Ten years ago, Heather Wright brought extensive ad agency and live-action production house experience to Bristol, U.K.-based Aardman Animations when she came aboard as exec producer/head of commercials, a title which was later expanded to include branded content. “I had never worked in animation prior to joining Aardman,” she recalled.
All she knew about her new roost was its body of top drawer work. “They had great talent but back then they weren’t that well known. I felt I could make a difference.”
Indeed during her tenure, Aardman has attained a high ad industry profile, and she has helped to diversify the studio, starting a CG unit and three years ago launching Incubator, a shop geared toward discovering and grooming new filmmaking talent not just for commercials but for the Aardman pipeline through which creative artisans tend to take on diverse assignments ranging from commercials to broadcast episodes to shorts, feature sequences and features.
A prime example of such up-and-coming talent is Incubator director Emma Lazenby whose short film Mother of Many was recently nominated for a BAFTA Award in the short film animation category. As for Aardman’s coterie of established talent, studio mainstay Nick Park last week saw his Wallace & Gromit short A Matter of Loaf and Death earn an Academy Award nomination for best animation short. It’s the sixth career nomination for director Park who has won four Oscars: one (which was shared with director Steve Box) for Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in ’06 as best animated feature film; and three for best animated short film–Wallace & Gromit in A Close Shave in ’96, Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers in ’94 and Creature Comforts in ’89.
Prior to joining Aardman, Wright held such posts as producer at Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam, and head of TV at Chiat/Day, London. On the production company side, she served as a live-action producer working regularly for such U.K. houses as Propaganda Films and Rose Hackney Barber.
Q: What’s the state of U.K. advertising and animation/design? How do they compare to their counterparts in the U.S.?
Wright: Animation is still on a massive roll. The industry as a whole seems to have moved away somewhat from the “lo-fi embarrassing observations type of comedy” and has once again fallen in love with design. In terms of differences between the U.K. and U.S. advertising briefs, despite researching every aspect of a spot before committing to it, U.K. agency creatives still have the opportunity– although admittedly less often– to be more adventurous in the way they realize their work, whereas although the U.S. agency creatives have a massive desire to “do something different” the U.S. clients are still much more nervous about trying something new. I guess the size of the market means that the risks are that much greater and most big brands are not about taking risks at the moment.
Q. How was business last year and what are the prospects for 2010?
Wright: In terms of workflow it seems that the recession didn’t really hit the agencies until the summer when there were layoffs and that slowdown has only recently hit U.K. production companies, mainly in the third and fourth quarters of 2009. A few have started to go under. However we know that London agencies are hiring again and are busy pitching so we’re hoping that things will pick up this first quarter. Budgets were tight as ever but schedules were even tighter. Seems like people waited until absolutely the last minute before making decisions about whether or not to go into production or not whilst they spent ever increasing amounts of time on research.
We were lucky as we had a couple of large pieces of repeat business which saw us through 2009 and will see us through 2010 too but new work has been harder to come by. Although there are now some good pitches coming through, we’re not expecting any sharp increase in new work early in 2010 and are planning for a long slow recovery.
Q: What changes do you see happening in animation from the business and creative sides.
Wright: We’ve seen a massive resurgence in stop frame animation. It seems that in the last 18 months to two years, the features market was flooded with CGI B movies which just made everyone tired of the technique. There is a definite return to a more handcrafted feel, creating original bespoke artwork. As people tighten their belts, the scripts are more focused around great storytelling rather than overblown production techniques–which is exactly as it should be. The opportunity to be creative is greater as a result. At one point our commercials output was almost 50%/50% stopframe/CGI. Nowadays we’re back at 75%/25% stopframe/CGI.
Q: Multiplatform storytelling and 360 degree marketing continue to be important pillars for big brands. Will these marketing approaches shift or further evolve in 2010?
Wright: Multiplatform storytelling and 360 marketing are buzzwords on every project right now and will continue to grow in strength. It’s become common knowledge that online isn’t replacing TV, you just need to do both and finally we’re starting to see more joined up campaigns. The list of deliverables from an agency used be two :30 spots with :15 lifts; now there’s an order for stills for press and print, mute versions for DEPs (digital escalator panels), interactive assets for online, plus we’re starting to get orders for a website or microsite and games too.
This is a trend that’s definitely set to continue and grow as people need to find ways of harnessing social networking to work for their brands. It’s about giving gifts to people rather than shouting at them.
All this is great news for production companies as if you have your business model sorted and are flexible enough to be able to work in all formats, it adds up to more work, not less.
There’s talk of a huge boost in online video content. To us it’s all just content and the eventual distribution platform makes no difference to the quality of the creative work. In fact the need for great creative to cut through the huge and continual noise online makes it even more important to do great work. And for great work you need great people. There’s still a common misconception that online work should cost less than “on air” work. I think that in 2010 there will start to be a realization from clients and agencies that it’s the people who create the work you’re paying for, not the distribution platform.
Q: What looks or creative styles do you envision as being at the forefront in 2010?
Wright: A unique hand crafted feel is still big as people look to find ways of setting their work apart from their competitors. Anything that feels generic or in any way derivative has no place. For us that includes how whole characters are created. It’s not just about the way they look, it’s about the way they move, speak, emote and interact with other characters.
Meanwhile, traditional 2D hand drawn cel animation is almost never used now. That’s not to say creatively it’s not loved. It’s just that production schedules hardly ever afford the time and 2D computer programs are much faster (and therefore cheaper). The result is not the same but the aesthetic has changed to make it loved in its own right.
Q: What about the marketplace for directors? Directors with multiple skill sets, live action/VFX/animation seem in more demand than ever?
Wright: This trend is set to continue but there is a massive shortage of these guys. There is a need for directors who are technique agnostic, who can focus on getting the idea working well and looking beautiful first and worry about how to achieve it second. This doesn’t mean that a lesser knowledge of filmmaking is required–in fact it’s the opposite. As budgets and schedules are constantly trimmed, the director’s wide knowledge of the detail of all film making crafts becomes essential, so they know when and when not to cut corners.
