Aardman's Dave Sproxton takes over as Chair at ENCOUNTERS SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

Aardman's Dave Sproxton takes over as Chair at ENCOUNTERS SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

9 December 2009
For immediate release

David Sproxton, co-founder and Executive Chairman of the BAFTA and Oscar-winning Aardman Animations, has taken over at the helm of Britain's biggest and longest running short film festival, ENCOUNTERS, replacing outgoing Chairman Simon Cooper as the festival's third Chairman.

The news comes as the dust settles on Encounters' 15th successful year (17-21 November in Bristol), in which the dazzling international programme countered the economic downturn attracting more films and visitors than last year.

David Sproxton says: "Having been involved with Encounters since its inception 15 years ago, I am delighted to take over from Simon Cooper as chairman who has done an exceptional job, following on from Andrew Kelly, the very first chairman. It will be a hard act to follow and with the current economic climate it's not going to be easy maintaining the Festival's packed and stimulating programme but I'm certainly up for the challenge."

The appointment is the latest development in the Festival's eventful 15-year history. The brainchild of Andrew Kelly, who currently organises Bristol's Festival of Ideas in his role as Head of Bristol's Cultural Development Partnership, it was founded as ‘Brief Encounters' in 1994 - a one-off event to celebrate the centenary of cinema. It proved so popular that it continued to run annually, spawning a spin-off animation festival, Animated Encounters in 2000. The two merged in 2006 to become the Encounters Short Film Festival as it is today: an internationally recognised showcase for new films, talent and diversity, which regularly attracts such headline-grabbing guests as the late Anthony Minghella, Ken Russell and Matt Groening.

This year's programme included special guests, Oscar-winning shorts director, Andrea Arnold, and Andrei Khrzhanovsky, the 69-year old Russian animation master. In total, 1500 films from 58 countries competed for 19 awards and £12,500 in prize money.

Outgoing Chair, Simon Cooper, is the founding director of CSR Consultancy. He says: "My 9 years at the helm have whizzed by - that's a mark of how much fun the Encounters Festival is. I've been proud to see short film and animation blossoming as new technologies encourage more and more people to watch these incredible mini-masterpieces. But even though watching Encounters films on my iPhone is intriguing, you can't beat the buzz of seeing them in the cinema and feeling the audience reaction as the drama unfolds. It all hangs on the quality of the Managing Director, Liz Harkman, and her team who work incredibly hard to bring the Festival to us - and I know they appreciate the support of a strong Board. I can't think of a better person than David Sproxton to hand over to - he's been involved in Encounters since day one and his industry knowledge and contacts are second to none."

Editors Notes:

David Sproxton, together with co-founder Peter Lord, has overseen the development of Aardman Animations from a two-man partnership to one of the pre-eminent animation houses in the industry. David has served as a producer, director or cinematographer on a number of animated projects at Aardman, whose creations include some of the nation's best-loved characters such as Morph, Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit.

The 2010 Festival will take place in Bristol from 16 - 21 November.

The Encounters Short Film Festival is run by Encounters Festivals Ltd. It began in 1994, as Brief Encounters, and initially focused exclusively on short film (ie films under 30 minutes). In 2001, it was joined by Animated Encounters, a celebration of animated film of all lengths traditionally taking place annually in April. Since 2006, both events have taken place back-to-back, to pack in more screenings and enable filmmakers from both sectors to take part in classes, workshops, debates and talks of joint interest.
In 2008, 6,613 visitors attended the festival, including 540 delegates, and 1,183 films were submitted. In 2009 this had risen to 6,619 visitors of whom 559 were delegates and 1,482 films were submitted.

Encounters International Short Film Festival is funded by Bristol City Council and South West Screen. It is sponsored by: Hewlett Packard, Films @59, UK Film Council, Watershed, Aardman, BBC Film Network, BBC HD Channel, Film Four, University of the West of England, Babelgum, FILMCLUB, 4mations, BAFTA, Bristol Media, Kodak, Kudlian Software, NAHEMI, Smith & Williamson, SWRDA, The Bristol Hotel, UK Trade & Investment, Yousendit, A Productions, Arts Alliance Media, Arnolfini, Fed Ex, Ibis Hotel, ITFC, jlt Productions, NFTS, Premier Inn, T Shirt & Sons Ltd, Tijuana, Pixillion, Redland Dental Practice, Visual Impact, Wogans Coffee, Wonky Films and YHA. With support from the Brazilian Cultural Institute, the Finnish Cultural Institute, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute and the London Film Academy.
Media Partners are: Imagine Magazine, Screen Daily/Screen International, Shooting People, Shorts TV, Little White Lies and The Reel.

Press Enquiries:
For more info, pictures, etc, please contact:
Liz Harkman, tel: (0117) 929 9188; email: liz.harkman@encounters-festival.org.uk