Manchester Animation Festival’s Industry Day is Coming!

Manchester Animation Festival’s Industry Day is just over two weeks away! The MAF Marketplace brings together companies and animation studios to showcase their work and meet the Festival delegates.

This year’s Industry Day kicks off with a brand new event – The Animation Keynote. As a festival first, Patricia Hidalgo, Director of Children’s and Education at the BBC will deliver the keynote speech titled ‘Ignite British Animation’ during the Industry Day on Thu 18 Nov, which promises to be an insightful affair. As always, our Industry Day presents an opportunity for the animation community to gather and share ideas on the future of our industry, break down barriers and offer access to animation business insiders.

‘In The Frame’ will look into what access means to those behind the scenes and reveal the results of a survey commissioned in partnership with ScreenSkills and Visible in Visuals. Panellists will include members of the D/deaf community and those with physical and non-neurotypical access requirements who will share their own experiences, as MAF investigates whether the industry is doing enough in order to provide a welcoming environment to the entire workforce.

“Industry Insiders” event welcomes industry experts from the world of animation to cover a wide range of subjects we can all relate to, with Gutsy Animation showcasing sustainable productions; Jo Redfern sharing secrets of licensing animation; and Marks & Clerk LLP helping us navigate the tricky waters of contracts – these short engaging talks are must see for anyone in industry. There is a new brand of brand Pitch Panel event; Life’s a Pitch: Pitching Your Animated Project.

SHORT FILMS FOR CHILDREN

Taking place on Sun 14 Nov, our Short Films for Children event celebrates the best in contemporary animated children’s short films from around the world! Join us as we venture to an enchanted mushroom forest, battle a villainous cloud, clean an octopus’s tank and much more in these fantastic family shorts. This year’s event is sponsored by BBC Children’s and will run alongside their BBC Family boxset event on this year’s jam-packed Family Day.Without BBC Children it would not be possible.

Mush-Mush and the Mushables

As pocket-sized Guardians of the Forest, each Mushable has a special gift. While Mush-Mush can communicate with nature, Lilit shines bright like a light and Chep has an impressive memory. As they get to know their talents and their limits, the Mushables find there is still a lot to discover about growing up.

Mush-Mush and the Mushables follows the comedy adventures of the Mushable community as together they put the fun back into fungi!