Festival Juries | Manchester Animation Festival

Juries

Short Film Jury

Amy Ashton

Amy Ashton is the co-founder and director of BlackFrame, a newly launched initiative that amplifies Black talent in animation. She is also a freelance producer with 11+ years of industry experience and is on the leadership team at WIA UK.

Joseph Wallace

Joseph Wallace is a BAFTA nominated director, writer and producer. His acclaimed music video for Sparks led Joseph to create sequences for Edgar Wright’s doc feature The Sparks Brothers which premiered at Sundance. His 2022 short Salvation Has No Name won the Grand Prix at Animage in Brazil and Animario in Spain, was long-listed for both BIFA and BAFTA and received the Jury Special Mention at the Unifrance Prix du Court Metrage at Cannes 2023. Recently, Joseph co-created a puppetry short financed by BFI and has made commercial work for clients such as BBC, Loewe and Adult Swim.

Katie Bignell

Katie founded Festival Formula in 2014 after spotting a gap in the knowledge of filmmakers around film festivals. With 20+ years experience behind it they are providing strategy support to filmmakers world-wide. Katie and her husband Ian Bignell were the recipients of the Pioneering Spirit Award awarded by Heartland Film, and the company have also received awards from London Breeze Film Festival (2024) and the Poppy Jasper Film Festival (2025). Katie is a key spokesperson on festival issues with coverage in The Hollywood Reporter and Screen Daily and has served on numerous festival juries including Cleveland International, PÖFF Shorts Film Festival, Palm Springs Shortsfest and Raindance.

Feature Film Jury

Camilla Deakin

Camilla Deakin is an award-winning creative producer with a career spanning more than 30 years in film and TV. In 2002, Camilla set up Lupus Films with her friend and colleague Ruth Fielding and the company has grown to become one of the UK’s leading animation studios, with an international reputation for beautifully crafted film adaptations of classic children’s literature. Camilla has produced a number of award-winning films and TV programmes including The Tiger Who Came To Tea, Ethel & Ernest and Kensuke's Kingdom.

Ellys Donovan

Ellys Donovan is the Festival Producer at Cardiff Animation Festival and has been part of the CAF team since 2018. Ellys regularly programmes in-person and online screenings for Cardiff Animation Nights as well as organising the annual CAF On Tour screening event, taking animated shorts and feature films to independent venues across Wales. Ellys has collaborated international with festivals and events including New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, Cape Town International Animation Festival and the British Animation Awards.

Tim Harper

After graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University, Tim’s career in animation started as a director of photography for Cosgrove Hall. He has worked on series for Disney, BBC, Channel 5, as well as directing the highly acclaimed Peter Kay’s Animated All Star Band for the BBC Children in Need appeal. Most recently Tim completed the feature film Ozi: Voice of the Forest, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Mike Medavoy and Keith Chapman. The film was released in UK cinemas in 2024, with a global release in 2025.