Well, if any event is going to make you feel both nostalgic and nauseous at the same time, it’s going to be the graduation show from your old University.  Nostalgic for a time when your main concern was your costume for the Union that night, and nauseous remembering the over consumption of cheap red bull alternatives, worries for the future and penchant for unusual hair cuts.

The amount of people who apply to us daily for both jobs and work experience suggests that there aren’t as many animation jobs in the world as there are animators, making the future a scary and by no means certain place for even the most talented of the students who graduate this year. The graduation show was both a celebration of some great films made by talented new film-makers, and a platform to launch them in to the world and hope that at least a few of them find a home.

It was wonderful to see how many of them had taken the great opportunity of spending an entire year on a single film to express themselves and gone on to produce something that they can be truly proud of.  The films on display last night were the traditional mix of the deeply personal, the confusingly artistic and the downright bizarre. We wish all the graduating students the very best of luck with their careers, and hope to see some of them soon here at Slurpy.

Here are my top 3 young animators to watch out for:

Fern Bailey – How (not) to Train Your Dog. Funny, beautifully animated with a great sense of comic timing.

Kaori Onishi – When I Was Young. Stunningly beautiful film with clear aspirations towards Dudok deWitt

Bexie Bush – Britain. Innovative, touching and flawlessly executed; a clear festival favourite.

…And you know what I like best about my top 3? They’re all women!

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