Dear participants, 

We hope that you have all been keeping well since we last saw you!

As you took part in our Pitching your Animation Project at Festivals and Markets programme, we are delighted to invite you to the final phase of this training for 2022: the Pitching Trials!

On Tuesday 6th of December, 4 participants will get the opportunity to pitch their Animation project in front of an audience of peers and a panel of 3 industry professionals:

  • Eimear O’Mahony – Executive producer, Children’s & Young People’s Content RTÉ
  • Shannon George – Creative Director at Daily Madness and Head writer 
  • Andrew Kavanagh – Founder and CEO at Kavaleer Productions

TIMELINE

Wednesday 9th of November: deadline for applications. 

– Between the mid- to late November : four successful candidates will be notified by email and receive preliminary feedback from our panel.

On the 6th of December: the event will take place in a venue in Dublin City Centre (to be confirmed closer to the time).

  • 6pm: Tech run and pre-pitching chat with Andrew Kavanagh.
  • 6.45pm: Audience arrives and signs in. (20 people max)
  • 7pm: start of the event. Each project will have 10 minutes to pitch, using slides or video previews. 
  • 8pm (approx): Break of 15 to 20 min for the panel to deliberate and prepare feedback. 
  • 8.30pm (approx): Feedback and Q&A.
  • 9pm (approx): Nibbles and drinks upstairs.

If you are interested in pitching or attending this event, please fill in the form below before Wednesday 9th of November: https://forms.gle/G98URSbEuacws1Wj8

About the Panel

Eimear O’Mahony is the Executive Producer, Children’s & Young People’s Programming at RTÉ. Eimear has worked for RTÉ, the Irish National Broadcaster, for 20 years. Over that time she has worked in Sport, Current Affairs, Irish Language Programmes and the Entertainment Department. She has produced numerous documentaries and was nominated for an IFTA for best documentary in 2014. In 2018 she produced the most watched show in Ireland, The Late Late Toy Show. As a stand up comedian she has put those skills to good use working on comedy shows for RTÉ and their digital player. She joined Young People’s Programmes in 2019 as an Executive Producer and has worked on a wide range of animation and live action programming since then.

Shannon George is the Creative Director at Daily Madness Productions. She is the co-creator of the Daily Madness series’ Pins and Nettie and Ray of Sunshine, as well as Goat Girl which is currently in production.


Andrew Kavanagh is a multi-award-winning writer-director, producer and show-creator. His children’s TV shows can be seen in 23 languages in 140 countries worldwide and are watched every day by thousands of children. His short films have won awards on three continents and have screened at hundreds of festivals. The company he founded, Kavaleer, is in its twentieth year of business and produces content for BBC, Gulli, Nickelodeon and dozens of other terrestrial and cable broadcasters. Most recently, he has been developing ‘Adam Loves Adventure!’ and several high-profile feature film concepts.

Cost

There is no cost to the participants but places are limited and registration is essential: as only 15 places are available in the audience, these will be allocated on a first-come-first served basis.

Creative Leadership Programme for Animation, VFX & Games 2022 – Applications now open

Animation Skillnet is pleased to announce the launch of the Creative Leadership Programme for Animation, VFX and Games, in collaboration with Screen Ireland, Animation Ireland and with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI).

Now in its third year, the programme has been designed to empower the growth and sustainability of the Irish Animation and related sectors.

Context

The Irish animation and related industries have grown significantly in the past 16 years. These businesses have originated from operational and creative personnel moving out on their own. As a result, the leadership and management skills required to support the growth of these rapidly growing creative organisations has yet to fully materialise.

As businesses move more and more into the digital age, the need for people and creative leadership is increasing. This is especially prevalent in the creative industries where large creative teams are working intensely on long term projects in a virtual remote world. 

The programme intends to develop high performing teams in the Animation, Games and VFX industries by developing authentic leadership abilities within individuals who have moved, or wish to move from a technical/ creative role into a position where they are leading a team, within the larger organisation as well as those who are transitioning from outside of the industry, including returners. Focusing on empowerment and leadership through authenticity, the course will support candidates in discovering their own leadership style and give them the tools to empower growth within the larger organisation.

In the short term, this course will provide individuals with leadership and management skills to deliver positive results and create a thriving workplace climate that fosters innovation, creativity and problem-solving within but not specific to Animation and related businesses. With continued growth, the course will affect a cultural shift in the development of high performing teams throughout the target industries.

Course Modules

Leading Self

  • Completion of individual Personality profile report
  • Building Self-awareness
  • Communicating with different personality types
  • Understand your leadership style
  • Time Management/Productivity
  • Goal Setting/OKRs

Leading Teams

  • Leading with Emotional Intelligence
  • Creating an interdependent leadership climate
  • Leading vs Managing
  • Creating a high-performance team
  • Creating alignment and cohesion
  • Giving Effective feedback

Design Thinking

  • Understanding Creative thinking
  • Creating empathy
  • Defining problems
  • Ideation
  • Prototyping
  • Testing

Inclusive Leadership

  • Equality, diversity and Inclusion principles 
  • Conscious Inclusion vs unconscious bias
  • Inclusive leadership behaviours
  • Creative problem solving 
  • Values in leadership

Personal Value Proposition

  • Leadership Statement
  • Effective Will Power
  • Key partnerships 
  • The people you serve
  • Finding your Why

Managing Stakeholders

  • Managing multiple stakeholder
  • Strategic Networking
  • Influencing others – managing upwards
  • Leading upwards
  • Like v Trust

All participants will be asked to complete a Clarity4D personality profile questionnaire at the beginning of the programme; this will provide them with an individual report on their personality preferences and how to communicate and influence others.

Testimonials:

Niamh MacKenna (Studio Meala) “I would highly recommend the Creative Leadership course to anyone managing people in the Creative Industry. Personally, I have since secured permanent employment in the field, made meaningful network connections all while honing my creative and critical thinking and expanding my professional skill set –  I couldn’t recommend this course enough.”

Deborah Tan (Jam Media) “The Creative Leadership programme was much more than I expected it to be: besides the technicalities of learning about stakeholders, conflict management and managing habits and time, I have come away from this programme with a better awareness of myself. In doing so, I am constantly learning how to apply this knowledge to better my people and leadership skills, direct my career and even manage my own daily life. I would highly recommend this programme and I’ll guarantee that you will get much more out of this programme than you think.

Deborah Doherty (Windmill Lane) “ I took part in last years’ Creative Leadership course and cannot recommend it highly enough. Both Fiona Flynn and Stephen Fagan were fantastic course tutors who brought us through such a range of topics which all helped with leadership vs management in the workplace, feedback, understanding emotional intelligence and goal settling among many others.

I found the clarity 4d report and the 1-1 coaching sessions invaluable and it really changed my communication and organisational skills both in and out of the workplace and gave me an overall much more positive outlook on my role and career.”

Delivery: The programme will be delivered in virtual classrooms using Zoom. The sessions will be interactive and practical using breakout rooms. There is a strong focus on equipping participants with tools, frameworks, models that they can immediately put into practice.

Assignments: As part of the blended learning approach, participants will complete assignments, projects to support embedding the learning and include a reflective learning journal, group projects and presentations.

Cost: The programme fee is €350 for non-members and €275 for members.

Dates:

Module 1

  • Nov 1st Tues 6:30 -8:30
  • Nov 8th Tues 6:30 -8:30
  • Nov 19th Sat 9:30 -12:30
  • Nov 22nd Tues 6:30 – 8:30
  • Dec 3rd Sat 9:30 -12:30
  • Dec 6th Tues 6:30 – 8:30

Module 2

  • Dec 17th Sat 10:00 – 16:00
  • Dec 20th Tues 6:30 -8:30
  • Jan 7th Sat 9:30 -12:30
  • Jan 10th Tues 6:30 -8:30
  • Jan 21st Sat 9:30-12:30

Module 3

  • Jan 24th Tues 6:30 – 8:30
  • Feb 7th Tues 6:30 – 8:30
  • Feb 18th Sat 9:30 -12:30
  • Feb 21st Tues 6:30 -8:30
  • March 4th 10:00 -16:00

Module 4

  • March 7th Tues 6:30 -8:30
  • March 21st Tues 6:30 – 8:30
  • April 1st Sat 10:00-16:00
  • April 4th Tues 6:30 – 8:30
  • April 18th Tues 6:30 – 8:30
  • April 27th Possible Networking Event in Person

Please note that applicants must have a current, valid address in the Republic of Ireland in order to be considered for this course.

Deadline for Applications: October 24th at 10am.

About the tutors

Fiona Flynn – Fiona is an experienced Senior Manager, Consultant, coach and facilitator She is a passionate and active supporter of Women in Business and developing Female talent within organisations. She is President of PWN Dublin (Professional Women’s Network) – a global Not for profit volunteers organisation supporting Gender Balanced Leadership. Fiona has significant experience in building and developing teams to deliver results and growth in market share in a highly competitive fast paced environment, with over 20 years sales and marketing experience, 12 years of which was spent working in the highly competitive telecommunications and internet sectors. She is an accredited Emotional Intelligence coach. 

Stephen Fagan – A creative entrepreneur with a proven track record, Stephen is the Managing Director of Studio Meala, a qualified coach and creative professional. Stephen has over two decades of experience in the audiovisual industry, where he transitioned from creative roles to Managing Director. His hands-on experience allowed him to practically apply, design and coaching tools to real-world scenarios, establishing two internationally recognised animation studios in the process. As a qualified coach, Stephen works with Creative, Entrepreneurs and small businesses to develop in alignment with their own core values to create long term success.

There will also be a number of guest tutors throughout the programme, names to be confirmed.


04.10.22 | Essence of the Pose : Gesture Drawing Course – Online

It is our great pleasure to welcome back Niall Laverty for this online version of his very popular course, which will show the importance of gesture drawing and look at capturing the essence of the pose to create expressive drawings.

The course is designed for beginners, students or professionals looking to develop or refresh their gesture drawing skills. Each session will look at graphic and animation principles to create expressive drawings through lectures, demos and critiques.

About the Tutor

Niall Laverty has been teaching gesture drawing to animation and illustration students and professionals for over 15 years. He is a part-time lecturer at IADT and guest lecturer at Gobelins and The Animation Workshop, and has taught at the award-winning animation studios, Boulder Media, Brown Bag Films, and Kavaleer Productions.

9 Lines is dedicated to gesture drawing with examples of Niall’s work and from his workshops. He is a writer and illustrator with At it Again! who bring Irish literature to life with their pocket guide books and literally gifts.

Participant profile

The course is designed for beginners, students or professionals looking to develop or refresh their gesture drawing skills.

Please note that applicants must have a current, valid address in the Republic of Ireland in order to take part in this course.

Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Materials or software needed

Basic materials: paper, pencils. markers, charcoal. Participants will be notified of any other materials needed throughout the course.

Software: Good WiFi connection, the classes will be taking place on Zoom.

Dates and times

2 classes per week (1.5 hours each) x 5 weeks (15 hours total) Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30pm-8pm

  • Week 1: Oct 4th & 6th
  • Week 2: Oct 11th & 13th
  • Week 3: Oct 18th & 20th
  • Week 4: Oct 25th & 27th
  • Week 5: Nov 1st & 3rd

Ticket

65.00

Animation, VFX & Games Graduate Traineeship Evaluation Report & 2022 Call for Applications (2nd Round)

Animation Skillnet and Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland are currently seeking applicants for the next iteration of the hugely successful Graduate Traineeship Programme for Animation, VFX and Games, which is supported by Skillnet Ireland under the Skills Connect Programme.

In the first part of 2022, the studios that took part in the programme included Jam Media, Daily Madness, Distillery Films and TouchPress/StoryToys.

The programme, which has been running since 2016, has a great track record with more than 70 participants receiving training to date and over 90% of them going on to gain further work in the industry either with their host studio or with another studio.

According to a new evaluation report into the Graduate Traineeship Programme published today, past participants noted that studio placements were particularly helpful as it enabled them to experience and better understand the production pipeline. This coupled with support in developing their showreels/portfolios and access to a network of industry connections gave them more confidence to pursue further work opportunities.

Adam Powell, a graduate trainee from 2020 said of his experience:

Sometimes the best way to learn about something is to jump straight in and see it up close, which is absolutely what I got from the traineeship. This was probably the biggest step I’ve taken in my career so far, and I owe a lot to it for helping me get my foot in the door. The experience of seeing a professional studio pipeline for myself, and meeting so many great people, was incredible. It feels like only yesterday I was a trainee in Lighthouse Studios, and now I’ve been living and animating in Kilkenny for almost two years.

The evaluation report on the Animation, VFX & Games Graduate Traineeship was produced by Jane Leonard from Really Useful Training and Development. A full copy of the report and its findings can be found HERE

The second programme for 2022 will take place over a 3-month period (12 weeks) from the end of October 2022 to the end of January 2023

Over the course of the programme, each trainee will work in-house in the studio where they will receive on-the-job training. (Some trainees may be required to work remotely depending on each participating studio’s policy regarding remote working).

In addition to on-the-job training, the trainee will receive additional tailored training through Animation Skillnet and Screen Ireland before they enter the studio and at other agreed times over the 3 months. 

The Traineeship programme will commence on Tuesday the 25th of October 2022 with approximately one week of up-front training/induction and will finish on Friday the 27th of January 2023.

A training allowance/bursary will be made available to participants (400 Euro a week for the 3 months/12 weeks).

Start Date: Tuesday the 25th of October 2022

End Date: Friday the 27th of January 2023

Please note the following important points before applying:

  • All candidates must be available on a full-time basis for the entire duration of the Traineeship, including the induction week.
  • Part or all of the placement might be taking place remotely, due to the ongoing restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • Only those who are shortlisted will be called for interview.​

Interested applicants should upload a CV or LinkedIn link and showreel/portfolio link below:

Deadline for applications: Monday the 12th of September at 9am.

Interviews will be held in late September/early October with Final Selection on Tuesday, 11th October 2021.

All applications will be evaluated and shortlisted for interview by industry experts, in consultation with Screen Ireland and Animation Skillnet.

Animation, VFX & Games Graduate Traineeship 2022 Call for Applications

Animation Skillnet and Screen Ireland are currently seeking applicants for the next iteration of the hugely successful Graduate Traineeship Programme for Animation, VFX and Games, which is supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and Animation Ireland.

In 2021, the studios that took part in the programme included And Maps and Plans, Cartoon Saloon, Daily Madness, Lighthouse Studios, Piranha Bar, StoryToys and Jam Media.

The programme, which has been running since 2016, has a great track record with over 90% of participants going on to gain further work in the industry either with their host studio or with another studio.

The 1st 2022 programme will take place over a 3-month period (12 weeks) from June to August 2022

Over the course of the programme, each trainee will work in-house in the studio where they will receive on the job training. (Some trainees may be required to work remotely depending on each participating studio’s policy regarding remote-working during COVID-19).

In addition to on-the-job training, the trainee will receive additional tailored training through Animation Skillnet and Screen Ireland before they enter the studio and at other agreed times over the 3 months. 

The Traineeship programme will commence on Tuesday 7th June with approximately one week of up-front training/induction and will finish on Friday 2nd September 2022.

A training allowance/bursary will be made available to participants (400 Euro a week for the 3 months/12 weeks).

Start Date: Tuesday 7th June 2022.

End Date: Friday 2nd of September 2022.

Please note the following important points before applying:

  • All candidates must be available on a full-time basis for the entire duration of the Traineeship, including the induction week.
  • Part or all of the placement might be taking place remotely, due to the ongoing restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • Only those who are shortlisted will be called for interview.​

Interested applicants should upload a CV Link or LinkedIn link and showreel/portfolio link below:

Deadline for applications: Tuesday the 19th of April at 9am

Interviews will be held in late April with Final Selection on Friday the 20th of May 2022.

All applications will be evaluated and shortlisted for interview by a panel of industry experts, in consultation with Screen Ireland and Animation Skillnet.

Interview: Niall Laverty

Today, we meet Niall Laverty, Gesture Drawing for Animation Educator & Illustrator, who will be tutoring our Winter Evening Course: Essence of the Pose.

Hi Niall! How did you get into Animation?

I studied classical animation at Ballyfermot College of Further Education in the early 90’s and got my first break in the industry working for Curious Pictures in New York during the summer of 1994. I was an assistant animator on a short called The Louie N’ Louie Show created by Gary Baseman and it was such a fantastic experience working with so many talented artists in the Big Apple! After leaving college, I successfully applied to work for Don Bluth at Fox Animation in Phoenix, Arizona on the feature films Anastasia and Titan A.E. Later on I worked as a freelance animator on various television shows and shorts in Germany and Ireland.

You are currently teaching in The Animation Workshop in Denmark, but you also teach at Gobelins in Paris and Filmakademie in Germany. Can you explain the different courses you are teaching or undertaking in each country?

I teach gesture drawing to students of both 2D and 3D animation in the schools you mentioned but I also have an opportunity to teach character animation at The Animation Workshop. This gives me a great opportunity for me to link gesture drawing to an animation project. The students have gesture sessions each morning to warm-up for the day and to explore different graphic and animation principles to find the strongest story poses for their scenes. 

In your opinion, is drawing an ability that anybody can master?

Yes, I believe anyone can draw as creativity is in all of us. As children we all have that natural gift for drawing but often it gets lost along the way. Gesture drawing allows you to tap into your creativity again as it’s all about your personal expression of what’s inside you.

What is your favourite medium to use?

Charcoal is my preferred medium of choice as it allows me to get very expressive gesture drawings but I also use markers and brush pens in my sketchbook and for my book illustrations as it gives the drawings an exciting spontaneous quality.

What was your favourite learning/up-skilling experience in recent years?

A few years ago myself and my partner set up a creative business called At it Again! We write, illustrate and self-publish fun pocket guides to Irish literature (Ulysses, Dracula, The Picture of Dorian Gray) along with cards and prints. This was an exciting learning curve to upskill to be able to create a book from start to finish. The trick was to tell a story with single images as opposed to multiple ones for animation. Like gesture drawing, it was all about capturing the essence of the pose and the story! 

Finally, which artists inspire you in your work?

There are so many artists that inspire me. I’ve always looked to Ronald Searle, Miroslav Sasek, Sempé, Gruau and Rodin as influences in my drawing and illustration work.

If you would like to attend Niall’s course, please send an email to: 

dc.animationskillnet@gmail.com

and register before Wednesday 6th of November at 5pm.


***PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE NOW ONLY 2 SPACES LEFT ON THIS COURSE***