to upskill storyboard artists to improve their drawing and visual storytelling skills. We aim to roll this out further across the UK to other studios, and with further job roles, through the support of studios coming together to deliver this programme at scale.

We aim to inspire the next generation to consider careers in animation through a variety of projects. We provide careers information online, including recently producing a lesson plan aimed at eight to 11 year-olds that uses assets from Lupus Films’ The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Through our collaboration with Into Film on producing and distributing the resource, it has the potential to reach 20,000+ primary schools across the UK. And for older students we are supporting 3Dami and the NextGen Skills Academy to train young people nationwide to run Blender workshops which they in turn teach to more than 1,500 young people at schools’ clubs whilst encouraging them to consider careers in animation.

Discussions are under way about other initiatives designed to address skills gaps and create a more inclusive industry, include Toon Boom software training, up-skilling layout artists, production coordinator and production manager training, and a programme to enable people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to step up in their careers to more senior levels.

With further investment from the industry we will be able to support more talent, so visit screenskills.com/industry/animation for information on how you can help shape the future of the industry.

https://www.screenskills.com/industry/animation

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2020 BRITISH ANIMATION AWARDS

• Sally Hawkins, Bella Ramsey and Clara Ross amongst the nominees for Best Voice

• The Tiger Who Came to Tea, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Zog and The Snail and the Whale, Aliens Love Underpants and … Panta Claus vie for honours for Best Long Form

• Aardman lead the nominations with six nods including one for Best Music Video for the film ‘Daddy’ for Coldplay.

London, February 14^th 2020: The finalists were announced today for the prestigious British Animation Awards 2020. Rewarding the very best in British animation across a variety of categories, the British Animation Awards (BAAs) – now in their 24^th year – attract the great and the good from across the industry to this biennial celebration of their craft. This year’s ceremony, being held at London’s BFI Southbank on 12th March 2020, will unveil the latest names to join the list of illustrious winners from past years which includes Nick Park, Joanna Quinn, Tim Burton, Martin Freeman, Simon Tofield and Gorillaz.

This year’s finalists include in the Best Voice Performance category renowned British actors Sally Hawkins (Paddington, The Shape of Water) and Bella Ramsey from Game of Thrones, who are nominated for their work on The Snail and the Whale and as Hilda in Hilda – The Hidden People respectively. They are up against strong competition from the cast of The Rubbish World of Dave Spud and young newcomer Clara Ross for The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

The Best Long Form category includes nominations from some of Britain’s leading animation companies. In A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon by Aardman Animations, our hero saves an amazing alien from a sinister organisation; two festive family favourites from Magic Light Pictures, Zog and The Snail and the Whale tell of an accident-prone dragon learning the ropes, and an adventure-seeking snail’s taste of the big wide world on a voyage courtesy of her hump-backed friend; another Christmas hit, The Tiger Who Came to Tea from Lupus Films, is a delightful adaptation of Judith Kerr’s evergreen story; and Aliens Love Underpants And…Panta Claus from Tiger Aspect sees the aliens save Christmas for everyone when they help Santa deliver all his presents by spaceship. .

Contenders for the Best Children’s Series award include The Amazing World of Gumball from Cartoon Network – which waltzed away with the prize at the past two awards –the Shaun the Sheep series from Aardman, Moominvalley from Gutsy animations, The Rubbish World of Dave Spud from Illuminated Films and 101 Dalmatian Street from Disney.

Up for the Best Animation in a Commercial award is the charming take on The Wind in the Willows for The Wildlife Trusts, the commercial Whatever You Call It by Moth Studio for Marie Curie and the organic baby food NatureNes by Studio AKA for Nestle.

Productions for Coldplay’s Daddy, Daniel O’Sullivan’s Honour Wave and Sivan Talmor’s Sad Heart are competing for Best Music video, created by the inventive talents of Aardman, Greg McLeod and Karni and Saul (aka SulkyBunny, who won a Public Choice Award in 2018 for Katie Melua’s Perfect World) respectively. 

The family favourites Hey Duggee, The Adventures of Paddington and Clangers are each nominated for the Best Children’s Pre-School Series award.

Some of the leading British animation courses are represented in both Best Undergraduate and Best Postgraduate Student film categories including nominees from Falmouth University School of Film and Television, University of Creative Arts in Farnham, Arts University Bournemouth and the Royal College of Arts London. In an encouraging sign for the industry, all four finalists in the Best Undergraduate category are women.

New for 2020 is the Best Social Good Award, with nominations for Voicing CSA: The Mouse from Katie Steed, helping adult survivors of child sexual abuse; What Is Beauty from Anna Ginsburg, in honour of International Women’s Day; and New Mindset from Danny Capozzi, created for United For Global Mental Health.

Four additional award categories will be announced on the night.  While the bulk of the awards are decided by a panel of industry experts, the two Public Choice Awards – for Favourite Short Film and Favourite Music Video – are voted for by audiences at screenings held across the UK in early 2020.

BAA Director Helen Brunsdon said:

“Animation leads the way in visually imaginative and innovative forms of storytelling. From a record number of submissions, I am delighted to see rich and diverse talent make it through to the final stages of the various categories. The nominated finalists for 2020 are shining examples of the best in the business. I wish them all the best of luck and look forward to the big night on March 12^th at the BFI South Bank where all will be revealed.”

The BAAs are the only awards to recognise all forms of animation and reward the work of both new and established animators across all aspects of the UK Animation scene, from student work to commercials, children’s entertainment, short and experiential films, music videos and new technologies.

The awards themselves (the BAAs) are unique artworks, featuring sheep, created especially for the occasion by a range of leading international and UK animation artists: a measure of the worldwide respect felt for British animation. 

Full details of all the finalists are listed below.

Best Longform

The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Dir: Robin Shaw

Zog – Dir: Max Lang, Daniel Snaddon

A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon – Dir:  Will Becher, Richard Phelan

Aliens Love Underpants And…Panta Claus – Dir: Steve Edge

The Snail and The Whale – Dir: Max Lang – Daniel Snaddon

Best Voice Performance

Clara Ross as Sophie- The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Dir: Robin Shaw

Bella Ramsey as Hilda, Hilda- The Hidden People -Dir: Andy Coyle

The Cast- The Rubbish World of Dave Spud- Donkey – Dir: Edward Foster

Sally Hawkins as The Snail- The Snail and the Whale – Dir: Max Lang, Daniel Snaddon

Best Childrens Series

The Amazing World of Gumball-The Possession -Dir: Mic Graves

Shaun The Sheep- Squirreled Away – Dir: Carmen Bromfield Mason

The Rubbish World of Dave Spud: Bad Computer – Dir: Edward Foster

Moominvalley – Dir: Steve Box

101 Dalmatian Street- The Longest Night – Dir: Miklos Weigert

Best Childrens Pre-School

The Adventures of Paddington – Dir: Adam Shaw, Chris Drew

Hey Duggee- The Tree Badge – Dir: Grant Orchard, Sander Jones

Clangers- The Visitor – Dir: Joanne Chalkey, Chris Tichborne

Best Animation in a Commercial

The Wind in the Willows- The Wildlife Trusts – Dir: Thomas Harnett O’ Meara, Matthew Day

Whatever You Call It – Dir: Moth Studio

NaturNes- First Family – Dir: Manddy Wyckens, Marc Craste

Best Music Video

Coldplay- Daddy – Dir: Asa Lucander (Aardman)

Sad Heart – Dir: Karni and Saul

Honour Wave – Dir: Greg McLeod

Writers Award

Shaun The Sheep: Baa-Gherita – Dir: Steve Cox

The Rubbish World of Dave Spud – The Wrinkly Bus – DIR; Edward Foster

The Amazing World Of GUMBALL: The Agent – DIR: Mic Graves

 Best Post Graduate Film

In Her Boots – Dir: Kathrin Steinbacher (RCA)

Music and Clowns -Dir: Alex Widdowson (RCA)

My Dads Name Was Huw. He Was an Alcoholic Poet – Dir: Freddie Griffiths (RCA)

Best Short Form Content

A Whale’s Tale – Dir: Giovanna Utichi, Robin Celebi

Crow – Dir: Simon Tofield

Chris P Duck – Dir: Tom Gran, Martin Woolley

Best Original Music

The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Dir: Robin Shaw

Aliens Love Underpants And… Panta Claus – Dir: Steve Edge

The Amazing World of Gumball: The Singing – Dir: Mic Graves

Best Social Good

Voicing CSA: The Mouse – Dir: Katie Steed

What Is Beauty – Dir: Anna Ginsburg

New Mindset – Dir: Danny Capozzi

Best Commissioned Animation

Pokémon Go Planet Pokémon – Dir: Joe O’Connor

Conception: Catie & Jen- Dir: Moth Studio

The Mystical Journey of Jimmy Page’s ‘59 Telecaster’ – Dir: Smith & Foulkes

Best Film or TV Graphics/Motion Design

Da Vinci Learning –  Second Home Studios

Queens of Mystery –  Sly Fox Productions

E4 Party in My Mouth – Sun and Moon

Best Under-Graduate

Border / Line – Dir: Megan Earls (UCA)

Dear England – Dir: Marta Lemos (UCA)

Towels – Dir: Prawta Annez (Falmouth University)

Cats Can’t Swim, Dir: HaiLing Morgan (Arts University Bournemouth)

Best Short Film

4:3 – Dir: Ross Hogg

Black Earth Rising –  Dir: Steve Small Studio AKA

Roughhouse – Dir: Jonathan Hodgson

Bloomers – Dir : Samantha Moore

Fabric of You – Dir: Josephine Lohoar Self

Children’s Choice

Shaun The Sheep- Squirrelled Away – Dir: Carmen Bromfield Mason

The Adventures of Paddington – Dir: Adam Shaw, Chris Drew

101 Dalmatian Street- The Longest Night – Dir: Miklos Weigert

Best Use of Sound

Clangers- Travelling Salesman – Dir: Joanne Chalkley, Chris Tichborne

The Amazing World of Gumball – The Future, Dir: Mic Graves

The Snail and the Whale – Dir: Max Lang, Daniel Snaddon