May 22, 2021 - 1799 views
An interview with a legendary music producer has propelled a North Wales animator towards his dream career.
Shane Howard, from Llanrwst has seen a work experience placement open the door to opportunities he'd previously only dreamt about.
During his final year at Pengwern College, a specialist college for young adults with autism, Shane went to Old Colwyn-based TAPE Community Music and Film for work experience, a decision that has transformed his life.
During his time at TAPE, Shane worked on his first live action/animated film, Paul and the Undersea Critters, which was shown at TAPE’s Inclusion Film Festival and later at the Together! Film Festival in London. It was there that Shane caught the eye of the team behind recordproduction.com, an organisation that showcases leading music producers.
26-year-old Shane was given the opportunity to animate an interview with legendary music producer John Leckie, who has worked with some of the world's biggest bands, including The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and the Stone Roses.
The interview was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios, made famous by The Beatles and animated by Shane. Thanks to Mike Banks from recordprodcution.com, Sky picked up the animation and are now serialising the 40-minute animation film and interview across their Showcase channel.
For TAPE'S Steve Swindon, Shane's is the ultimate success story.
Steve said: "Shane has natural talent and ability. He arrived here at TAPE with a bag full of ideas and hopes of becoming a professional animator. He received support to write the script for his film, Paul and the Undersea Critters, and, on the back of that, was approached to animate two other films. The John Leckie interview followed. Shane is now a professional animator, and his story is a wonderful example of how we work at TAPE. It starts with the person and their ideas and grows from there.
"Presenting and supporting opportunities in an inclusive way relies on many things being in place. The willingness to embrace positive risk, a person-led approach to providing support, ongoing communication alongside positive and collaborative partnership working. Shane's story serves as an example of this ethos. He is a real success story."
Recordproduction.com's Mike Banks said Shane's unique style had made all the difference to their interview with John.
"Shane has been amazing," he said. "His unique style and attention to detail plus his brilliantly creative mind have taken our interview to a completely new level opening up an interview of a niche subject to a much wider audience. We are so appreciative of Shane and the TAPE team's efforts during a very difficult time."
For Shane, trying to complete the film during lockdown was an additional challenge.
He said: "I was very excited to be asked to be involved with making the animation. It was fun to learn about John Leckie. It was a bit strange to try and finish this during lockdown, but I had lots of help online from TAPE and my sister Kelsey."
For Shane's mum Donna Howard, the TAPE work experience has been the catalyst to turn her son's passion into a career.
"I'm so proud of Shane and what he has achieved so far," she said. "Without the belief, knowledge and support from TAPE, none of this would have been possible."
Shane's film can be seen on Sky Showcase every weekend for the next 6 weeks.
