Big Thinkers Animation Initiative Unveils Winners

Big Thinkers, a joint initiative by the award-winning indie Big Deal Films and Tom van Waveren’s Hoek, Line & Thinker, has revealed its trio of winners.

The initiative, which aims to find the next big animated hit from diverse creators in the U.K., saw ten projects presented to a jury that consisted of Elliott Palmer (CBBC, Nickelodeon, King Bert), Shamik Majumdar (Disney EMEA), Kristina Yee (Goat Girl), Ed Barnieh (Netflix) and Lindsey Adams (Daily Madness). Following a live pitch day event, the jury selected as winners Ali and his Magic Car by Shamraiz Younis and Gagandeep Kalirai, Better City by Bruna Capozzoli and Sara Tenti, and Rickshaw Racers by Sagar Rathod.

Big Thinkers attracted a total of just under 30 projects over a period of six weeks, from which the list of ten finalists was selected. The winners will develop their projects further with Big Deal Films with a view to share them with industry players and platforms later in the year.

The other finalists were Team Dalim by Samir Asran Rahman, Maghrib by Muj Shah, Afro Animal Team by Roy Agyemang, Ms Shabash by Samir Asran Rahman, Nalule and the Brobot by Moses Ssebandeke, Inferno by Darren Yeboah and Megha and Mittens by Chitra Soundar.

Dhanny Joshi, co-founder and managing director of Big Deal Films, said: “The Big Thinkers live pitch day was one of the most fulfilling days in our time at Big Deal. It was a privilege to be in the room with some of the most exciting and unearthed creators who share our desire to deliver much-needed fresh perspectives in animation. The finalists did themselves proud, and huge congratulations to the winners.”

Thomas Stogdon, co-founder and creative director at Big Deal Films, said: “We are thrilled at the truly diverse range of finalists selected at the Big Thinkers pitch day. We are now eager to develop these special projects further and help fulfill their unique, creative potential.”

Van Waveren added: “We were very impressed by the volume and quality of the submissions. We look forward to rolling up our sleeves and further developing our winning projects and are already thinking of making this a yearly initiative and event.”