Born in Shropshire, England in 1960. On leaving school Tim Webb completed a 5-year apprenticeship in Dental Technology before returning to full time art education in 1982. On completion of an Art foundation in Shrewsbury, Webb undertook a BA in animation at The West Surrey College of Art. From 1986 he has been in and out of work in animation. His break came in 1991 when commissioned by Channel 4 to make an animated documentary, A is for Autism, for a season of programmes on disability. The film continues to be well received and one outcome being offered visiting tutoring work at his old college the West Surrey College of Art and Design. This led to teaching on many other BA courses in animation. Webb also started overseeing various workshops in animation. He took up his current post of Senior Tutor at the Royal College of Art in 1996. Webb is currently researching into the possible development of creative editing software, which would give a new approach to learning film editing.
Tamás Patrovits was born in Budapest in 1968. After studying the making of animated films, graphic design and computer animation, he graduated from the Hungarian Academy of Crafts and Design in 1993. While he attended the Academy, he won the John Halas scholarship and studied in London at the Halas and Batchelor Studio in 1991. After his first film, Képlények (Pictorial Beings), he animated a national award-winning short film Homage to Lajos Vajda. In 2004 he produced Vigyázat absztrakt! (Attention, Abstract!). That experimental short film was invited to 17 international animation festivals in 2004 and 2005.He collaborated in the making of features as 2D compositor and effect animator, made several commercials, television spots, music videos and caricatures for newspapers. He is a lecturer on animation in several Hungarian educational institutions.In 2004 he founded the Professional and Interest Association of Hungarian Makers of Animated Films (Manifeszt), of which he is president. He edits and contributes writings to the website of the Association (www.manifeszt.hu). It distributes the culture of animated film-making; provides professional information on the present status of the Hungarian profession of animated film-making; monitors how much public money is spent on making Hungarian animated films; and it informs the public about the work of the decision-making bodies of film industry thereby to assure their democratic operation. Manifeszt became a national member of ASIFA in the summer of 2005.Most recently Tamás Patrovits has directed Hungarikum, a flash-animation series (20 x 5 minutes), developed by cartoon designer Zoltán Fritz. The series was produced in early autumn 2005 in a short time as ordered by the Hungarian television channel Cool TV. It uses brilliant caricatures by Zoltán Fritz and the script of Tamás B. Varga. The story (which is often referred to as a Hungarian version of South Park) has provoked a controversy in Hungary and has attracted Hungarian media attention. The series makes fun of prominent persons in Hungarian history; it is satirical, irreverent and provocative.
Nicole Hewitt was born in London in 1965. She spent her childhood years in Zagreb and continued her schooling in London. She graduated from Brighton Polytechnic Art College with a degree in Expressive Arts multimedia studies. She specialised in the technique of puppet animation at JiÅi Trnka's studio of puppet films in Prague. Since 1989 she has made 11 films in different techniques (“stop frame”, 2D, model animation, cutouts etc.)… After taking her MA degree in Fine Art Media, Slade School of Art in London, she is finishing her PhD thesis at the same school. She cooperates with various groups in multimedia projects, including the project Editing, which was presented at the 51st Venice Biennale. In the last year she has organized the third international conference and exhibition TIP 3, Theory in Practice 3, in Dubrovnik, and the international interdisciplinary project Protokol 1-7 in Zagreb. She is lecturer in animation and new media practices at the Academy of Fine Art in Zagreb.
After a short but dynamic experience in psychiatric nursing and art therapy, Erik van Drunen took a second chance and studied animation and photography at the Academy of Fine Arts and Education in Tilburg. Since graduating in 1992 the path has led him through a wide range of activities in the field of animation and film education. He has organised workshops and master classes, lectured about animation and served on selection committees. He has been a member of the advisory board of the Dutch Film Fund, which gave him the opportunity to read piles and piles of plans and scripts and see films in all stages of production. He has been a writer for and the editor of the newsletter of the Holland Animation Association. Starting as a volunteer for the Holland Animation Film Festival in 1992, he has become a programmer and staff member. Thereby he can see a lot of films in their final glory today. He also lectures on the theory of animation in Rotterdam and Brussels. The noisy but inspirational contact with the rising troops of new animation directors prevents him to forget how it all begins and means a close contact with the future.
The second author whom Animateka has invited to the Animateka festival as artist in residence is M. S. Bastian from Switzerland. M. S. Bastian, the generation of 1963, is well known also to Slovenian comic readers as he is frequently published in the Stripburger magazine. His comics experiments have been published in numerous international anthologies. He has exhibited throughout the world, from New York to Paris. His installations and graphic acrobatic performances exceed the limits of classic comics narration and set new landmarks in the ninth art. His creating started 20 years ago. At the beginning he was mostly interested in painting, which is why he chose the “Schüle für Gestaltung“ Academy of Art in Biel. A member of fine art circles, he exhibits in museums and galleries, and is at the same time present in the sphere of comics. He acknowledges no difference between the two spheres – his creative approach erases the border between comics and painting. An example of his “borderline” approach will be created at the Animateka festival as well with his comic bar. M. S. Bastian gathers his words, logos, poetry, and pictures from everywhere, and when he blends them all, his story emerges.
In Ljubljana, Bastian will exhibit his comics, illustrations, drawings, graphics, and posters, which he will design as a spatial installation. In preparing the exhibition Bastian will be helped by his assistant and the co-author of the multimedia installation Isabelle L.