Magic Light Pictures’ The Velveteen Rabbit nominated for six Children’s & Family Emmy® Awards

Magic Light Pictures’ heart-warming film celebrating the magic of unconditional love, The Velveteen Rabbit, has been nominated in an impressive six categories for the 3rd Annual Children’s & Family Emmy® Awards.

Nominations were announced on 12 December for the standalone competition, and the awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on 15 March 2025.  

The nominations for The Velveteen Rabbit are:

• Best Fiction Special
• Phoenix Laroche for Best Young Performer in a Preschool, Children’s or Young Teen Program
• Best Music Composition and Direction for a Live Action Program
• Best Editing for a Single Camera Live Action Program
• Best Sound mixing and sound editing for a Live Action Program
• Best Costume Design/Styling

The nominations continue Magic Light Pictures’ remarkable track record of success at the Emmy awards, following its recent triumph at the International Emmys in November where Tabby McTat won the award for Best Kids Animation. Previously Magic Light enjoyed wins in this category with Room on the Broom, Revolting Rhymes, Zog and The Smeds and the Smoos.

Based on the treasured, classic book by Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit tells the story of shy William who, when he receives a new favourite toy for Christmas, discovers a lifelong friend and enters a world of imagination, love and friendship. Expertly mixing live-action and stunning animation to perfectly capture the imagination of a child, the 40-minute special leans into the timeless classic in a way never seen before. The film first launched on Apple TV+ in November 2023.

We are proud to be nominated in so many categories for the wonderful film The Velveteen Rabbit. It’s a tribute to the outstanding qualities and brilliant creativity of the whole team, and to the great support of Apple TV. Making high-quality films for children and families around the world is what we love to do and it is humbling to find that so many other people love our work too.

Martin Pope, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of Magic Light Pictures

Directed by Jennifer Perrott and Rick Thiele with a screenplay by BAFTA-winning Tom Bidwell, the all-star cast also features the voices of Alex Lawther, Helena Bonham Carter, Nicola Coughlan, Bethany Antonia, Lois Chimimba, Paterson Joseph, Clive Rowe, Nathaniel Parker and Tilly Vosburgh.

Now in its third year, the standalone Annual Children’s & Family Emmy® Awards competition, created by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), spotlights the pinnacle of creativity and innovation in children’s entertainment.

CAKE partners with Headspace and Lilly Singh on animated mindfulness series

The leading kids’ entertainment specialist has announced a partnership with LA based mental health app, Headspace, and Unicorn Island Productions on The Mindful Adventures of Unicorn Island.

The 10 x 11 minute kids and family animated series is aimed at 5-8 year olds and a co-viewing audience. It is produced by Headspace and actor, television host and New York Times bestselling author Lilly Singh, and Lilly’s production company, Unicorn Island. The series is written and executive produced by Kara Lee Burk.

Incorporating mindfulness principles and science-backed methods, The Mindful Adventures of Unicorn Island was created so children everywhere could manage stressful situations and gain emotional regulation skills to make sense of challenges in their lives. A critical part of their mission is to reach underserved communities and make mental health support more accessible to all.

When 10-year-old Lilly (voiced by Lilly Singh) faces adversity in the real world, she is transported to Unicorn Island, her ‘happy place,’ a colourful wonderland where she transforms into a unicorn named “LillyCorn,” learns about growing up, and navigates challenges, from her parents’ divorce to conflicts in her friendships. With the help of her imaginary friends – Velvet the cupcake, Pep the pizza, Poppy the dog, Frank the dinosaur, and Dora, the omnipresent voice who guides the friends through their journey – Lilly learns new mindfulness activities to overcome her troubles and brings those skills back to the real world. Through Lilly’s adventures, kids are encouraged to take time and space for themselves, improving their own well-being with new behaviours that build their confidence and nurture the best parts of themselves.

The Mindful Adventures of Unicorn Island was awarded a Collision Award, a Telly Award and was a Webby Award Honoree in 2024.

This project is so special to me and I’m grateful that we can broaden the audience of this series globally. The problems our characters tackle in this series are universal and I’m hopeful we can continue to reach young people.

Lilly Singh

We’re thrilled to partner with CAKE to extend the reach of The Mindful Adventures of Unicorn Island through their global distribution network. This collaboration brings the transformative power of mindfulness to children and families around the world, helping to address youth mental health on a broader scale. By integrating science-backed techniques with engaging storytelling, our goal is to empower the next generation with tools for emotional resilience throughout their lives.

Sara Cohen, Vice President of Content Creation at Headspace

Working with the team at Headspace and Lilly Singh on The Mindful Adventures of Unicorn Island aligns perfectly with our mission to deliver meaningful and entertaining content. We hope this series inspires kids and families to embrace mindfulness and prioritise emotional well-being.

Ed Galton, CEO at CAKE

Pokémon and Aardman team up for exciting collaboration coming 2027

The Pokémon Company International and multi-award-winning independent studio Aardman have announced a special project coming to audiences in 2027.

The collaboration will see Aardman bringing their unique style of storytelling to the Pokémon universe in brand-new adventures. More information on the collaboration is planned to be shared in the future.

This is a dream partnership for Pokémon. Aardman are masters of their craft, and we have been blown away by their talent and creativity. What we have been working on together ensures our global Pokémon fans are in for a treat!

Taito Okiura, VP of Marketing and Media at The Pokémon Company International

It’s a huge honour to be working with The Pokémon Company International — we feel sincerely privileged to be trusted with bringing their characters and world to life in a brand-new way. Bringing together Pokémon, the world’s biggest entertainment brand, together with our love of craft, character and comedic storytelling feels incredibly exciting. Aardman and TPCi share an emphasis on heritage and attention to detail as well as putting our fans and audiences at the heart of what we do, which we know will steer us right as we together create charming, original and new stories for audiences around the world.

Sean Clarke, Managing Director of Aardman

Absolute welcomes Executive Producer Kayleigh Dugdale to team

Absolute has announced the addition of Executive Producer Kayleigh Dugdale to its burgeoning team.

The latest in a line of impressive recent hires, Kayleigh joins the team from a previous EP role. Dugdale will work across all of Absolute’s departments, including Sound, Edit, CG, VFX and Colour, in addition to developing the production team in a period of growth for the business.

Starting her career in 2006, Kayleigh is a tour-de-force with over 18 years of industry experience. With heavyweight names on her CV, she spent her early years working across all aspects of post, from bookings to TV and commercial production. Kayleigh has gone on to become one of the most respected EPs in the business, working on many award-winning projects. Her reels boast a wide range of iconic brands, including Nike, Adidas, Samsung, Lancôme, and DHL, as well as collaborations with esteemed directors such as Adam Berg, Dom & Nic, David LaChapelle, and Traktor.

I am so thrilled to be joining Absolute Post as Executive Producer. It’s been somewhere that I’ve admired for a long time, not just for the creativity of their work, but also for their amazing company culture. There’s a real sense that we’re building something special here, and we are all striving for Absolute to become the place that talent goes to thrive and clients to come for the best work.

I’m delighted to be embarking on this new chapter with some exceptionally talented artists and producers, whose experience will be critical in shaping a fresh direction for the business. I can’t wait to get some amazing projects through the door and collaborate with more incredible teams.

Kayleigh Dugdale, Executive Producer at Absolute

Having been lucky enough to work with Kayleigh before, it was a no-brainer to bring her into our team here when the opportunity arose. Kayleigh’s reputation precedes her, and her versatility, knowledge and commitment to redefining post-production standards were a vital component in the success of [other] studios in both London and Amsterdam.

We know she is going to bring that same brand of innovation to her role here, and it’s going to be so exciting to see her continue to raise the bar. The recent additions to our team speak volumes about the ambition we have for Absolute and Kayleigh is a big part of bringing us realising those ambitions.

Chris Batten, MD of Absolute

Union adds grandeur to The Regime

Led by VFX Supervisor and Co-Founder Adam Gascoyne, Union’s newly established Montréal facility delivered the majority of the 700 VFX shots on the show, collaborating with a smaller team at Union HQ in London.

HBO’s The Regime is a darkly comedic six-episode series directed by Stephen Frears and Jess Hobbs that tells the story of life within the walls of a modern authoritarian regime as it begins to unravel. Chancellor Elena Vernham (Kate Winslet) has grown increasingly paranoid and unstable, having not left the Palace for some time, and turns to a volatile soldier, Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts), as an unlikely confidant. As Zubak’s influence over the chancellor continues to grow, Elena’s attempts to expand her power eventually result in both the palace and the country fracturing around her.

Led by VFX Supervisor and Union co-founder Adam Gascoyne, Union’s newly established Montréal facility delivered the majority of the 700 VFX shots on the show collaborating with a smaller team at Union HQ in London.

Environments

The main task was to expand and enhance the Chancellor’s palace and surrounding landscape to increase its grandeur. The team scanned the real Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, then redesigned it into a fictional, contemporary palace with grounds that were consistently featured in the series. This also included extending the landscape and creating a bespoke, breath-taking mountain backdrop in the distance.

The palace itself required a significant amount of initial groundwork, including technical location recces and evaluations during pre-production, the enhancement of the Palace design, development of a CG model, lighting and rendering of the Palace extension across different scenes, times of day, and various degrees of destruction in later episodes.

In one of the most memorable shots, the camera transitions from the palace interior through a window and into a turbulent warzone. This was achieved, using a blend of CG, DMP, and 2D elements to enhance the scene. With only balcony footage at their disposal, the team had to come up with an effective strategy to complete this seemingly simple shot. Upon review of some 2D solutions and ideas, it was evident that replacing the courtyard with a CG version was essential to uphold the parallax effect and realism. A digital matte painting was also used to merge the CG courtyard with the palace surroundings.

Environmental work also needed to create barren and exhausted beet fields and a Beet Factory on the outskirts of the Palace grounds. This included adding mud to enhance the rugged terrain, along with pillows of CG beets.

Gore

Some of the more absurd moments required enhancement of the Chancellor’s deceased father’s body, gradually making the prosthetics and actor look more decayed as the show went on.

At one point, the outlandish storyline featured a complex talking corpse sequence that involved a lot of different 2D techniques. Union collaborated closely with the clients to achieve the desired appearance and gradually adjust the level of decay. Ensuring that the enhancements matched perfectly with the actor’s facial expressions and muscle movements was a significant technical challenge in making the sequence believable.

Crowds and other work

The wide and expansive crowd shots featured Elena interacting with the audience and a dynamic sequence of a rioting mob; these scenes involved seamlessly merging CG crowd, plate, and 2D elements.

Other work included some atmospheric enhancements such as adding cold breath and movement to an extreme close-up. The team also delivered graphic design and screen replacements which included the creation of various news channel graphics to be composited onto televisions throughout the episodes.

The Regime is now available to stream on HBO Max, Now TV and Crave.

Lux Aeterna delivers insights on GenAI and ethics in VFX for World VFX Day

Lux Aeterna, in collaboration with UK Screen Alliance, has explored the ethical and intellectual property challenges of generative AI in visual effects (VFX).

To mark World VFX Day on 6th and 8th December, a panel featuring Lux Aeterna‘s Creative Technologist James Pollock, UK Screen Alliance CEO Neil Hatton, and Dr Cobus Jooste, Senior Lecturer in IP Law at the University of the West of England, shared insights into the current state of the industry.

The panel, moderated by Hatton, primarily examined the research and development undertaken by Lux Aeterna as part of the MyWorld programme – a UKRI-funded creative technology research initiative based in the West of England. Through MyWorld, Lux Aeterna has focused on machine learning advancements and innovative toolsets in VFX. Coinciding with the rise of emerging GenAI technologies, the programme has enabled Lux Aeterna to experiment with the production of its own science-fiction short film, RENO.

Pollock highlighted the importance of projects like RENO in demystifying AI’s potential, allowing Lux Aeterna to experiment in a controlled, research-driven environment. Jooste offered insights into the evolving legal landscape, discussing the complexities of intellectual property (IP) laws concerning AI-generated content. He emphasised the need for clear documentation, ethical transparency, and industry-specific adaptations to existing legal frameworks to safeguard creators and their work.

Both Pollock and Jooste agreed that while GenAI presents exciting possibilities, it requires cautious integration to ensure compliance, accuracy, and ethical standards. By fostering partnerships between technologists and legal experts, Lux Aeterna aims to guide the VFX community in navigating the rapidly changing AI landscape while prioritising creativity and accountability. The panel underscored the industry’s collective responsibility to approach GenAI as a tool to enhance, rather than disrupt, the artistry and integrity of VFX.

Hatton, CEO of the UK Screen Alliance and a champion of policy in the UK visual effects industry, successfully campaigned for new VFX expenditure credit, which starts on 1^st January 2025 and will include GenAI as eligible expenditure.

The debate over the use of GenAI in VFX will be absolutely crucial now and in the coming months. We campaigned for GenAI costs to be included in the new UK VFX incentive uplift, as we think the UK, as the foremost global hub for VFX, needs to be in the vanguard of not just the technological R&D, but also showing a lead on GenAI adoption in a sustainable and ethical way which respects and rewards creators IP.

Neil Hatton, CEO of UK Screen Alliance

The panel aired through World VFX Day on 6 December and is available to watch online here.

Pre-school show with A Productions nominated for two major awards

The studio provided the animation and is part of the team behind pre-school show The Makery, which has been nominated for two major awards.

Leading animation production studio A Productions is part of the team behind a popular children’s show nominated for two major industry awards – one national and one international. The Makery, the ultimate ‘make and do’ show, was commissioned by Sky Kids and is produced by Terrific Television. Animation and after effects for the show were provided by Bristol-based A Productions for Terrific Television.

The Makery is a live action production with animated segments and characters. This fast-paced series, presented by Nim Odedra with narration from Stephen Mangan, is packed with building quirky crafts, brilliant baking, and creative takeovers, helping to educate children through play. 

The third series of the show has been shortlisted in the Best Pre-school Programme category in the Broadcast Awards 2025 and in the Pre School Best Live-Action Series category in the 2025 Kidscreen Awards. 

The Broadcast Awards celebrates the best in British TV channels and content with the awards due to be held on the evening of February 5, 2025, in London.

The Kidscreen Awards program is an annual celebration of children’s content excellence paying tribute to outstanding TV and digital media work that keeps kids and families around the world entertained. The winners will be announced an awards ceremony taking place during Kidscreen Summit 2025 in San Diego, which runs from February 9 to 12. 

It’s wonderful to see The Makery Series 3 being recognised both nationally and internationally. Congratulations to everyone involved in this fantastic show which encourages children to get creative, have fun and learn through play.

Katherine McQueen, Joint Managing Director at A Productions

A Productions also worked on Series 1 and 2 of The Makery.  

Award-winning A Productions is a creative-led animation production studio that makes iconic children’s content for TV and film for audiences in the UK and around the world. The studio has worked on many notable shows including: JoJo and Gran Gran, produced by BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions in association with A Productions for CBeebies; Love Monster for CBeebies; Sesame Street animated specials, Furry Friends Forever: Elmo gets a Puppy and The Monster at the End of This Story, for Sesame Workshop, and segment animations for the iconic Sesame Street series; and Pip and Posy Let’s Learn, produced by Magic Light Pictures for Sky Kids with animation services provided by A Productions.

FRAMELESS announces immersive experience with the National Portrait Gallery

Working with Cinesite, FRAMELESS’ content production partner, the stories behind the famous faces in the Gallery’s portraits will be brought to life like never before, with the immersive art experience set to premiere in Manchester in 2025.

FRAMELESS Creative, a leading creator of immersive experiences, has entered into an innovative partnership with the National Portrait Gallery to present the first major touring immersive art experience inspired by a UK art institution, which will be premiered at MediaCity, Salford, Greater Manchester in May 2025, ahead of a planned national and international tour.

This new long-term partnership, ‘National Portrait Gallery Unframed’, will launch with Stories – Brought to Life, exploring the lives of people featured in the collection who have shaped the UK’s history and culture, from the Tudor period to the present day.

The National Portrait Gallery has granted FRAMELESS’ award-winning team access to its Collection to inspire the creation of Stories – Brought to Life, an experience designed to push the boundaries of storytelling. It will combine the highest quality digital projection, Hollywood-style visual effects and the latest audio technology with music and creative narratives to tell the stories behind some of the Gallery’s best-loved portraits.

Working with FRAMELESS’ content production partner, the acclaimed, BAFTA award-winning, digital production studio, Cinesite, the stories behind the famous faces in the Gallery’s portraits will be brought to life like never before.

We are delighted to announce this new long-term partnership with the National Portrait Gallery. We hope that by unleashing the power of digital storytelling we can help the Gallery to bring art to a whole new audience. We’re living in a changing world and there is a real need for new experiences that help open up art and culture to new audiences and crucially help ensure that national institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery and their incredible collections continue to be accessible and have cultural significance for the next generation. MediaCity is a vibrant cultural hub attracting a hugely diverse audience. This combined with its proximity to major transport links and focus on technology made it an obvious choice for premiering our first experience.

Rich Storton, General Manager of FRAMELESS Creative

The National Portrait Gallery aims to share our unique collection of portraits with as wide an audience as possible and explore the human stories that shape our history and culture. This exciting new partnership with FRAMELESS, inspired by our Collection, will enable us to take these stories outside of the Gallery walls and bring them to life in new, innovative ways.

Rosie Wilson, Director of Programmes, Partnerships and Collections at the National Portrait Gallery

We are honoured that the National Portrait Gallery and FRAMELESS have chosen MediaCity as the first stop on the tour of this unique immersive experience. We’ve hosted many arts and culture events, experiences, festivals and exhibitions over the last few years and we can’t wait to welcome visitors to Salford when the experience opens its doors in May next year.

Caroline Aikman, Director of Marketing, Brand and Place at MediaCity 

For more information visit www.npgunframed.com. Follow the official Facebook, X and Instagram accounts for further information and announcements: @npgunframedtour.

CAKE sells over 750 episodes in Asia

The leading kids’ entertainment specialist has announced a number of deals for its hit kids’ series with broadcasters in Asia.

Deals finalised by CAKE’s Director of Sales Julien Farçat include partnering in China with SVOD platform Hunan Mango TV on the second series of Mush-Mush & The Mushables and the longform series and shorts of Lucas The Spider with Uyoung.

In Thailand, True Corp picked up over 275 episodes of content including school-based drama Dodo, surreal sci-fi comedy Space Chickens in Space, the world’s first-to-launch African animated kids’ superhero franchise Super Sema, Emmy-nominated preschool hit Tish Tash, Ragdoll’s preschool series Bot and The Beasties and Will Sliney’s Draw With Will, which was also acquired by RTV Indonesia alongside Will Sliney’s Storytellers.

PCCW in Hong Kong acquired CAKE’s long-form series Angry Birds Summer Madness, 43 compilation episodes of Angry Birds non-dialogue content and Aesop’s Theatre for free TV as well as the first series of Pablo, Paper Owl’s BAFTA-nominated series about autism for its VOD service.

Sony renewed non-dialogue series Oscar’s Oasis in India.

Napoleon: Light’s peek into VFX and realism

The LIGHT team shares their VFX breakdown on Ridley Scott’s Napoleon.

Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is a testament to meticulous detail and artistic collaboration. For the team at LIGHT, bringing the epic to life meant crafting assets that seamlessly blend into the narrative, pushing boundaries in digital artistry.

From life-like creatures to historically accurate set pieces, a standout contribution was the digital recreation of horses – integral to the story and a benchmark in blending VFX with historical storytelling.

The horses, especially the carriage horses, were fascinating to supervise, and the results were amazing. One of the most memorable aspects was working on dead body models – it was surreal seeing them early in the morning! We also ventured into skeleton and muscle simulations for the horses – a challenging, but rewarding journey.

Marie Fichet, Head of Assets at LIGHT

This dedication to anatomical precision ensured the CG horses moved and interacted naturally, heightening the authenticity of pivotal battle and transportation scenes.

Oliver Johnstone, VFX Supervisor, was impressed by the team’s remarkable transformation of reference footage.

It was stunning to see how the team transformed onset reference horses into something almost indistinguishable from the real thing. This project demonstrated how VFX can subtly and perfectly elevate a scene. No horses were harmed in the making – except the CG ones.

Oliver Johnstone, VFX Supervisor at LIGHT

For Chloe Roberts, Lead Groom Artist, Napoleon presented an exciting challenge.

I was thrilled to work on a Ridley Scott film! It was a fantastic opportunity to push myself and for LIGHT to showcase the quality of work we’re capable of as a team. Seeing my work in motion, with the CG horses coming alive, was incredibly rewarding.

Chloe Roberts, Lead Groom Artist at LIGHT

The grooming of fur and mane, alongside detailed shaders and textures, played a vital role in making the digital horses indistinguishable from their real-life counterparts. Their artists are passionate about creating life-like creatures, and their dedication truly shines through in the final work.

For more information, visit lightvfx.com.