Profitable encounters at festival

Dave Harvey
BBC West Business Correspondent

Thousands of people are employed in the creative industry in the West.

It might be the lure of celebrity modelling clay, but Bristol's "Encounters" Festival of short films and animation is now the biggest in Britain.

Wallace and Gromit will, as ever, be centre stage this year. But there are over 1,000 films on show, with delegates from 63 countries.

There are canapes, specialist screenings, and discussions on the art of the short film into the small hours.

Behind all the short film showbiz, this is a marketplace.

"It's absolutely about buying and selling", says Liz Harkman, MD of the festival.

"What sets us aside from other festivals is that Encounters is a platform for filmmakers to generate business, and it does that for talent as well as finished products."

Bristol, it turns out, has become something of a magnet for people who make animated films, short films, and the new digital "content" that defies traditional categories.

Richard Williams' most famous creation is Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

The creative industries now employ thousands of people across the city region, earning millions.

Richard Williams is known round the world as the author of the animator's bible.

He started in Disney at the age of 15, and in a career spanning 60 years he has won three Oscars and countless other awards. His most famous creation today is "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

He explained why he remains in Bristol.

"We were living in rural Wales, and I just wanted to move someplace you could buy good pencils.

"Some guys in LA asked me what system I use here. I told them 'the 3B system'. They'd never heard of that, thought I meant a fancy computer."

He holds up a very ordinary pencil: "Well, here's my 3B system!

"I've worked at Disney, at Pixar, all over the US but the atmosphere at Aardman is just unique. Real special."

'Hand to mouth'

If Richard Williams is the old hand, Vicky Brophy is one of the new kids on the block. "Wonky Films" is a collective of animators, filmmakers, and web designers based in a small workshop in Bedminster.

"We could be anywhere", Ms Brophy explains. "Our clients are international, we work on the internet. But Bristol has the most fantastic people."

The city has a unique combination of edgy artists like Banksy and hi-tech digital firms like E3, Orange, Xmos and countless other small digital companies.

This is what brings unique new ideas together with people who can actually sell them on the market.

"You never get this level of creativity in London," Ms Brophy added.

"Life is too expensive, too hand to mouth. Bristol is just full of guys with extraordinary ideas and that's our currency."

The secret of a creative city then? People, modelling clay and, it seems, a good supply of artistic pencils.

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A company in Bristol has made a short film using knitted animation.