Your say / channel 4
‘Bristol breeds and nurtures artists’
Bristol has succeeded on making it onto the shortlist to become the new home for Channel 4. With broadcasting bosses due to pay us a visit in the coming weeks, Bristol24/7 has been asking people across the city to share their stories of the city.
After graduating from Bournemouth College of Design, I worked in a tiny and very expensive studio in Hoxton Square in East London, making stop motion puppets for animation and short films.
is needed now More than ever
The company I worked for, BigFatStudio made the savvy move to Bristol and relocated into a studio ten times as big and a quarter of the price. It was a no-brainer as Bristol was fast becoming the mecca of animation with many fresh production companies setting up all over town.
I had never visited Bristol before and I took a gamble and thought I’ll give it a year and see how it goes. 20 years later, I am still in the wonderful city of Bristol, now directing for Aardman Animations, illustrating and designing.
Bristol nurtures creative talent. (Upfest artwork by Louis Masai)
Fifteen years ago, I was lucky enough to meet the street artists that put Bristol on the map and was very much part of the urban art scene, sharing a studio with renowned graffiti artists. Most have now gone on to become established artists exhibiting in some of the most prestigious galleries around the world. This city seems to breed and nurture them and generations of inspired new talent will follow.
Music was a huge draw to Bristol, with incredible artists emerging from this unstoppable creative hive in the west of England. I have DJ’d for 25 years and had the pleasure of playing alongside a host of artists through a variety of genres – hip hop, funk, drum’n’bass, disco, house. It’s all here and continues to grow day after day.
Having Channel 4 HQ here in Bristol would be a huge coup and would fit so well into the Bristol ethos of being an innovative, creative, forward thinking, eco-conscious, strong and multicultural community that’s steeped in tradition and culture.
What more can I say? I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Oh and don’t get me started on the food and drink front – we’re spoilt rotten. And how close are we to amazing countryside and beaches.
Nuf said!
Danny Capozzi, aka Hero73*, is a director, artist and illustrator with Aardman Animations
Main photo from Upfest 2017, by paulbox© (paul@framedogs.com). Artwork by Cheo.
Read more: ‘Bristol can provide a home of opportunity for Channel 4’
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