Games Experts Head to North East for Animex

26.01.06

The festival - celebrating its seventh anniversary this year - takes place at the University of Teesside in Middlesbrough, North East England from February 6 - 10.

Now firmly established as the world's number one gaming and animation event, Animex 2006 boasts a star-studded line up that includes:

• Ernest Adams, game designer and founder of IGDA

• Ken Wong from Enlight Software, who will be talking about his work on Bad Day LA

• Richard 'Levelord' Gay, level designer of Duke Nukem 3D and Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre fame.

Experts from Blitz will also be at the event to outline some of their latest projects and will be joined by North East-based driving game specialist Eutechnyx, which will discuss its latest art techniques for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

North East England, with its growing international reputation as a hotbed for animation and gaming, is the perfect location for Animex, with digital and software firms such as Eutechnyx achieving international recognition from their North East base.

Paul Jobling, marketing director at Eutechnyx, the company behind hit games such as Big Mutha Truckers and Ford Vs Chevy, said: "Animex is good news for the North East. It gives local people an opportunity to display their animation and gaming skills to potential customers from around the globe.

"Having five universities on our doorstep means the region is a real hotbed for gaming and animation talent."

Highlights of the five day extravaganza include Animex Game, a two-day computer games event; Animex Screen, a week long festival of specially curated films; and Animex Talk, a showcase for the biggest and brightest talent in the world of animation.

There will also be the Animex International Student Animation Awards, a closely fought battle between students from around the world, as well as a series of talks and masterclasses.

Visitors to the five-day extravaganza will enjoy previews of animated feature films The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes by the Quay Brothers and Neil Gaiman's MirrorMask.

Chris Williams, festival director, said: "Animex is firmly established as the world's biggest animation and gaming festival and is getting bigger every year-. We look forward to building on the success of last year's event.

"Animex is a fixture in the calendar of animators, students, producers and directors worldwide and is really helping to put Teesside and North East England on the gaming and animation map."

For more information, please visit: www.animex.net

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