The West Midlands man responsible for animating some of the world’s biggest Hollywood blockbusters will join other creative industry successes at an exclusive careers event to secure a legacy for Coventry City of Culture.
Michael Morgan, senior animator on Spider-Man: No Way Home, Black Panther and a host of other major film and TV productions, will feature as one of the keynote speakers when ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK screen industries, brings its Creative Careers Day to Coventry for the first time.
The free event, which will take place at the Daimler Powerhouse Creation Centre in Coventry City Canal Basin on Saturday, 21 May from 11.30am to 6.30pm, includes workshops, panel sessions and networking opportunities, helping the next generation of local talent to succeed in the creative industries beyond the City of Culture year.
In addition to providing a keynote speech, Michael Morgan will give visitors the chance to have their animation portfolios reviewed at a ‘Getting into Animation’ workshop on how he made his way from growing up in Birmingham to achieving his animation dreams working for Disney and beyond.
Margaret Burgin, Head of Careers at ScreenSkills, said: “It’s great to be working with partners in Coventry to help local people find out more about the range of job roles and opportunities in the screen and creative industries. Inspiring people to consider a career in a sector which is booming and where the UK is internationally renowned is a great way of creating a legacy for the amazing City of Culture initiative.”
Andy Reeves, Education & Young People Programme Manager at Coventry City of Culture Trust, said: “We are thrilled that the ScreenSkills team is bringing this fantastic event to Coventry for the first time as we look forward to what lies ahead for the young people of Coventry with a passion for the creative industries.
“The event will bring together some fantastic local talent and an incredible amount of expertise from those working globally across the film, television and other creative media to Coventry’s own creative hub at the Daimler Powerhouse, building on our media careers work in local schools with the BBC Academy and ScreenSkills and our production-led creative media skills training initiative with 16 local young people, Shoot & Score.”
Michael Morgan studied Multimedia Design at De Montfort University, became a professional animator after graduating, working in video games, TV commercials and VFX Films and travelled around the globe from London to Singapore, Germany, Canada, New Zealand.
Now based in the UK, he was worked on projects such as Star War: The Clone Wars to animating Guardians of the Galaxy’s Groot and Rocket the Raccoon, Venom, and Disney's Artemis Fowl.
Hayley Pepler, Head of Content and Digital Broadcast at Coventry City of Culture Trust, will chair a ‘Working in Games and Animation’ session, where visitors will be able to hear from experts on entering the extremely competitive industry.
Amrit Singh, award-winning artist and Creative Director of Birmingham-based Rebel Creatives, will host a workshop to share his expertise of digital production and content creation and how to stand out from the crowd.
Coventry’s own Media Mania will host a hands-on ‘Sound Design for Film and Television’ workshop in its state of-the-art music studios for an introduction to film and TV sound production.
Local TV and film professionals at different stages of their career will also be giving their top tips for starting out in the screen industries, with VR production company Neon8 sharing details of free VR training and filming opportunities in the city.
Alison Grade, author of The Freelance Bible, will host a ‘Freelancing and Networking in the Creative Industries’ workshop, before visitors can put their new skills to the test at the Creative Industries Networking session, complete with mocktails, snacks and the chance to speak to industry experts and creatives to end the day.
The event is supported by public funding to ScreenSkills from Arts Council England.
ScreenSkills is also organising a workshop in 10 Coventry schools with the BBC and other partners.
For more information about the sessions and to register, visit www.screenskills.com/bookings/screenskills-creative-industries-careers-day
Caption: Noughts + Crosses, behind the scenes (credit BBC, Mammoth Screen, Ilze Kitshoff)