“What’s up Next?” is a series of articles and interviews meant to better showcase the trajectories of our Next Talents.
We are meeting the 2024-2025 generation in two key moments: at the start of their trajectory – focussing on finding out more about the artists and what they expect from the program, and at the end of their course, discussing the things they picked up on the way.
With this first interview we are introducing you to illustrator animation director Eva Bonnevits.
Eva started off her artistic training with an Illustration and Animation Bachelor of four years, followed by a Master of Animation study in Den Bosch. Right after completing her MA she got selected for Next.
Discussing some of her favourite works, Eva mentions her graduation project: Next, Please! “It’s a horror-comedy about my fear of needles. It wasn’t supposed to be a comedy initially, but it went so over the top that it actually turned funny. I used a lot of pop cultural references from classic horror films like Alien, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy Krueger finger needle kind of things.
A lot of my films are very personal. Usually the starting points are things that I am dealing with or struggling with, all sorts of thoughts I want to share. For instance, I made Next, Please in order to show to my father how it feels for me to go to the doctor, because he was not really understanding my fears. In a way making the film was a very therapeutic process.”
“I think one of my biggest strengths in storytelling is the over-the-top-ness. I can take any regular situation and completely blow it out of proportions. You can still recognise the situation but then you also end up saying ’I didn’t expect it to go this bad!’.
I really like to experiment with every project I make. I think you can easily recognise my style: shaped-based, big eyes, nice and expressive. But every time I try to do something new and experiment with materials.
I do see myself mostly as an animator but I am not good at doing the same thing for too long. I like doing more things at the same time, or having the opportunity to try out something new whenever I get stuck in a certain process. I am up for anything that comes in my path and that sounds fun”, Eva shares about her process.
Talking about other artists inspiring her, she mentions comic artist Skottie Young. “He works for Marvel but I am mostly interested in his personal works. He makes a comic called I Hate Fairyland. It looks super cute but it’s actually quite brutal and bloody and gory. The story is about a child that gets sucked into a fantasy world and gets stuck there. Since she is there very long, she grows up into an adult but her body remains that of a little girl. I really like how Young sets up viewer’s expectations and then plays with them. You start the experience thinking it’s really cute, colourful and happy but then you turn the page and the protagonist is slaughtering stars.”
“I am also a big fan of Becky Sloan’s Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared” Eva adds. “It started out as a really cool indie series that I used to watch in high school with my friends. Every time a new episode would come out we would make a fun day out of it like ‘Oh, let’s watch it together’. And then it turned into an actual show on Channel 4. It’s super inspiring to see how that all worked out.“
We asked Eva about how she learnt about the Next program. “I found out this program existed after I finished my BA studies but I did not know how one could take part in the trajectory. It all sounded exciting and it felt it could really help me meet new people and take the next steps in my career. I started asking around how it all worked and everyone was super secretive about it. So I figured it was something that was not for me. Then I started my MA and focussed on that, but still had the program in the back of my mind. Luckily, I think one of my BA teachers, Frank Verhegge, nominated me to be part of Next and then I actually got selected. I am super thankful for him for that.”
“I think the program will be a super helpful thing for my career. I am looking forward to meeting new people but also get to know myself a bit better because I sometimes have a tendency to be chaotic. Hopefully the trajectory will help me get a grip on my chaos. I am also hoping to set up some things that I am planning to develop after the program. I would like to make a series about irrational fears. I might not be able to completely finish the project within the program’s time-frame, but at least I will have the structure ready. I think the most important thing as a maker is to be able to make your own projects.
I also really enjoy being surrounded by other creative people. Whenever I get stuck with my commercial work, I hang out with fellow Nexters. It really helps me regain focus and motivation for creating. I hope the program will also help facilitate more meetings of interesting people so that, at the end of the trajectory, I can feel confident about really setting my foot within the industry and be someone there.”
We asked Eva about who would she pick as a dream mentor in the program. “JamieR is one of them” she confessed. “He posts like super weird YouTube videos. He’s really good with transformation animation. The things he makes are really gross but I totally love them.
Of course Becky Sloan would also be great for a mentor. I also talked with Marieke from Job, Joris & Marieke, who I think would be really helpful for my storytelling. And I would love for Cas van der Pol to tell me how he gets his online following.”
Given her originality and special talent of mashing horror and comedy, we have no doubt Eva Bonnevits will soon have an impressive following of her own. We are already big fans and can’t wait to see her exciting projects unfolding!
