In his letter of 10 August 2015, Darren Henley, CEO, Arts Council England, stated that ACE had invested £967,227 in animation over three years.

It was only after we had asked for a breakdown that ACE revealed that they had double counted some figures, and that the true amount was £614,730. We asked for a breakdown of this reduced figure and ACE gave us a list of projects awarded Grants for the arts (see below).

However, a quick Google revealed that many of these projects were for activities in other art forms (theatre, visual arts, literature, games, music) that had only an element of animation, or which use animation as marketing or education. Many of the ‘animation’ projects were exhibition or participatory workshop initiatives. Some projects didn’t involve animation at all. For example:

Ruth Fettis, Tales from a Forgotten City
ACE attributes £7,500, 100% of the total grant, to animation. This is a visual arts project using “print, costumes, books and models”, with no apparent animation or even a mention.

Creative Foundation, Quarterhouse Residencies and Families Programmes
ACE attributes £25,000, 25% of the grant, to animation. ACE explained that this grant was for residencies that would be showcased at the Folkestone Animation Festival, but no festival has taken place and there are no plans to stage one.

The Paper City, Odyssey Autumn Tour
ACE attributes £14,587, 25% of the total grant. This is a theatre project, with no animated moving image. 

Jamie Fletcher, The Dancing Bear R&D
ACE attributes £3,625, 25% of the total grant, to animation. This is a theatre project that doesn’t seem to involve any animation.

From the Gfta information, our estimate of ACE support for animators/artists to actually produce work is a total of £150k over the three years.

We told ACE that we consider the £614k figure to be inaccurate and misleading. ACE acknowledged our ‘scepticism’ concerning the figures they provided, but said they are satisfied that ‘they accurately reflect the data that we hold’. We don’t think we’re being sceptical, but that it’s a matter of fact that much of what ACE says as investment in animation isn’t any such thing.

 

Arts Council England Grants for the Arts 2012 – 2015
Investment attributed to animation

Staffordshire Housing Association, History Animation Workshops, West Midlands, Stoke-on-Trent, Visual arts, £9,220, 03-Apr-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Whole

Stoke-On-Trent City Council, For One Night Only 2012, West Midlands, Stoke-on-Trent, Visual arts, £28,375, 04-Apr-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Part

Ruth Catlow, Playing Platform Southend, East of England, Southend-on-Sea, Visual arts, £55,000, 03-May-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Part

Play Torbay, Go Adventures, Stop Motion, South West, Torbay, Visual arts, £9,780, 08-May-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Whole

Richmond Fellowship, 5 Ways to Wellbeing Animation, North West, Liverpool, Visual arts, £5,000, 15-May-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Whole

The Paper Cinema, The Paper Cinema’s Odyssey Autumn Tour, South West, Poole, Visual arts, £58,348, 28-Jun-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Part

Light House Media Centre, Animating Wolverhampton with Audience Engagement, West Midlands, Wolverhampton, Visual arts, £26,582, 09-Jul-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Part

Animated Exeter Ltd, Animated Exeter 2013 Events: The Exeter Game, South West, Exeter, Visual arts, £51,040, 19-Sep-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Part

Jordan Baseman, 971 Horses and 4 Zebras: Artists Apply Animation, London, Waltham Forest, Visual arts, £6,893, 11-Oct-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Whole

David Blandy, Anjin 1600: Edo Wonderpark, South East, Brighton and Hove, Visual arts, £30,000, 16-Oct-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Part

Bombastic Ltd, THE MAGIC DOORS, London, Kingston upon Thames, Theatre, £20,690, 14-Nov-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Part

Nicola Lumley, Enchantment, North East, Newcastle upon Tyne, Visual arts, £9,974, 04-Dec-12, 2012/2013, Animation, Part

Ruth Fettis, Tales from a Forgotten City (Working Title), Yorkshire and The Humber, Bradford, Visual arts, £7,500, 22-Jan-13, 2012/2013, Animation, Whole

Fiona MacPherson, GUTS: the Play, a multi-media project, North East, Newcastle upon Tyne, Theatre, £9,000, 05-Feb-13, 2012/2013, Animation, Part

Borbonesa, Timequake ? stop-frame animation project, South East, Brighton and Hove, Visual arts, £9,589, 06-Feb-13, 2012/2013, Animation, Whole

Screen Archive South East/Cine City, Jan Svankmajer – Research & Development, South East, Brighton and Hove, Visual arts, £9,890, 04-Apr-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Whole

Tracy & Hobbs, Water Folk, London, Hackney, Visual arts, £10,000, 10-Apr-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Whole

JAM ARTS MANAGEMENT, SMEOP – Simply Made Electronically Operated Poems, South West, East Dorset, Visual arts, £8,425, 07-May-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Part

Joseph Norman, ‘Chat Up!’ serious computer game, South East, Brighton and Hove, Visual arts, £10,000, 07-May-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Part

Martha Orbach, This skin we’re In, London, Tower Hamlets, Visual arts, £6,970, 14-May-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Part

Jane Couldrey, Ka’iulani. A Hawaiian princess in Hove., South East, Brighton and Hove, Visual arts, £10,000, 22-May-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Part

Michael Trainor, The Universe: Explained., North West, Manchester, Combined arts, £9,865, 11-Jun-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Part

Beacons Music and Arts Festival, Beacons 2013 Arts Programme, Yorkshire and The Humber, Leeds, Combined arts, £9,990, 16-Jul-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Part

Kim Stewart, ANIMATE EXPERIMENT at Brighton Digital Festival, Scotland, Glasgow City, Visual arts, £1,101, 23-Jul-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Whole

Animate Projects Limited, Animation Full Throttle, East Midlands, Derby, Visual arts, £84,430, 20-Aug-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Whole

Shona Davies, Surprise!, London, Hackney, Visual arts, £1,560, 27-Aug-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Part

Black Dog Arts, Me and The Black Dog, South East, Chichester, Visual arts, £50,000, 04-Sep-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Whole

Pump House Gallery, Hetain Patel: Exhibition and Commission, London, Wandsworth, Visual arts, £15,000, 17-Sep-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Part

Animated Exeter Ltd, Animated Exeter 2014 – More than Zero, South West, Exeter, Visual arts, £46,700, 01-Oct-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Whole

Rowbot Street CIC, First World War : Images from the Frontline, North West, Hyndburn, Visual arts, £10,000, 02-Oct-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Whole

Rebecca Waite, Matchbox City, North West, Liverpool, Visual arts, £14,800, 13-Nov-13, 2013/2014, Animation, Part

Creative Foundation, Quarterhouse Residencies and Families Programmes, South East, Shepway, Combined arts, £100,000, 03-Mar-14, 2013/2014, Animation, Part

Peter Bearder, Pete the Temp Verses Climate Change, London, Haringey, Literature, £14,065, 23-Apr-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Susanne Adebayo, Stage 2: Asara and the Sea-Monstress, London, Greenwich, Theatre, £15,000, 18-Jun-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Stratford On Avon Music Festival, MUSIC FESTIVAL STRATFORD SCHOOLS CLUSTER PROJECT, West Midlands, Stratford-on-Avon, Music, £2,000, 14-Jul-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Mustapha Aminu, Animation Workshop, London, Wandsworth, Visual arts, £2,544, 29-Jul-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Whole

Screen Archive South East/Cine City, CINECITY AMI 2014 and Organisational Review, South East, Brighton and Hove, Visual arts, £30,850, 04-Aug-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Feral Studio (SW) CIC, Orchard Works, South West, Taunton Deane, Combined arts, £14,946, 05-Aug-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Cecile Evans, Hyperlinks, London, Tower Hamlets, Visual arts, £8,100, 26-Aug-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Woodhorn Charitable Trust, On Record (working title only), North East, Northumberland, Visual arts, £12,740, 03-Sep-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Hannah Sawtell, RE PETITIONER III, London, Camden, Combined arts, £12,000, 09-Sep-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Semiconductor, Where Shapes Come From, South East, Brighton and Hove, Visual arts, £39,026, 16-Sep-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Cornwall Council, Loop the Loop – Phase Two, South West, Cornwall, Visual arts, £14,980, 23-Sep-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Sam Thorpe, On The Fringes of Architecture (R&D), North East, Newcastle upon Tyne, Visual arts, £2,000, 24-Sep-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

IMT Space Limited, Alternative 23, London, Tower Hamlets, Visual arts, £7,488, 04-Nov-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Mark Jobe, Clarisse iFX Research and Development, North East, North Tyneside, Visual arts, £5,000, 05-Nov-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Alexa Wright, Artist in Residence in Mental Health Recovery, London, Islington, Visual arts, £15,000, 11-Nov-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Tim Crump, ‘The Rebellious North’, North East, Northumberland, Visual arts, £13,120, 19-Nov-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Lucia Cox, Cuckoo, North West, Manchester, Theatre, £15,000, 19-Nov-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Tom Cross, Drawing out Voices, South East, Cherwell, Visual arts, £14,680, 26-Nov-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Emma Brown, My Subject Is War – WW1 commemorative project, North West, Manchester, Visual arts, £9,037, 10-Dec-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

May Abdalla, Avian Avenue, South West, Bristol, City of, Visual arts, £14,810, 17-Dec-14, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Jamie Fletcher, The Dancing Bear R&D, Yorkshire and The Humber, Leeds, Theatre, £14,500, 12-Feb-15, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Aaron Angell, Aaron Angell at Studio Voltaire, title TBC, London, Hackney, Visual arts, £14,000, 17-Feb-15, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Verity Quinn, Story Development for new show Under the Microscope, North East, North Tyneside, Theatre, £14,993, 04-Mar-15, 2014/2015, Animation, Part

Animate Projects Limited, Animate: Parts and Labour, East Midlands, Derby, Visual arts, £89,850, 18-Mar-15, 2014/2015, Animation, Whole

Awards made through other funding streams are as follows:

Managed Funds Project, London, Art Public Ltd, Bus Tops Bronze Arts Award, £15,000, 19-Jun-12, Animation, Part

International funding, North East, Paul Miller, R & D Hong Kong, £5,000, 11-Nov-13, Animation, Part