Joanna Quinn in Les Mills bosta odkrila tajne uspeha studia Beryl Productions International, ki ustvarja visoko kakovostne humoristične risane animirane filme, poleg tega pa je svetovno znan med naročniki animiranih reklam.
Les Mills po izobrazbi prihaja iz sveta umetnosti, saj je študiral likovno umetnost na različnih univerzah v Veliki Britaniji, nato pa na univerzi Rutgers v ZDA opravil magisterij. Ima bogate pedagoške izkušnje. Sprva je poučeval umetnost in oblikovanje, potem pa se začel čedalje bolj zanimati za filmsko umetnost in animacijo ter naposled prišel na čelo programa za film in animacijo na Fakulteti za umetnost in oblikovanje Univerze v Walesu v britanskem Newportu. Med poučevanjem na visokošolskih ustanovah v Londonu je spoznal Joanno Quinn – ko jo je učil risanja (kako ironično). Prvič sta sodelovala pri njenem diplomskem filmu Ženski večer, in sicer v času, ko je poučeval osnove animacije v programu grafičnega oblikovanja na univerzi Middlesex. Film uvaja junakinjo Beryl in predstavlja uspešen začetek kariere Joanne Quinn kot animatorke svetovnega slovesa. Vse odtlej zelo tesno sodelujeta. Les Mills je bil scenarist in producent naslednjega filma z Beryl, Body Beautiful, produciral pa je tudi film Ženska iz Batha, ki je bil nominiran za oskarja in je osvojil tri nagrade emmy. Leta 1987 je z Joanno ustanovil animacijsko produkcijsko hišo Beryl Productions International, ki je v zadnjih 23 letih ustvarila vrsto kakovostnih kratkih animiranih filmov in oglasov ter zanje prejela številne nagrade po vsem svetu. Les Mills je scenarist in producent njunega najnovejšega kratkega filma Družinske vezi, prvega iz serije Sanje in želje, ki je osvojila več kot 42 pomembnih nagrad, med drugim evropsko nagrado Cartoon D’Or 2006. Trenutno ustvarja naslednji film z Beryl, ki nosi naslov Affairs of the Art in je prav tako del serije Sanje in želje.
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Joanna Quinn and Les Mills will reveal the secret achievements of Beryl Productions International, a studio known for high-quality hand-drawn comedy animations and a world-renowned producer of animated commercials.
Les Mills comes from an art background having studied Fine Art at universities in the UK and finally completing a Masters Degree at Rutgers University in the US. His teaching experience is extensive, initially having taught art & design but gradually become more interested in filmmaking and animation culminating on being Course Director in Film and Animation at the School of Art & Design, University of Wales, Newport, UK. It was while he was still teaching at colleges in London that he met Joanna Quinn, ironically while teaching her drawing. He first collaborated with Joanna on her Graduation film Girl’s Night Out while teaching basic animation on the Graphic Design course at Middlesex University. This film introduced the central character of Beryl to audiences and successfully launched Joanna’s career as a world-class animator. From then on the two worked very closely together. He wrote and produced the next Beryl film Body Beautiful and produced Wife of Bath which received an Oscar nomination and won three Emmys. In 1987, together with Joanna Quinn, he formed Beryl Productions International, their animation production company, which over the last 23 years, has produced a range of high quality, short animated films and commercials, which have won many awards worldwide. Les wrote and produced their latest short film ‘Family Ties’ the first part of the ‘Dreams & Desires’ series which has won over 42 major awards including the European Cartoon D’Or 2006. Presently he is working on the next Beryl film in the ‘Dreams & Desires’ series – ‘Affairs of the Art’.