Episode 121 'The Travelling Animation Workshop'

The Unstopped! animation workshop has been unleashed...

I was approached one morning by an Italian text message from an Italian animator named Niccolo Gioia (Nicco). I read the proposal and agreed almost immediately that it was, in fact, a good morning. And because of our steadfast relationship and years of bromantic endeavours, it was easy to agree to the second part of the message about co-leading an animation workshop. I was honoured, in fact, and soon began to puff my chest and search for a blazer with elbow pads.

    Nicco is a very talented chap who I met during his time at Cola Animations, animating on various projects for Bruno Caetano and Emanual Nevado, and we hit it off immediately. The idea of running a stop motion workshop with him was a rather fetching indeed. And so we rubbed our hands together and began plotting.

Now, this modular workshop has been Nicco's baby, and I am simply cool uncle Tommy who visits with a box of crayons, balsa wood and glue guns. The initial idea has been to present a programme that can be adapted or customised depending on the venue and the participants. For example; the current Unstopped! workshop edition focuses on sets and props, which is why I have been brought on board. 

Stop motion animation will be key and present for every workshop, but alongside a different area of the production like directing, lighting or film editing. This is the adaptable nature of the workshop and it is something that Nicco will push moving forward, alternating the leaders depending on their skillset. Consider us as his special guests, from each department of a stop motion production, and Nicco is the ring leader (or, indeed, the puppet master). 

But perhaps I am speaking a little prematurely. The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and the workshop is still young, free and single. 

So how well has it been received? 

Bang Awards Animation Festival 2026

Torres Vedras. September. Weeks of preparation. Weeks of anxiety. 

I have taught many workshops over the years (stop motion animation and watercolour painting respectively) for all ages, but stepping up in front of a group of strangers will always incite an air of apprehension. I can feel it in my wavering voice, as I talk about myself, fighting to justify why I am worthy of teaching this niche craft. Nicco has more experience than me as he teaches animation in Torino, Italy, whereas I only manage the odd humble gathering of artists, as lovely as that may be. 

So it begins; explaining how to assemble the flatpack sets we provided.

The workshop begins with Nicco and I introducing ourselves. Our energy is professional but jovial (I considered combining those two words) as we bounce off each other to discuss what the session will entail. There is a presentation that Nicco has devised, showcasing our careers and escapades, giving space to elaborate between images or videos or bullet points. Visual aids will always help, not only to distract from having all eyes on you, but because stop motion is all about the visual. Even when you are explaining a generic walk cycle in front of a class, you cannot help but act out a loping few steps to show the kinetic relationship between head, shoulders, knees and toes. This is why partaking in life drawing classes is so necessary - anyway, I digress.

With the Bang Awards festival, Nicco and I barely had any time to go over the format of the workshop and how it might fit the 9 hour slot that we were given. All we had decided was to construct in the morning and animate in the afternoon. It had to be this simple. I had prepared a whole menagerie of materials, tools and equipment that I had transported up from Lisbon to accommodate the sets and props element of the workshop, whilst Nicco brought a suitcase of clay (like a secret agent of the arts). 

My initial thoughts on teaching the basics of set design and construction was to find a process that was engaging enough for the participants, but that also gave an industry standard glimpse into how it all comes together. So I designed a flatpack set (à la IKEA) that consisted of three walls (with door and window spaces) that could would be straightforward to assemble and secure to the set base (MDF sheet cut to table size). The three wall room is a basic layout for many set environments and is a good place for a beginner to start mapping out their own narrative. 

The props were simple template cut-outs that I found online. Soon I will design my own collection, depending on the theme of the workshop. For example, the following workshop in Animarkt had a theme of Peter and the Wolf, so there were subsequently more trees than indoor furniture. 

After I led the first half of the workshop, showing the group how to assemble the sets, props and what's possible to make with the materials, we broke for lunch. Torres Vedras is a very interesting town that seems to stretch on and on, through cobbled streets and church filled plazas. Fluttering overhead, one might find some festival decorations that wafted elegantly in the wind, and then you turn a corner to find a dusty trail leading up to Castelo de Torres; the towns very own castle in the sky. Me and Nicco managed to meet up with some amazing people from the animation industry and chatted over a bitoque with fries. Justin and Shel Rasch were among these and had flown over from the States especially for the festival. They gave a wonderful talk about their journey into the world of stop motion and I managed to chat with them extensively afterwards about developing ideas and writing your own short film. Please follow these guys on social media; Justin posts behind-the-scenes videos almost every day and they are so amazing to see, especially for young budding animators. 

Now back to the workshop, lunch is over!

The whole afternoon was spent animating with the characters known as MoStops, created by Nicco. These are made with the same plasticine clay that Aardman use for Wallace and Gromit, which is always a fun little fact to tell the participants. Many of the guest speakers swung by to catch a glimpse of the workshop, which was great as it showed how intimate and friendly this industry can be. None of this would have been possible if it were not for the organiser, and dear friend, Catia Candeias. She provided us with everything we needed to make the workshop run smoothly, so a big thank you to her.

  

Animarkt Stop Motion Forum 2026

Łódź, Poland. October. Zero preparation. Days of unnatural calm (perhaps due to the insane turn around from the previous workshop, and adapting it to three days instead of our previous one day).

The Animarkt festival has always been on my radar (although they prefer to call it a forum. And that's cool) but unfortunately my path had not led me there yet. My interest was still peaked, however, at the possibility of a future visit. Not even a week had passed, since finishing the successful Bang Awards Unstopped! workshop, when Nicco contacted me to ask if I'd be happy to accompany him and Unstopped! to Poland to lead a three day workshop. My goodness, I thought, three days?! I had just recovered from figuring out the previous one, now I have to multiply it neatly thrice? Not only that, I would be unable to prepare any flatpack sets or gather materials as I'd be flying from Lisbon to Warsaw with only a carry on bag. And did I mention that we both had two weeks to prepare this thing?

The anxiety, panic and stress must have reached its limit, because it suddenly became a lethargic calm aura, numbing my mind and senses. Had I just accepted a timely fate? How will Tommy and Nicco get out of this one?

"Just riff it," seemed to be the general consensus. Tim Allen was the first to suggest this cavalier approach. This is Tim, the very successful, famous, experienced animator, workshop leader, speaker and stop motion emissary, Allen... so whilst I heeded his advice over a stonkingly large mug of ale, I remained nervous to say the least. But lo! Our confidence was soon boosted by other animation legends such as Suzie Templeton, Nik and Nancy Phelps and Martin Clapp. It seemed that slightly winging it was necessary for this last minute edition of Unstopped! and that was okay. 

Stop motion can be bad-ass, I'm telling you.

My flight landed late on Saturday afternoon. I then took a four hour bus ride to the town of Lodz, where Animarkt would be held, arriving squarely at the hotel for 8pm. The workshop began at 10am the following morning. This was utter madness. I hadn't even checked what materials we had available! But I accepted my current circumstances and pretended that I was wearing one of those keep calm and do something calm, probably t-shirts. 

We had eight participants sign up for the workshop and they were all absolutely fantastic. Where Bang Awards had a younger audience of college students with an interest in stop motion, this workshop attracted university students, graduates and older generations who actually worked in animation. Don't get me wrong, I was very impressed with the students from Bang Awards. They showed incredible initiative and creativity throughout. However, with these more experienced participants (at Animarkt) I was over the moon with their creative suggestions and dynamism. The organisers of the forum had thankfully supplied me with a huge stash of materials and tools, of which I am eternally grateful (although we never received the large order of cardboard tubes I had requested) and gave me allowance to relax a little bit (but not about the cardboard tubes, of course). The participants needed no encouragement to dive in and get cracking with set design and construction. 

Teacher's gonna teach

Now, for this workshop Nicco had the wonderful idea of honouring the 20th anniversary of Peter and the Wolf (2006, directed by Suzie Templeton), which would be screened later in the week with a live orchestra (wow!), with our very own homage. We wanted our participants to get into five groups and storyboard, build, sculpt and animate their very own version of Peter and the Wolf. And with three days to fill, we had a little more time to plan and finesse something Unstopped!able (that almost works, right?).

DAY 1 - introductions, sets/props initiation, storyboarding, construction begins!

DAY 2 - sets & props building. Sculpting characters. Animation test with Mostops.

DAY 3 - full day of animating.

The cardboard tubes were ordered because I had plans to use them as the forest (which is quite a prominent part of the environment in this tale), and we had used a similar method on Scream Street many years ago. But alas, we needed to improvise. Actually, this was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how the art department (in stop motion productions) would often need to make use of what materials were readily available. In my introduction talk I even spoke about budget, recycling and reusing what you can find to build the world for your characters. Speaking of which, I had stashed a couple of sturdy tubes in my luggage, which were strong enough to be used as the hero tree. We built four of them, textured beautifully with strips of cardboard (a brilliant idea from the group, not I). 

It was such a joy for me and Nicco to deliver our talks, share our knowledge and watch everyone do their thing. I love my work, be it carpentry, prop making, set construction, rigging or working in the puppet department, but I get a special type of gratification when I am able to lead a workshop and see how people listen and take on board what one has to say. I think I am a good teacher; I am attentive, focused and adaptable to each scenario and student (as we all have our own creative voice). But if I were to pursue this line of educational work (which I have considered on many occasions) then there is much I still need to learn. And I am okay with that. Because every day is a school day. 

Nicco in his animating element. 

A special thank you to Paulina Zacharek (the coordinator of Animarkt), Zuzanna Kabala (organiser of materials and tools) and all of the assistants and volunteers from the forum. You were all absolutely fantastic!

The Mostops in their Peter and the Wolf form.

The aftermath of the workshops have given Nicco and myself some great contacts from the animation world, a very satisfied group of participants (who we are exceedingly proud of) and several other festival opportunities from across the globe; Mexico and Italy to name a couple. I met Angelica Lares, the head of Taller del Chucho, animator and director Jan Maas and so many others - these festivals are really amazing places to mingle and meet. It seems that we have generated a lot of interest with this vibrant little workshop, and with a little push in the right direction I can see us hosting many more in the near future. I just need a little more time to plan the bloody thing!

And finally; please enjoy our Unstopped! homage to Peter and the Wolf.