Wellington’s Vibrant Animation Sector

With a growing number of animation studios around the city, the art form is quietly thriving. This year, the Vista Foundation 48-hour Film Festival gave a nod to just how powerful and popular this type of storytelling has become. ‘Grounded’, an animated film by Wellingtonians Chris Callus and Adam Reynolds, took out the coveted Grand Prize. The film tells a story of friendship between a spider and a ladybug who is struggling to fly. In just four short minutes, these lovable characters melt viewers’ hearts. 

“People connected with it,” said Chris. “Even though it’s two little cute characters, there are real themes around it... In real life, we both suffer from anxiety quite a bit.” Chris and Adam wanted to weave their experience into the film, and it features almost as a character of its own. “Sometimes you just have to remind yourself to stop and breathe.” That sentiment is reflected in the film and acts as a turning point in the plot. 

Wellington’s film community has kept Chris and Adam coming back to the festival year after year. “I always come across other animators whom I’ve never heard of,” said Chris. “I see their work and I’m always surprised by the talent,” Adam adds that the animators are often young, too.   

True to that trend is Charlie Faulks. After receiving a half-million-dollar grant from New Zealand On Air, the twenty-one-year-old and his team made the wildly successful ‘Bloke of the Apocalypse’ horror-comedy series. It tells the story of a stoic farmer and his son navigating a zombie apocalypse. The series has a distinctly Kiwi feel to it, with Charlie’s childhood on a Gisborne farm inspiring the characters and storyline. “Someone described it as a Gen-Z take on Fred Dagg,” said Charlie. “I feel like it’s influenced by the internet and the internet’s humour.” 

The seven-part series premiered at the Terror-Fi Film Festival before becoming available on YouTube. “[The festival] screens in Auckland and Christchurch, but its biggest following is in Wellington because we’ve just got such a good community down here,” said Francesca Carney, one of the producers on the series. 

Francesca and Charlie both think the animation sector in Wellington is growing. “Once Bloke came along, people started reaching out, and I started getting a grasp of what was happening in Wellington,” said Charlie. “There was a group that went to the Annecy International Animation Film Festival with the support of Screen Wellington. That was the first time we’d had a delegation over there.” 

The annual Wellington Animation Film Festival is another nurturing presence for the art form and is a testament to its popularity in the city. While Wellington is traditionally known for its VFX and large-scale international productions, animation has quietly found a thriving home here. “Wellington is the one place where you can come and be anything you want to be,” said Francesca. Charlie agrees, “It has always been the creative city. I didn’t have any second choices. It was always Wellington.”