ANIMAFEST PRO | LECTURES, MASTERCLASSES

JOANNA QUINN & LES MILLS: FROM IDEA TO SCREEN – CREATING AND DEVELOPING THEIR SHORT ANIMATED FILMS

MM CENTAR
07/06 TUE 16:00

Evolving and developing short films - an insight into methods of preparing and constructing their short animated films with Joanna Quinn & Les Mills, including Scripting, Storyboarding and Animatics.

Joanna Quinn discovered animation at Middlesex University London while studying for a BA degree in Graphic Design. Her graduation film Girls Night Out, a brilliantly simple and humorous riposte to machismo and a celebration of uninhibited female sexuality, which introduced audiences to the character of Beryl and kick started Joanna’s animation career by winning 3 major awards at Annecy. The uniquely memorable character of Beryl became the focus for three more films Body Beautiful, Dreams and Desires - Family Ties and most recently Affairs of the Art. The politics of gender and oppression together with Joanna’s obsessive fascination and delight with exploring the eccentricities of the human body, in particular the female form, became the central themes of her work. Her masterpiece is Britannia, a savage indictment of British imperialism. Joanna’s films have won many international awards, including Baftas, Emmys and received 3 Oscar nominations. Joanna is a committed educator and is an Honorary Fellow at the Royal College of Art, London and University of Wales and Honorary Doctor at Middlesex University, London and the University of Wolverhampton. Joanna lectures in major Colleges and Universities throughout the world.

Les Mills studied Fine Art at Cardiff Art College, Goldsmiths College University of London and at Rutgers University in the USA, where he completed a Master’s Degree in fine art and history. His teaching experience is extensive, initially teaching Art and Design but gradually becoming more interested in documentary filmmaking and animation which resulted in him teaching basic animation at Middlesex University, Independent Film Production at Cardiff University and he was the Co-ordinator of Chapter Independent Film Workshop in Cardiff. His teaching experience culminated in him becoming Course Director of the Film School at the University of Wales, Newport. His first creative collaboration with Joanna Quinn was on her Graduation film Girls Night Out at Middlesex and since then the two have worked very closely together forming their company Beryl Productions International in 1988. He wrote and produced the next Beryl film Body Beautiful and produced Wife of Bath one of the Canterbury Tales series, which won a BAFTA, 3 Emmys and received an Oscar nomination. He went on to write and produce 2 more Beryl films Dreams and Desires – Family Ties and Affairs of the Art which have won 80 international awards between them including 2 BAFTA nominations and an Oscar nomination. Les won the Writers Award at the 2022 British Animation Awards.