Spark Tees Valley

Spark Tees Valley

Spark Tees Valley

Meet David Newman! He is the boss (CEO) of a company called Numation based in New York City . His job is all about helping famous writers, directors, and creators make brilliant films and television programmes .

Here is what David does and how he helps make the things you watch:

David says his job is a bit like being a chef. Imagine a new film project is a big cooking pot. David takes different ingredients- like the story, the actors, and the directors- and mixes them together to make something delicious . Once the “meal” is ready, he takes it to big companies to see if they want to buy it and show it to the world .

David travels around busy cities like New York and Los Angeles to have meetings with the biggest names in entertainment, including:

• Netflix

•Disney

• Apple and Amazon

• Nickelodeon

• Warner Brothers 

The people David works with have directed or helped make some very famous stories, such as:

• Beauty and the Beast (the Disney film) .

• Supa Team 4 (a superhero series on Netflix set in Africa) .

• The Breadwinner (a film nominated for a big award called an Oscar) .

• Iwaju (coming soon to Disney+) .

He is also making his own new film about the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci building a mechanical robot, which will feature the voices of famous actors .

When David was a student at university, he studied English Literature . This meant he had to read lots of books and plays. He says this taught him how to read stories carefully and spot which ideas are really good . Now, he uses that skill to read screenplays (scripts for films) to decide which ones should be made into movies .

David loves taking a tiny idea- like a small seed- and helping it grow into a finished story with characters and settings . He also loves going to film festivals and premieres (special first screenings) where he gets to meet Hollywood actors and find new partners to work with .

Think of it like this: David is like a gardener for stories. He finds a tiny seed of an idea, waters it with money and help from talented people, and looks after it until it grows into a big, colourful film that everyone can enjoy.

Spark Tees Valley

Here is what you need to know about Stuart Sama and his brilliant job, explained just for you:

Stuart Sama is a paleontologist. That is a long word for someone who studies plants and creatures that are extinct or turned into fossils. He studies everything found in fossils except for humans- he leaves the people for the archaeologists to study.

Imagine finding a few pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, like a skeleton or a footprint, and trying to guess what the whole picture looks like. That is what Stuart does! He finds evidence of life from the past and builds it up to understand what the animal was really like when it was alive. He says his job is like a treasure hunt where he gets to solve puzzles every day.

Did you know that dinosaur science helps make cartoons? Stuart has worked on about 60 films, including ‘How to Train Your Dragon, Life of Pi, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’.

He helps animators because he knows so much about skeletons.

• A skeleton is on the inside of a body and helps it move.

• When artists make a character for a film, they create a “rig” (which is like a digital skeleton) with joints.

• Stuart helps them put the joints in the right places so the characters move properly on screen.

If you love running around looking for cool rocks or sitting down to draw, Stuart has a message for you: Keep doing it!. Even if someone tells you to “get a real job,” you can tell them that being a scientist or an artist is a very important real job. Paleontologists teach future doctors, and animators make films that make millions of people happy.

Stuart believes that learning about the past is really important because it teaches us about the future, which helps us solve big problems like climate change.

Think of it like this: Being a paleontologist is like being a time-travelling detective; you find clues in the ground today to tell the story of what happened millions of years ago!

Spark Tees Valley

If you love watching cartoons and films, here is how a director named Jeremy Pur makes them. He directed the film Puff and Rock and the New Friends.

What is a Director? Imagine a huge group of people working together. The director is the head of that team. It is Jeremy’s job to lead the group, listen to everyone’s ideas, and tell them what he wants the film to look like.

How is a Film Made? Jeremy explains that making a film takes a very long time- about three years! They break the work into three big stages:

• Stage 1: Pre-production (The Planning). This is the start. The team writes the script (the story), draws what the characters will look like, and records the voices.

• Stage 2: Production (The Making). This is where they create the actual animation and make the colourful backgrounds for the film.

• Stage 3: Post-production (The Sounds). This is the final step. They add the music and all the sound effects, like the sound of rain, water splashing, or footsteps.

How to Become a Director? When Jeremy was younger, he wanted to find a place to learn about animation. First, he did a summer course for two months just to get better at drawing. Then, he went to college to study animation properly.

Jeremy says the best thing about his job is his team. He loves collaborating (working together) with his friends and making something special with them.

Think of a director like the captain of a football team; they make sure all the players work together to win the match!

Spark Tees Valley

Rob Dressel works at Disney Animation. His job title is a bit of a mouthful: he is a Director of Cinematography Layout.

What does he actually do? When you watch an animated film, Rob is the person who decides where the cameras go and where the characters stand. Even though it is a cartoon, he treats it like a real-life film with actors. His team works out all the different shots you see on the screen and how they fit together to tell a story.

How does he make a film?

• Creating Choices: Rob and his team of artists come up with lots of different ideas to show the directors. They want to give the directors as many choices as possible to make the best story.

• Cutting the Film: He spends a lot of time in the editorial department. This is where they take all the shots, cut them, and put them in the right order and length to make the final movie.

• Making it Clear: Rob uses his eyes to spot when something looks good, but the most important thing is clarity. He needs to make sure that when you watch the film, you understand the story perfectly. Even if a picture looks really cool, if it doesn’t help tell the story, they might not use it.

How did he get this job? Rob has loved films since he was a little boy and his dad took him to the cinema. After seeing Star Wars, he knew he wanted to work in visual effects. At first, he wanted to make characters, but he realised that moving the cameras was much more fun because he got to help the director tell the story.

Why does he love it? Rob loves being creative. He says it is wonderful to see his team’s ideas come to life on the big screen and know that he helped make it happen.

Think of it like this: Imagine you are playing with a doll’s house or action figures. Rob’s job isn’t just playing with the toys; his job is deciding exactly where you stand to look at them- whether you are peeking through the window, looking down from the roof, or hiding under the table—so that everyone else can see exactly what is happening in your story.

Spark Tees Valley

In Summary:

Imagine having a job where you get to help make huge movies like Barbie, Star Wars Episode 9, and Dumbo. That is exactly what Kaya Jabar does!

Here is what her exciting life is like, explained just for you:

What Does She Do? Kaya is called a “pre-production supervisor”. That’s a big title, but she explains that she is basically a problem-solver who mixes art with technology.

• She is a helper: She calls herself a “troubleshooter,” which means she is the person the film crew turns to when they don’t know how to make a tricky shot work.

• She uses two brains: Kaya uses her technical brain (like a computer whiz) and her artistic brain (like a creative painter) to figure out how to film scenes.

What is Her Day Like? Her days change depending on whether she is on a film set or in an office:

• On the Movie Set: She has to wake up very, very early! She usually starts the day with a strong coffee to wake up- and once, she even drank a spicy chilli shot in the morning to get ready! She walks around the sets, measures where the cameras need to go, and plans the day with the team.

• At the Computer: When she isn’t filming, she works on a computer. She talks to artists and helps them make their animations the best they can possibly be.

How Did She Get This Job?

• She loved Maths: Growing up in Bulgaria, Kaya was very good at Maths and computers. She thought she might become an architect or even a vet because she thought everyone should be a vet!.

• She loved cartoons: She really loved watching Cartoon Network and seeing “behind the scenes” shows on TV to learn how things were made.

• Moving to the UK: She decided to move to England to go to university and study animation. She never thought she would be artistic, but she gave it a try and loved it.

Kaya says that the best part of her job is solving puzzles for really smart people. If you like making films or animation, you don’t just have to be the director or the camera person. You can be the clever person everyone asks for help when they are stuck!

Think of it like this: Imagine you are building a massive Lego castle without instructions. Kaya is the person who figures out exactly which bricks you need and where they should go so the castle doesn’t fall down before you even start building!

Spark Tees Valley

Meet Nick Marshall, the Movie Magic Helper!

Nick Marshall has a very cool job working on films. He is a DFX Supervisor, which means he is the “right-hand man” to the main boss of visual effects. His job is to help his team make sure all the computer magic in a movie looks perfect.

Here are some cool facts about Nick:

• He works on famous films: You might have seen the magic he helped create in Harry Potter, Marvel movies (like Captain America and The Avengers), and Fast and Furious.

• His days are always different: Sometimes he goes to the film set where they are shooting the movie, and other times he works on a computer painting over pictures to show his team exactly what to do.

• He’s from Yorkshire: Nick grew up in a small village in Yorkshire. When he was at school, he didn’t think he could ever work in movies because he lived far away from where films are made.

• Lord of the Rings changed his mind: After watching the Lord of the Rings films, he thought they looked amazing and decided he wanted to learn how to make them.

• He started at the bottom: After going to university to learn art skills, he got his first job as a “runner.” This is a beginner job just to get his foot in the door, but it helped him learn how the whole industry works.

Now, the best bit about his job is that he can choose how to help his team solve big problems while letting the artists do their best work.

Think of it like a pirate ship: If the Visual Effects Supervisor is the Captain who decides where the ship needs to go, Nick is the First Mate. He makes sure the sailors (the creative team) are doing their jobs right and that the ship doesn’t sink so they can reach the treasure island (the finished movie)!

Spark Tees Valley

Imagine you are watching your favourite film. Have you ever wondered who makes sure all the characters and scenes look bright, colourful, and real?

Meet Will Ear. He works at a studio called MPC Film as the Head of Lighting and Optimisation. That’s a fancy way of saying he looks after the team that lights up the movies you watch, making sure everything looks perfect.

Here is what Will gets up to and the cool films he has helped make:

He works on films you probably know! Will has worked on some massive hits. Did you see Sonic the Hedgehog or Detective Pikachu? He worked on those! He says bringing beloved characters like them into the real world with computer magic (called CG) is a tough challenge, but he is very proud of it.

He also worked on the Goosebumps film. For that one, he had to figure out how to make the monsters look a bit scary, but not too scary for kids. He even worked with Aardman (the studio famous for Wallace and Gromit) on a film called The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists. He loved walking through the studio and seeing the tiny magical worlds they built.

His day is full of action and puzzles! You might think working on computers means sitting down all day, but Will says he spends a lot of time running up and down the stairs! He has to rush around talking to different teams- like the people who make the characters move and the people who add special effects.

He spends his day pointing at screens and asking questions like, “How can we fix this?” or “Can this character do something different here?”. He says his main skill is working with lots of different people to solve big puzzles together.

IWill loves skateboarding, and he thinks making film effects is actually very similar. When you learn a skateboard trick, you practice hard, you might fall over and hurt yourself, but you keep getting back up. When you finally land the trick, it’s the best feeling in the world.

Will says working on films is the same: it is technical and creative, and sometimes it is really hard, but when you finish the movie and see it on the big screen, it feels amazing.

Spark Tees Valley

Meet Magdalena Osinska. She has a brilliant job as a director at Aardman Animations. You might know Aardman because they are the studio that makes Wallace & Gromit! Magdalena actually got to work with the creator of Wallace & Gromit, Nick Park, on a television advert for DFS sofas.

She also directed a Star Wars film called “I Am Your Mother” for Star Wars Visions, which she is very proud of.

Here is what she does and how she got there:

• She is the boss of the story: Magdalena comes up with ideas and explains them to her team. Sometimes her team is small (10 people), and sometimes it is massive (200 people!).

• She helps the characters come to life: She spends her day in meetings talking to animators about the characters and the story. She watches them practise the movements (called rehearsals) and checks their finished work to give them feedback.

• She loved art and stories as a child: From a very young age, Magdalena loved drawing. She also grew up listening to stories from her dad, who is a historian, and her grandma, who told her stories about World War II. She realised that animation is just mixing art with storytelling.

• It takes team skills: Even though she went to art college to learn painting and sculpting, she says being a director is mostly about communicating well and understanding people so everyone works well together.

Magdalena says the best feeling is when she walks onto the set and sees that an animator has made a puppet move. She says it feels like magic to see a puppet suddenly have a life of its own.

Think of it like this: Being an animation director is like being the head chef in a busy kitchen. The chef invents the menu (the story) and tastes the food (reviews the animation), but they need a whole team of cooks (animators) working together to make the perfect meal!

Spark Tees Valley

Here is what Neil Bushnell does, explained just for you!

Who is Neil? Neil works at a company called Atom Hawk Design. He has a very fancy job title-“cinematic discipline lead”- but that basically means he is the boss of the animation team. He helps other people animate cool things and spends time talking to games companies all over the world.

What games has he made? You might have heard of some of the huge projects Neil has worked on!

• Mortal Kombat 1: He worked on this fighting game for over two years.

• Warhammer: He does animation for Games Workshop, the people who make Warhammer figures and games.

• Lots of others: If you think of the top 20 video games in a year, Neil’s team has usually worked on a handful of them!

What do you need to be an animator? If you want to do Neil’s job one day, here are the skills he uses the most:

• Storytelling: You need to be able to tell a clear story just by moving characters around.

• Creativity: You need to have good imagination.

• Movement and Acting: You need to understand how things move and how to act.

• Drawing: It helps if you can draw, but you don’t have to be a brilliant artist.

How did he get the job? When Neil was at school, he used to stare out the window and dream about drawing comics. He tried making comics for a bit but found it quite hard. He actually fell into animation by accident! A friend told him to show his portfolio (his folder of drawings) to a studio, and he ended up staying there for five years, learning the job from the people around him.

Neil loves that his work is always different. One day he might be working on spaceships and science fiction, and the next day he is working on fantasy characters or fighting games.

But, he says the very best bit might actually be the nice range of biscuits and chocolate they keep in the kitchen at work!

To help you understand, think of Neil like the director of a school play, but instead of telling actors where to stand on a stage, he tells computer artists how to make video game characters move and act on a screen.