OUDF602: Visiting Speaker | Kath Shackleton.

We recently had a visitor from the animation industry come to do a talk, she gave us some really good advice and some great pointers on what to expect in the real world. Kath is the founder of 'Fettleanimation.com, she has been running it for 18 months, she also works with other organisations such as All Animated. Her primary role in the company is working as a producer, she been a producer for 12 years. She mentioned that her partner has been an animator for the past 22 years, and he went from 2D animation to 3D animation for games, he went from being the youngest guy in the 2D animation market to being the oldest guy in the games market. 

A project that Kath worked on as a producer for CITV known as 'Share a Story' recently won a BAFTA award, this was a huge achievement for her and her team.

What is an Animation producer? Someone who organises the budget of the film, makes sure the production process runs as smooth as possible, manages a team, makes sure the animators are not being overly ambitious with the work given, thus making sure they stay on target. As the producer, Kath will usually act as the line of communication and the interpreter of ideas between the executives who run a studio and the creative people who are actually making the animated product. In this capacity, she must be able to control the costs of an animated production to keep the executives above her happy, while also ensuring that the creative animators and artists working under her are able to make the feature or series they are working toward. Ultimately, as the title suggests, it is the producer’s job to ensure that a final product is actually produced.

"You are as good as your team, tell people what you have to offer (sell, sell, sell) but don't over sell yourself." Kath Shackleton.

She emphasised that taking advantage of free networking tools such as Word press, Vimeo, you tube, twitter, Face book etc is essential but you also have to get your face out and meet people  A face to face conversation is much more memorable, the best place to start are networking events, conferences, festivals. It's important to get the right ideas to the right ears, it's important to go out and listen to what people what.

A few eye opening topics that she brought to our attention were:

Budgeting. Learning to very quickly handle money is essential, if you're not good at this then having accountant is a no-brainer as they will deal with a lot of numbers and paper work for you, alternatively having friends who are familiar with accounting also helps. It's absolutely important to do it as you're going along and not leave it last minute. 

Planning. It's really important for everyone to know what's expected of them and deadlines, know your skills and stop when you're going to need an expert in something because learning as you're going along can sometimes waste a lot of time, money and resources. 

Motivate. Some people thrive on pressure some don't, learn how to get the most of your crew. Treating them with respect is important as they are professionals, it's no longer high school were you have to shout to motivate people. 

Reporting. In her line of duty, she's had to prove to the BBC that the animation they were commissioned to produce is not plagiarised, the music is copyrighted, the fonts are original etc, the last thing the studios need are expensive lawsuits. 

When everything has been handed in to the clients the next step is to take a deep breath and start again. While most projects are on going, you have to make sure that you're getting more work, otherwise work will dry up and your bills will pile up. 

Contact List. Who do you need to have on your contact list?

• Creative agencies
• Advertising agencies
• Editors
• Musicians
• Voice Actors 
• Writes
• Arts Councils (Creative England, British Film Festival)
• Accountants
• Admins

But the most important one that everyone should have is a Lawyer. A lawyer is important to sit down with and explain intellectual property.