Playgrounds is partnering with My SMASH Media to host an exclusive Live Pitch Competition during In Motion London.
Are you ready to showcase your Short Animation idea on an international stage? This is your chance to pitch live at the Barbican in front of industry leaders, studios, and fellow creators.
WHAT’S ON OFFER?
- 4-5 selected participants will pitch their project on stage at the Barbican, Friday 10 October;
- Each finalist will join a prep workshop earlier that day to sharpen their pitch;
- A chance to receive direct feedback from top industry panelists;
- The winner will receive a 1-year SMASHPro membership + mentoring opportunities;
- 1hr feedback session from Mikey Please after In Motion London.
FORMAT
- 3-minutes live pitch;
- Followed by 5-7 minutes of Q&A from panelists (and audience);
- Simple visuals allowed (e.g. a single image, slide deck);
- Screen (1920x1080px) available with HDMI port.
PANELISTS
- Mikey Please (Aardman Animations);
- Nora Twomey (Cartoon Saloon);
- Helen Brunsdon (Animation Associates).
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
- Fresh, original voices in short animation;
- Distinctive creative ideas with a strong hook/logline;
- A clear pitch that works live in 3 minutes.
HOW TO APPLY
- Buy your ticket for In Motion London;
- Create your project Snapshot on SMASH over here!
- Upload proof/receipt in the Other Document section of the SMASH Pitch Builder over here!
- Submit your pitch before Friday 3 October 2025.
MIKEY PLEASE
Mikey Please is a Bristol-based BAFTA-winning and OSCAR-nominated writer director, animator, and illustrator. His music videos and short films have garnered over 60 international awards. In 2023 he was appointed as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Café at The Edge of the Woods, his critically acclaimed debut picture book was winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year.
Right now, in 2025, he’s busy writing books, scripts, developing animation and helping shepherd The Expanded Earth (Corsair), his TIMES bestselling debut novel, out into the world.
NORA TWOMEY
Nora Twomey is the co-founder of Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon. From the studio’s early years, directing award winning short films & commercials, she went on to co-direct Tomm Moore’s Academy Award nominated The Secret of Kells while also guiding the development processes on a number of series including the preschool show Puffin Rock. Nora was Head of Story and Voice Director on Academy Award nominated Song of the Sea. She directed The Breadwinner, which won the Best Indie Feature Annie and the Audience & Jury Awards at Annecy.
Nora most recently directed My Father’s Dragon feature film, a Netflix original animated feature. Nora continues to develop original films and projects while working on Cartoon Saloon’s slate of projects in development and production.
HELEN BRUNSDON
Helen has over 30 years’ experience in the animation industry, starting out at the BBC and the Cardiff International Animation Festival before joining Aardman in 1993. Here she went to produce and coordinate acclaimed projects including Wife of Bath (Oscar-nominated) and executive produced the BAFTA-winning The Pearce Sisters. Since 2008, Helen has worked as a freelance producer and consultant with clients such as Sesame Street, CBBC, and the Brothers McLeod, whose series Quiff & Boot won a Kids’ BAFTA.
She also produced Nina Needs to Go and Children of the Holocaust, both BAFTA-nominated. Beyond production, Helen has been Director of Animation UK, Director of the British Animation Awards, and since 2019, a production consultant for the BFI’s Short Film Animation Fund. She is an active presence in the animation community, lecturing at universities, programming for festivals, serving on international juries, and co-founding the SHOWMETHEANIMATION network.