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Ben Mitchell Author of Evaluating Organization Development
FEATURED AUTHOR

Ben Mitchell

Managing Director
Skwigly Online Animation Magazine

I am a UK-based animation/post-production freelancer, independent director and writer/researcher. As well as producing work for broadcast, web and corporate clients as a freelancer, my independent films have screened at over 100 international film and animation festivals. I am also co-owner/Managing Director of the UK-based online animation resource skwigly.com and am primarily responsible for its featured content, ranging from written articles to podcast series and videos.

Subjects: Animation

Biography

Ben Mitchell is a Bristol-based animation/post-production freelancer, independent director, composer, graphic novelist and writer/researcher.
As a freelancer he has produced animation work for the BBC, Channel 4, Plymptoons, Somethin' Else, Wonky Films, A Productions, Slurpy Studios, Channel Flip and Rumpus Animation to name a few.
As an independent director he has produced four short animated films - "House Guest" (2008), "Ground Running" (2009), "The Naughty List" (2010) and "Klementhro" (2015) - that between them have sold for broadcast and touring programmes, won multiple awards and been showcased at over 100 international film and animation festivals including ITFS Stuttgart, Clermont-Ferrand, Encounters, Ottawa International Animation Festival, Monterrey International Film Festival, I Castelli Animati and Anima Mundi. He is presently working on a new short film "Sunscapades" and recently released his first non-fiction book on animation production for Taylor & Francis "Independent Animation: Developing, Producing and Distributing Your Animated Films" (2016).

Education

    Motion Graphics (BA), Solent University, Southampton, 2005
    Animation (MA), UWE/Bristol School of Animation, 2008

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

    As co-owner and Managing Director of Skwigly Online Animation Magazine, Ben's research experience stems from a wealth of interviews with artists from all manner of fields of animation production, from students/independents to directors/producers of major mainstream TV series and feature films. As well as written features Ben also produces and presents additional content strands for the magazine such as podcast series "The Skwigly Animation Podcast", "Intimate Animation" and "Independent Animation" as well as the video documentary series Lightbox,
    As well as being involved in preselection for a number of organisations including the British Animation Awards, Ben has also curated screening events for various festivals including the Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival, Bradford Animation Festival and Manchester Animation Festival and serves as a programming consultant on the Skwigly/Film Hub NWC events programme This Is Not A Cartoon.

Personal Interests

    On top of his work in the field of animation Ben is also a musician, having composed for independent films and podcasts as well as his own music under the moniker Struwwelpeter. His work as an independent graphic novelist includes the three-part series "Throat" as well as the comic adaptation of his thesis film "House Guest"

Websites

Books

Featured Title
Featured Title - Mitchell - Independent Animation - 2nd Edition book cover
Mitchell - Independent Animation - 1st Edition book cover

News

Independent Animation - podcast series launches featuring Late Night Work Club

By: Ben Mitchell
Subjects: Animation, Web

Independent Animation - episode 2 podcast thumbnail

Skwigly Online Animation Magazine's companion podcast series to the Taylor & Francis/CRC Press book Independent Animation: Developing, Producing and Distributing Your Animated Films has begun, exploring the work of “rotating collective” the Late Night Work Club, who last year followed up their 2013 anthology film Ghost Stories with another themed collection of animated shorts titled Strangers.

This podcast follows up on two of the artists who contributed invaluably to the original book:

Still from Kirsten Lepore's 'Hi Stranger'
Kirsten Lepore (Hi Stranger)
Since her promising beginnings with the viral hit Story From North America (co-directed with Garrett Michael Davis in 2007) and breakthrough student short Bottle (that to date has picked up 39 awards and counting) in 2010, Kirsten Lepore‘s animation career has flourished, notable jewels in the crown being her auteur short film Move Mountain (2013) and last year’s Adventure Time episode Bad Jubies. Her Strangers contribution Hi Stranger recently achieved tremendous viral success, even getting itself spoofed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Still from Alex Grigg's 'Born in a Void'
Alex Grigg (Born in a Void)
Australian animation director and designer Alex Grigg has produced work for clients such as Super Deluxe, Netflix and Cartoon Network. Presently working at Mighty Nice in Sydney, Alex’s independent work includes the multi-award-winning Ghost Stories contribution Phantom Limb.
This episode also features exclusive insight about the independent production approaches for the anthology from other participating talents:
Image for 'Late Night Work Club 2: Strangers' by Charles Huettner
Charles Huettner (Intro, outtro and interstitials animation)
Charles is a Pennsylvania-based freelance animator. As well as his involvement with the Late Night Work Club, he was recently involved with fellow LNWC founder Scott Benson‘s indie game project Night in the Woods.
Still from Sean Buckelew's 'Lovestreams'
Sean Buckelew (Lovestreams)
Having received an MFA in Experimental Animation from the California Institute of the Arts and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sean has since worked on projects including We Are Your Friends, Consuming Spirits and the Annie Award-winning animated sequences of He Named Me Malala. Alonside his independent films he has worked with clients including Disney Channel, MTV, Arctic Monkeys, VH1 and Adult Swim.
Still from Jeanette Bonds's 'Departures'
Jeanette Bonds (Departures)
Since receiving a BFA and MFA from CalArts for Experimental Animation, LA-based animator Jeanette has gone on to programme and participate in festivals including Slamdance, Platform, KLIK!, Fantoche and the Los Angeles Film Festival. In 2014 her student film Trusts & Estates was nominated for an Annie Award. On top of her independent film work Jeanette is also the Co-Founder, Director and Artistic Director of the GLAS Animation Festival.
Still from Loup Blaster's 'Freedom'
Loup Blaster (Freedom)
Presently living and working in France as an illustrator, animator and VJ, Louise Philia Druelle (AKA Loup Blaster) grew up in Calais and studied animation at ESAAT and Volda University College.  In March 2012 she started BBBLASTER, an illustration, animation and music project.
Still from Nicolas Ménard's 'Wednesday With Goddard'
Nicolas Ménard (Wednesday with Goddard)
Nicolas moved to the UK from Montreal to study at the Royal College of Art where he produced the popular student films Somewhere and Loop Ring Chop Drink. During his career he has worked with dozens of clients including Google, la Cinémathèque Québécoise, Universal and Time magazine. He also works as a director at Nexus.
Podcast credits:
Written, presented and produced by Ben Mitchell
Music by Ben Mitchell
Additional music from LNWC by Skillbard and David Kamp