U.K. entertainment talent development organizations ScreenSkillls (skreenskills.com) and ACCESS VFX (accessvfx.org) have announced that the popular Young Animator of the Year (YAY UK) program is back for 2022, with a suite of activities planned for the summer.
YAY UK encourages young people to pursue creative skills to help build the talent of tomorrow, empowering gifted up and comers to create an amazing animation and help launch the creative career of their dreams.
Teenage animators can join the 3Dami 10-day Summer Studio — supported by the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Fund using contributions from animations productions — as well as entering a competition for the chance to be crowned the Young Animator of the Year UK 2022!
Giving New Talent a Leg Up
Winners of previous year’s YAY UK competitions have had quick career success. Josh Palfrey, the winner of the 3D category in 2020, got onto the internship program at a major U.K. character animation studio, Blue Zoo. Palfrey exceeded all expectations in the internship, which quickly led to a full-time job, where he became the studio’s youngest ever 3D artist.
3Dami Summer Studio
Applications are now open for the 3Dami Summer Studio, where students work together with animation experts to create every part of a 3D film in just 10 days. 3Dami works with industry mentors to give students all the help and support they need to learn about 3D-asset creation and animation. The event will run across 10 days from July 25 to August 5, 2022.
Previous students of the 3Dami summer studio have gone on to work at major studios including ILM, The Mill, Blue Zoo, MPC and DNEG.
YAY UK Competition & Studio Challenges
YAY UK is hosting a competition challenging teenage artists across the U.K. to make their own short animated films in 2D, 3D,and stop-motion styles. Awards will be given for the Best Young 2D Animator, 3D Animator and Stop-Motion Animator across age groups 11-14 and 15-18. The winner’s films will be screened at Manchester Animation Festival (manchesteranimationfestival.co.uk) in November.
Entries for the competition can be submitted via the YAY UK website from May 16 until the deadline of September 5, 2022.
Throughout the summer, YAY UK will also be giving teenagers a range of short creative animation challenges set by some of the U.K.’s biggest animation studios. These challenges will help the artists learn tricks and techniques to devise their stories and create their own animations.
“The U.K. is one of the best countries in the world at producing animation, and the YAY UK initiative is here to inspire, nurture and celebrate the next generation of talent. There’s such an abundance of eager, young creative animators out there, we can’t wait to see what films they make this year, and who will be crowned Young Animator of the Year!” said Tom Box, Co-Founder of Blue Zoo Animation Studio and Chair of the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Fund.
Get Involved
For young animation artists, the YAY UK website has built a community which is safe to share their work and develop their animation skills. Animators can create a profile, upload their work and build an online portfolio where industry professionals can comment and feedback on their work. All posts are moderated to ensure safety and enjoyment for everyone.
Apply for the 3Dami Summer Studio via the YAY UK website and submit competition entries via the website Competition page. Follow YAY UK on Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with the YAY UK program. Happy animating!
