Winning the Best Student Film at the 2014 British Animation Awards confirms the Animation department at Middlesex University as one of the pivotal animation schools in the UK. Programme leader Jonathan Hodgson will be showcasing work by recent graduates and revealing how his world class academic team of BAFTA winning animation directors teach advanced animation filmmaking skills with an emphasis on experimentation, observation and innovation.
Running time approximately 60 min
At Barbican Book tickets
Jonathan Hodgson
Jonathan Hodgson is an internationally renowned, BAFTA winning animation director. He studied animation at Liverpool Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art. In 2011 he directed the animation for Wonderland: The Trouble with Love and Sex, the first full length animated documentary on British TV.
After leaving the Royal College of Art in 1985 his first professional commission was to co-direct an animated short about nuclear disarmament for the United Nations. He went on to direct at various animation studios before co-founding in Sherbet in 1996 with Jonathan Bairstow. At Sherbet he directed numerous high profile advertising campaigns including Saab USA, United Bank of Switzerland, Vanguard, Home Office, Persil and collaborated with legendry illustrator Maurice Sendak on a TV commercials campaign for Bell Atlantic. In 2007 he worked as an art director on the animated TV series Charlie and Lola and the following year was Animation Director on Franny Armstrong’s groundbreaking documentary feature The Age of Stupid. His short films have won numerous awards including a BAFTA in 2000 for The Man with the Beautiful Eyes and a BAFTA nomination in 2002 for Camouflage.
He has presented retrospectives in the UK, Brazil, Sweden, Israel, Spain and Poland and was invited by the National Film Board of Canada to present master classes in three major cities. His work is featured on numerous books and DVD compilations, most recently Animated Sketchbooks by Laura Heit. He has lectured extensively and 2008 became the programme leader for BA Animation at Middlesex University.
He continues to combine teaching with animated filmmaking and has recently directed documentaries about juvenile hanging for Amnesty International’s End the Death Penalty campaign and the Guantanamo Hunger Strike for The Observer.
