Animation in Manchester

Manchester is home to one of Europe’s largest creative, digital and tech clusters and has been leading the way in animation for more than 40 years.

Some of the world’s most highly acclaimed talent have grown within Manchester working for companies such as Mackinnon & Saunders, TT Games and Cloud Imperium. Their work is truly international and they produce content for the likes of Disney, Nickleodeon, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Lego, the BBC and Sony.

When Mark Hall and Brian Cosgrove set up their, their company, there was very, very little animation of any type done in the Manchester or even a Northwest region. So, them doing what they did, became this nucleus for this, this whole new industry to evolve within the Northwest

— Peter Saunders, Mackinnon and Saunders

Digital and Technology

2 minutes

Manchester has been named the ‘creative capital’ of the UK

New research by Adobe Express has named Manchester the ‘creative capital’ of the UK, or the UK’s most creative city. By analysing a variety of factors including the number of jobs…

Create and Media

5 minutes

English National Opera to move to Manchester

The English National Opera (ENO) is to move to Manchester under plans announced by Arts Council England (ACE) which made the organisation’s future funding contingent on establishing its main…

Create and Media

6 minutes

Manchester wins bid to host WOMEX international music convention in October 2024

International music convention WOMEX will be coming to Manchester next year after the city won its bid to host the prestigious global event on behalf of the UK and Ireland next autumn, 23-27…

Production Futures

30, Apr 2024

Production Futures will stage its largest event to date at the AO Arena on April 30th. Production Futures exists to create opportunities for young people to learn, train, network and develop real careers in production across every area of the live event, music, touring, theatre, TV, broadcast and film industries. The organisation’s forthcoming ON TOUR event will take place at the AO Arena, Manchester, one of the most cutting-edge facilities (and the largest) of its kind in the UK, on Tuesday April 30th. As its first Arena outing, this will be Production Futures’ largest and most ambitious ON TOUR event to date. The free-of-charge event will promote employability, transferable skills, diversity, free training, networking, and will present paid work opportunities to newcomers across the live event and broadcast production industry. Visitors to the show will enjoy a packed schedule, which includes special guests, talks and panels, while industry workshops will offer young visitors the chance to engage in a wide range of activities, from preparing to be job-ready with industry-oriented CVs, to hands on exploration of lighting programming, CAD, audio engineering, as well as getting under the skin of music production, virtual production and event production planning.