U.K. animation house A+C Studios is launching its directorial roster with eight signings for global representation spanning commercials, branded content, promos and short films.
The infusion of talent includes Ida Melum, Mai Vu, Lina Kalcheva and Antonin Niclass, all National Film and Television School alumni. They are joined by Vida Vega who has an ethereal and illustrative animation style, and Zarina Tucker, a skilled product animator with an eye for color and play. Luiz Stockler offers a unique blend of charming hand-drawn and digital animation techniques, while Jess Deacon is a master of stop-motion animation and paper engineering.
The team has already worked with clients such as BBC, Prada, Ben & Jerry’s, and Dyson, to name a few.
Dan Richards, founder and director, A+C Studios, said, “We have a strong commitment to nurturing new talent, and these new directors represent some of the best emerging talents in the industry. We’re excited to see what they will bring to our projects.”
Founded in 2007, A+C Studios has grown from its start in Richards’ garage to a custom fitted space that holds three animation production studios, a model-making workshop, a motion design studio, an edit suite, and production office. The expansion of A+C Studios roster solidifies its position in the animation industry.
Here’s a more detailed rundown of the directors coming aboard A+C Studios:
- Mai Vu // Hailing from Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam, Vu is an animator and animation director with a passion for stop-motion animation. She began her journey in 2010, creating short films using stop-motion technique, and progressed to writing, animating, and directing in the beloved stop-motion series, Say Hi to Pencil, which ran from 2012 to 2019. Vu has worked on a range of commercials for high-profile clients such as Vietnam Airline, Perfetti Van Melle, Clé de Peau, Pepsi and Forbes. She has a master’s degree in directing animation from the National Film and Television School; her most recent achievement is the screening of her film Spring Roll Dream at the La CineF, Cannes Film Festival 2022.
- Ida Melum // Melum is a BAFTA and BIFA nominated, and an Annie and RTS awarded animation director based in Sweden. After receiving her acting diploma in Norway, Melum earned her BA in animation at Middlesex University, London. She worked as a stop motion animator on films such as the BAFTA winning Poles Apart, and Facing It, before deciding to get her master’s degree in directing animation at the National Film and Television School. During her time at that school, she made films such as Shopped and Ovary-Acting and has just finished her award-winning BAFTA-nominated graduation film, “Night of the Living Dread. Melum recently finished working on Attenborough’s Wonder of Song, a nature documentary for the BBC, and a festival trailer for Fredrikstad Animation Festival 2022.
- Vida Vega // An award-winning 2D animation director and illustrator, Vega works with bold, painterly textures and a strong sense of the traditional craft. Combining digital with analogue paper techniques to make fashion illustrations and expressive drawings. Vega loves to create stories from quiet observed intimate moments; tiny fragments that surprise by revealing more than they initially suggest. In 2012 she won a British Animation Award for Best 2D Commercial, a Silver Shark at Kinsale, Bronze at the London International Awards and several Cannes Lions nominations. Clients include How to Spend It, Superior Interior Italy, Graff Diamonds, Disney U.K., Prada, HD Buttercup, Milka, Tempo Tissues, Digital Arts Magazine. Golden Wolf, Passion Pictures, The Mill, Tandem Films, Th1ng, JWT and Publicis
- Jess Deacon // Director, paper engineer and stop motion animator, Deacon’s short film Revolution won the PDN Photo Annual Award for Animation and was officially selected for several international animation and film festivals including London International Animation Festival, Fantoche International Animation Festival, Melbourne International Animation Festival, New Zealand International Film Festival and Washington DC Environmental Film Festival.
- Antonin Niclass // Niclass is a Swiss French director and animator who graduated from the National Film and Television School in London with his film Do Not Feed the Pigeons winning numerous international awards including a BAFTA for best short animation. Niclass handcrafts tactile stop-motion pieces, combining shabby chic animation craft with a tender sense of humor that leads audiences to experience known places from a new perspective. Using animation to depict the small things of everyday life, he brings both rawness and poetry to his work. Niclass likes to show human connections or relationships often without using any words at all. Whether it’s a bittersweet taste or emotional storytelling, his films incorporate clever tricks and techniques to capture the audience.
- Luiz Stockler // An award-winning Brazilian-British animation director, animator, illustrator and filmmaker working and living between London and Bucharest. Stockler is a graduate of The University of Wales, Newport, and The Royal College of Art. His style is minimalistic, playful and character driven, which drives home both simple and complex ideas. Stockler’s work has been recognized by the Royal Television Society, Vimeo Staff Picks and the Adobe Design Achievement Awards and his short films have been screened and awarded in festivals around the world.
- Zarina Tucker // Tucker brings a wealth of experience and talent as a product stop-motion animator. With an impressive portfolio of work for brands such as Esquire, Naturya, Happy Socks, and Honest Burger, Tucker has proven herself to be a master of bringing products to life through the art of stop-motion animation.
- Lina Kalcheva // Originally from Bulgaria, currently based in England, and a recent graduate from the U.K.’s National Film and Television School, Kalcheva is an award-winning animation director. Coming from a painting background, she has studied fine art, theatre, film and animation, Kalcheva works in 2D, multiplane, stop-motion and in-between; using combinations of drawing, painting, clay and found natural materials. Her films are inspired by mythology, nature, the occult, identity, and human relationships. Her National Film and Television School graduation film Other Half premiered in Cannes Festival’s Cinéfondation selection and has screened in over 60 film festivals, including Chicago IFF, Rhode Island FF, Hollyshorts and Interfilm Berlin, winning 13 awards, notably the Anima’t Award for Best Short Animation at the Oscar-qualifying Sitges Film Festival. As well as receiving 20 other nominations among which are from the British Animation Awards, the Melies d’Argent and the MPSE Golden Reel Awards. Kalcheva is currently co-directing the short VR game Tea is Served and is finishing development on her next animation short, Dawn Chorus.
