The ten winners of the 2025 U.K. Young Animator of the Year Awards, selected from a field of 44 nominees, were announced at the Manchester Animation Festival (MAF).<\/p>\n
The winners of the competition\u2014which expanded this year with a new age category for 19- to 22-year-olds\u2014receive a trophy and the opportunity to visit major animation studios across the U.K., such as Aardman, Blue Zoo and Wild Child Animation to meet industry experts. Their short films were also screened at the awards ceremony.<\/p>\n
In the stop-motion category, the 11-14 group winner was 12-year-old Sophie from Sheffield, the 15-18 group winner was 17-year-old Eliana from Ipswich and the 19-22 group winner was 20-year-old Ben Mullan from Bedford.<\/p>\n
The 2D animation winners were 13-year-old Nelson from Rochdale, 17-year-old Billy from Wolverhampton and 21-year-old Vincent Tyson-Dieroff from Bristol.<\/p>\n
For 3D animation, 14-year-old Timothy from York won for the 11-to-14 set, while 20-year-old Nishaan Bahra from London won for the 19-to-22 set. A two-way tie occurred for the 15-to-18 set, with 16-year-old Ezra from Harrow and 18-year-old Morgan from Crediton both receiving the same score.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe volume of entries this year, with a shortlist of 44 incredible short films, is a testament to the surging passion for animation across the U.K.,\u201d said Tom Box, one of the founders of the competition. \u201cWe were over the moon to see returning entrants and brand-new talent in all the films. So outstanding were the entries that our industry judges had quite a tough job on their hands this year! We are so proud every year to bring a platform to young and vibrant animation talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve Henderson, festival director at MAF, added, \u201cIn an age where AI is dominating the conversation, it\u2019s important that we celebrate these true originals, these amazing young artists that will be the future of an industry that thrives off uniqueness and ingenuity in storytelling. It\u2019s always a pleasure to see what springs from the minds of these brilliant young creators and have them be part of MAF.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the Young Animator of the Year Awards\u2019 collaboration with MAF, there were two events programmed by the YAY Presents series. Stop-motion director, animator and puppet-maker Laura Tofarides shared insights from her decade-long career, and leading industry voices took part in a panel discussion on navigating careers in animation, offering practical advice and real-world perspectives.<\/p>\n
The Young Animator of the Year Awards are an initiative of ACCESS:VFX, a non-profit, industry-run network dedicated to supporting diversity and inclusion in the VFX and animation industries. HUE Animations sponsored the stop-motion categories this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The ten winners of the 2025 U.K. Young Animator of the Year Awards, selected from a field of 44 nominees, were announced at the Manchester Animation Festival (MAF).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":30835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[6135,6827,10817,11669],"class_list":["post-30834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-manchester-animation-festival","tag-steve-henderson","tag-tom-box","tag-young-animator-of-the-year-awards","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n