Manchester Animation Festival

Made of Sticks

Trapped by duty and tradition, an industrious teenager fights to maintain the dilapidated windmill her family calls home, which for centuries has served power to a nearby utopian town. But power in this world comes at a haunting cost, just never for the powerful.

Made of Sticks is a distinct stop-motion feature that merges gritty British realism with otherworldly fantasy. Imagine, if you will, Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper meets Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth.  Aimed at teen and adult audiences, the film is a celebration of working class creativity and resilience, exploring the structures that hold our society together and who ultimately pays for them.

Producer Ben Jackson

Ben Jackson is a BAFTA-winning producer and co-founder of Manchester-based animation studio One6th. He is passionate about developing and producing distinctive projects with a focus on original storytelling, international collaboration, and socially conscious filmmaking.  His producing credits include Two Black Boys in Paradise, which to date has screened at over 100 international film festivals, won 35 awards including the BAFTA for Best British Short Animation, secured international distribution, and is currently available on streaming platforms across multiple territories, including Channel 4 in the UK.  Since co-founding One6th in 2018 with Baz Sells, Ben has overseen projects from early development through financing, production and release, combining creative producing with business strategy, rights management, international distribution and festival planning. He has built a reputation for delivering ambitious independent productions while prioritising fair pay, sustainable production practices, and opportunities for emerging talent.  Alongside commercial and short-form work, Ben is now focused on expanding One6th into long-form storytelling, with a slate including a stop-motion animated feature and a book to television series adaptation. He is particularly interested in developing distinctive British animation with international appeal and playing a part in building on the UK and Greater Manchester’s rich animation heritage.

Director and Writer Baz Sells

Baz is a working class, BAFTA-winning writer-director at One6th Animation Studio which he co-founded in 2018 with producer, Ben Jackson. Baz made his directing broadcast debut (MTV2, BBC3) as a student at The Northern Film School before starting his professional career as a runner within London’s advertising and film industries, working for Smoke & Mirrors, Outsider and Stink Films. Baz returned to the animation industry in 2013 as Studio Manager and Producer at Nearly Normal Animation Studio. As producer, his credits included stop-motion work for Disney Junior, before relocating to Manchester where he re-established his creative pursuits through writing, directing, model-making and cinematography.  Since co-founding One6th in 2018, Baz has directed multiple stop-motion films and adverts, most notably winning the 2026 BAFTA for British Short Animation with Two Black Boys in Paradise, in addition to nominations at BIFA and The London Critics Circle.  With over 35 international awards for his short form work, Baz is now evolving towards long-form animation, continuing his collaboration with Ben and together producing cinematic stop-motion, telling human stories, made by human hands.