Engagement Work

As part of MAF we try to extend the reach that animation has and engage a more diverse audience in the work we do. In the past we’ve worked with schools, community groups, families, young people and the animation industry to achieve our mission – Animation for All. Below are some things we have done.

If you’re interested in helping us run any of the projects below or working with the festival to develop future projects please do get in touch with jen@manchesteranimationfestival.co.uk.

YAY

Since 2022, MAF has had the pleasure to host the Young Animator of the Year Awards. YAY UK is an ACCESS:VFX initiative that provides an artistic platform for young people across the UK to explore their creativity and unleash their animation potential. In 2025 MAF and YAY developed a strategic partnership as a direct response to our shared commitment to fostering emerging animation talent. By combining our resources and expertise, we significantly expanded the scope and impact of YAY’s vital work at Manchester Animation Festival, creating a larger-scale, more impactful program.

Our continuing collaboration enables us to reach a wider audience, provide enhanced professional development opportunities, and solidifies MAF as a premier platform for showcasing and nurturing young animators. If you would like to know more about the YAYs and support our joint work, please contact jen@manchesteranimationfestival.co.uk.

SECTOR SUPPORT

The team at MAF regularly give talks at many universities and other events/festivals on the importance of festivals, how to get your film seen and animation careers opportunities for young people.
Steve and Jen have sat on multiple juries around the world and have delivered advice sessions for other festivals as well as being part of the annual European Animation Festivals Meetings.
Steve and Jen sit on the advisory board of the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive.
MAF is proud to be a founding member of the Alliance of British Animation Exhibitors.
Steve is a member of the BAFTA Festivals working group.

In 2022 we worked ScreenSkills on a piece of research on Accessibility in Animation that was commissioned by the Animation Skills Council, in partnership with Visible in Visuals, using National Lottery funds awarded by the BFI as part of the Future Film Skills programme. You can read the report here.

GREATER MANCHESTER ANIMATION SECTOR REPORT

In support of Greater Manchesters amazing animation community, we undertook a pilot survey on the Greater Manchester Animation sector in 2022 with the support of MIDAS.
In 2026 we expanded that into the Greater Manchester Animation Sector Survey 2026, a landmark piece of research mapping the scale, growth and challenges of Greater Manchester’s animation, VFX, motion graphics, games cinematic and immersive media industries. The research was led by Manchester Animation Festival funded principally by MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub (with funding from InnovateUK’s Innovation Accelerator pilot programme), with additional funding from BBC Children’s & Education and MediaCity, following the launch of a landmark data‑gathering initiative in October 2025 designed to build the most comprehensive portrait to date of the region’s animation ecosystem. The full report can be downloaded here.

ANIMATE NORTH-WEST & GMAIT

In 2021 MAF established Animate North-West, a partnership of animation companies and will seek to ensure that the region offers a competitive, international and world-leading workforce within the worldwide animation community, and to shine the spotlight on the important role Animation plays in the region’s economy and digital skills development. This has developed into the Greater Manchester Industry Task Force.

ANIMATING TOMORROW

Between 2024 and 2026, with the support of Media City Immersive Technology Innovation Hub we set up an event called Animating Tomorrow . A dynamic exploration of the cutting edge, it examined how emerging technologies and innovative approaches are reshaping the future of animation. With digital puppetry, meta human creation, production management and design and layout all explored, labs and workshops empowered studios to push the boundaries of creativity and contribute to the ongoing evolution of the animation industry in the North-West of England. During two tech fuelled days, the Manchester animation community came together with leaders in innovation to celebrate animation in Manchester and to explore the future of animation production together! Featuring Blue Zoo Animation Studio, BXRN, Happy Finish, OptiTrack, REALTIME, RETìníZE and others.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT!

In 2022 & 2023 we worked with an Audience Development Manager who helped connect us with over 78 community groups, charities and cultural organisations – bringing animation to communities that might not otherwise have had the opportunity. 320 free tickets were offered out each year to these communities, who attended and had an excellent experience.
BOAZ are a great example, they are a Manchester based charity supporting people who have become homeless after claiming asylum. Here is some of the moving feedback we received:

“I thought the cinema would be just loud and dark and scary. In fact, I really enjoyed myself. It was relaxing.”
“I’d like to go to the cinema again! This is a great experience for me. I’ve seen people enjoying life! ”
“The cinema trip was amazing. For all of our group of 13 it was the first time at the cinema in their lives. It opened their eyes to a whole world of arts and self-expression that they didn’t know about. The contents of the animations were great and helpful to reflect and connect. Everyone enjoyed it.”

In 2023 we were able to gain support from the BFI to allow us to host an additional day on Friday to welcome multiple community groups to experience the magic of animation on the big screen on an additional day. As well as the general public, these groups included Salford Hospital Mental Health Unit, BluSci, Greater Together Manchester and Community Arts North; who all loved the programmes and would look forward to visiting again in the future.

SCHOOLS

In 2019 with support from Manchester City Council, we held a school’s programme. A 2018 NESTA report had announced that animation was the most promising for digital skills for the future workforce. MAF decided to address this and tackle the skills gap between schools and the workforce in Manchester and delivered a series of schools workshops and visits. The aim of these was to increase awareness of the importance of animation as an educational tool for teachers and as a prospective career for students, as well as encouraging young people from diverse backgrounds and girls from year 10 onwards to consider digital careers in their future. We held 5 careers talks and 3 workshops with Aardman animator Jim Parkyn and reached 567 students aged 10-15. Some of the participants comments are below:

“It was some of the best careers input I think I have ever had.”
“I had no clue that there were so many job opportunities and something for everyone”
“I learnt that there were so many roles behind the scenes in animation, I also learnt how animation is created it was very interesting”
“Fun, Creative I loved every second of it”
“I think the workshop inspired me to be an animation designer”