Stephen Irwin

Animation - Shortlisted 2012

Since graduating from Central St. Martin’s, Irwin has worked as a freelance animation director, making a number of well-received short films. He was commissioned by Channel 4 and the Arts Council to create The Black Dog’s Progress, which won the Best Short Film award at the British Animation awards in 2010. It went on to be screened at 40 international film festivals, including London, Ottawa and Berlin.

The film was inspired by William Hogarth’s The Rakes Progress and a harrowing press article. It tells the sad story of a black dog’s life on the streets in a series of flip-book animations. “Visually and emotionally unsettling, it’s a highly original piece”, writes Guardian.co.uk.

Irwin says of his work, “I try to develop my storytelling skills with each film I make and I continue to explore different forms of animation and ways of working. Most recently I’ve found that the combination of photographed 3d backgrounds and 2d hand-drawn characters is something I am keen to pursue. It’s a method I plan to mix with other techniques and further refine it, always seeking to serve the story.”

Irwin’s next film, The Obvious Child, is about a girl who creates her own warped and malicious versions of God and in the process loses her mind. “I aim to bring together all the skills, techniques and ideas that I’ve been building on over the last few years to create something on a bigger scale than any of my previous work.”
Latest news in is that his film 'Moxie' will be screening at the Sundance Film Festival in January (19-29) in the International Short Films category. Go to http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/sundance-film-festival-s...
-films-2012-270106 for more info.