Animation firm planning recruitment drive after landing new commission
An animation firm is planning to take on 25 new staff following the expansion of its digital division.
Factory, the multi-award-winning animation studio and rights owner, is creating the new jobs at its headquarters in Altrincham.
The announcement follows a major new commission; a feature length 2D animation based on a book by former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo (War Horse, When the Whales Came) with a score from Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman (Emma, Chocolat, The Cider House Rules), which will be co-produced by Leopard Pictures.
The expanded division will build upon Factory’s already in-house skillset of visual effects, compositing, CGI, 3D animation and 2D animation.
Amongst the 25 new roles will be layout artists, lead 2D animators, 2D animators, 2D FX animators, 2D character riggers, mid and senior compositors, plus project manager and production coordinator roles.
Factory is a full-service studio with shows airing on CBBC, CBeebies, ITV, Disney and Nickelodeon.
The company has produced over 80 hours of animated content since it launched in 2010, all of which feature its digital skills including Clangers, Scream Street, Off The Leash, Strange Hill High, Newzoids, and three specials for Disney and Club Penguin.
The Factory studios occupy 35,000 square feet of studio and office space, with over 100 staff, and has up to five series in production simultaneously, including the multi-award winning pre-school animation Clangers and their most recent adaptation of Rupert Fawcett’s 2D dog cartoon series, Off The Leash, which has had over 30 million views since launch in 2017.
The new digital expansion will be headed up by Factory’s Head of CGI, Pauline Edwards who started at Factory seven years ago as a 3D Artist on the much-loved CBBC show, Strange Hill High and since 2014 has taken on the role as head of its digital division at Factory.
Pauline comments: “This is such an exciting time to work at Factory; the work the studio is producing is exceptional and the expansion will add to our super talented team.
“Having been part of Factory’s journey over the past seven years I am excited to be a part of such a great team as we move into this new phase for the studio.”
Phil Chalk, managing director of Factory, said: “We are delighted to be growing the team here at Factory once again; the 25 new roles will take our head count to 130, a growth we’re incredibly proud of achieving over the past nine years.
“We strive to produce high quality, distinctive shows and look forward to welcoming new team members to our incredibly talented crew.”
