Solar wins at RTS Nationals

We're pleased to announce that Solar just became the first University of Cumbria student animated film to win both the regional and national Royal Television Society Awards.

The event was held at The Barbican in London and was presented by Peter Salmon from the BBC and radio/tv celeb George Lamb (the next Big Brother's, Little Brother host apparently?) All that was preceded by three masterclasses given by industry hot shots such as the Doctor Who exec producer Julie Gardner.

As for the ceremony, all the student work shown looked incredible. We're honored to have been involved with it all and to promote education and creative talent in Cumbria and the North.

Thanks again to our lecturers (especially Roger Rosa) and friends and family for supporting (and putting up with) us so far.

We have some exciting news coming soon and we're still working on our next short...

Finally, some photos from the event:









Photos by Paul Hampartsoumian

Solar wins at Escape Awards

We recently attended the inaugural Escape Awards held at the Tate Modern in London after Solar was nominated for the Student in CG category. We had an incredible night, the venue couldn't have been more fitting and we were surrounded by arguably the most important and talented people in the VFX and CG industry.

The night was hosted by Chariots of Fire producer Lord David Puttnam who is a genuinely nice guy and said some fantastic things both about Solar and the future of CG in film.

We were lucky enough to win the prize for Best Student in CG, along with other winners such as Framestore-CFC for their VFX work in The Golden Compass, Glassworks for their Ford Flexifuel commercial and Framestore-CFC again for their work on The Chemical Brothers music video "Salmon Dance."

Escape Studios did a fantastic job of the awards and we both eagerly await future events from them.

More info on the Escape Awards website here.

We are currently waiting to hear news of the National Royal Television Society Awards which will be held at the Barbican on the 16th May. We find out if we've progressed that far shortly. We're also still working on pre-production for our next short and have other exciting things in the works.

Aaand finally, some photos:

















Photographs by Rob Clayton


Ian & Ed

Solar wins RTS best animated short film

Having just got back from the stunning event at The Sage in Gateshead we're still a little shaky and taken back by the ceremony last night. 600 people turned up for the North East and Cumbria regional Royal Television Society awards, hosted by the one and only Nicholas Owen.

Solar walked away with best animated short film which means we're now on to the National RTS awards representing our region. We aren't entirely sure of the process from here but that ceremony is in London in April. Fingers crossed.

Great night was had anyway, lots of champagne and photos. Thanks to the RTS and the folks at ImagineTX who sponsored the award. Probably a good time to thank friends and family again seeing as 'Solar' has become an all too common word the past 15 months.

Lastly, it was a doubly good night for Cumbria Institute of the Arts as the media course won Best non-factual film for Minos

Some photos:











Ian & Ed

2008 Update

The new year has kicked off and it's already proving pretty exciting for us. Solar has been nominated for the regional leg of the Royal Television Society Awards. We find out the winner at the ceremony on the 23rd of Feb. Winners from each region go into the national awards. Fingers crossed!

We are also finalists in the 2008 Animex Awards along with some really quite incredible short films from all over the world. The exhibition is running from the 4th to the 8th of February at the University of Teesside, Middlesbrough. Solar also made it into the British Animation Awards shortlist. Visit the Animex site here

Last but not least Solar has just been reviewed and given 5 stars by the guys over at FilmThreat.com, you can read the article here

As for ourselves, we have been working at seperate companies (Ian as a creative at northern agency Code, and Ed at The Mill) however that's hoping to change in the next month or so. So's not to jynx anything, we'll let you know as it happens.

Finally, writing has begun on our next short film. Not to give anything away - it'll be 8-10 minutes long this time.

More soon.

Ian & Ed

Encore Magazine

We have just been featured in the online publication Encore Magazine. The mag features a five page article on Solar.

We have also recently been shortlisted for an award. We find out in a weeks time how we've done.

Click here to see the article.

Publications, Awards and More

Well it's been a while since we have posted here but we are very happy to announce that Solar has been featured in several publications this month! They include a double page spread in Computer Arts, a feature in US DVD magazine Stash and two small features in Digital Arts and TheReel magazines.

Solar has also recently been entered into the WebCuts, Royal Television Society, Animex, Aniboom and the British Animation awards. We find out if we get shortlisted for most of these later this year. Fingers Crossed!

Not only that, this week Solar is being screened at the //Adapt Conference 2007 in Montreal, Canada. Sadly we aren't able to attend but we're chuffed never the less!

Thanks to everyone for the support, the 140,000+ unique hits the site has had and all the feedback by email.

Check back for more news soon, we are going to keep this updated from now on! One last thing, we are hoping to start writing our second short in the coming months...



Ian & Ed

Release of Solar

It's been an interesting two weeks since the launch of Solar. First we'd like to say thanks to everyone who helped with the production of the film. Our friends and family, our lecturers (especially Roger Rosa), and Adam Laurie. Not to mention the great guys in Skoud and Molia Falls for letting us loose on their tracks for the film and our making-of.

We've had an unbelievable response from the launch and want to say a massive thanks to everyone who has supported, plugged or published us since. Overwhelmingly, Solar has been featured on the front page of 3DTotal, Dailymotion, TheFWA and Motionographer. All being well the next issues of Computer Arts, Creative Review, Digital Arts and Stash magazines are going to have features too, keep an eye out for them.

Technically we are both still on our much needed holidays so we'll post updates about Solar and what we get up to shortly. We certainly weren't expecting all this so we really appreciate all the comments, emails and support from people. Really made the 7 or 8 months (we lose track) of production worth-while.

Ian & Ed