From the Fest: The Art of the Ad

Available: Friday 14 Nov - Sunday 30 Nov 2025

Explore the craft behind commercials and the artistry behind adverts with our panel, showing you how to construct standout animation advertisements. From bold ideas to collaborating with clients, come and discover the nuance needed to combine storytelling, style and strategy - and how imagination and innovation can transform commercials into mini masterpieces.

Featuring guest speakers James Cross (Founder & CEO - Meanwhile), Jess Deacon (Director, Paper Engineer & Stop-Motion Animator), Henry Purrington (Studio Director - Golden Wolf) and Tom Purrington (Talent Director - Golden Wolf). In conversation with Steve Henderson (Festival Director - MAF).

This event was pre-recorded during MAF2025.

Guests

James Cross

James Cross is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Meanwhile in Manchester, which was recently named Campaign’s Start-Up Agency of the Year. Previously, he was Creative Director of BBC Creative, where together with partner Tim Jones (also a founder of Meanwhile) won a BAFTA for the corporation’s Tokyo Olympics campaign, along with over 200 creative and effectiveness awards in their 5-year stint. Previous to this James has worked at several McCann Worldgroup offices, independent agencies, and has even written several screenplays, including Bat Shit with Romesh Ranganathan and Rich Hall, and the award-winning documentary, Pot Of Gold.

Jess Deacon

Jess Deacon is a Director, Paper Engineer and Stop Motion Animator, based in Margate. Her commercial clients include: BBC Sport, Ben & Jerry’s, Google, British Airways, Disney Junior, NBCUniversal, HP, Tesco Mobile, Peperami, Bluey, Costa, Malibu, Coffee Mate, The Entertainer, Elle, Bayer, Wonderbly, Rede Globo and the NHS.

Henry Purrington

Henry Purrington is the Studio Director at Golden Wolf, overseeing all aspects of studio operations, project management, and strategic planning to support the studio’s creative vision. Over the past decade, he has helped steer Golden Wolf’s creative, talent, and operational strategy, delivering standout work for clients such as Netflix, Disney, Supercell, and more. Following Golden Wolf’s acquisition by Doodles in 2023, Henry expanded his remit to include talent and marketing strategy.

Tom Purrington

Thomas Purrington is the Talent Director at Golden Wolf. He began his career as a 3D generalist and creative at UK design studio ilovedust, then joined Golden Wolf at its inception in 2013. Since then, he has held numerous roles, ranging from Generalist Creative and Animation Lead to Creative Talent Director. He has worked on global commercial campaigns, opening titles and music videos for renowned brands such as Nike, Apple, Disney, the NBA, Ubisoft, Supercell, Adult Swim, and many more. Since Golden Wolf's acquisition by Doodles in 2023, Thomas has taken on the management of Golden Wolf's Systems and Operations.