Student stop-motion film success follows regional win

(From left to right) Winning students Olivia Timms, Osian Jones, and Pam Simoes Gomez.

A stop-motion film produced at Manchester Met’s School of Digital Arts (SODA) has been honoured at this year’s Royal Television Society Student Television Awards.

Having already secured a win for Best Animation for third-year film for ESC at the North West Royal Television Society Awards, the film progressed to the national finals before winning the award for Undergraduate Craft Skills Award for Sound.

The Royal Television Society is an educational charity promoting the art and science of television and runs a prestigious annual awards night, held at the IET Savoy Place in London, showcasing the very best creative talent.

To make the finals, the film was selected among the top three animated films in the category across the country.

Created by Olivia Timms and Pam Simoes Gomez, ESC is a stop-motion film which follows an office-worker rabbit who is confined to an endless daily cycle of paperwork and meetings, until one day, an encounter with a wild rabbit leads him on a surreal journey down the rabbit hole, changing his reality forever.

ESC was nominated for Best Undergraduate Animation before winning for Sound across all categories, not animation alone.

Discussing the award nomination, Timms said: “Being nominated for best animation is a massive honour and a huge celebration for our film. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to be considered for best animation and attend the awards ceremony, it’s amazing to have your work recognised to that level and I couldn’t be more proud of what we achieved!”

Timms and Simoes Gomez collaborated with Osian Jones on the film, who added: “It felt amazing to receive such a prestigious award. Not a single part of me was expecting that result when we attended, especially going up against such high quality work across the board. 

“It’s given me a massive boost in confidence for the pursuit of more sound work in the industry going forward.”

Kristin Marshall, Senior Lecturer in Animation at SODA, said: “The Animation team are delighted to see this excellent film, ESC, produced on the BA Animation programme at SODA, recognised at this level. 

“Huge congratulations to Osian who has collaborated with Liv Timms on each of her films each year on the course. It is such an important tool in the storytelling of our films. We’re delighted to see Osh’s work recognised at such a high level. We are so proud of them all and are certain they have very bright futures ahead.”

This is the latest in a run of success for films produced at SODA, with two nominations for the national RTS awards in the last two years and a national win for Best Animation last year. In addition, SODA students were awarded seven out of eight nominations in the North West RTS awards for Best Animation in the last two years, with wins on both occasions. 

Simms has also been nominated for the Best in Animation category at the North West Royal Television Society Awards each year for the past three years. She won Best Director for her film Squab last year, then she and Pam Simoes Gomez won Best Animation for ESC in March this year.

Watch a trailer of ESC here.