
-- --
SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE:
South African animation studio Triggerfish and UK-based production company Magic Light Pictures recently released a film adaptation of the much-loved 2010 picture book, Zog.
Zog is based on the book by the Gruffalo team, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, and is about a young dragon that is at Dragon School, learning to fly, breath fire and basically become a holy terror! explains Daniel Snaddon, co-director of the short film.
However, student life comes with a lot of challenges for the keen but accident-prone dragon: He's super enthusiastic, but has no talent and ends up hurting himself every time he tries his hand at something new. The book is about how an unusual friendship changes his life and his dream for the better, says Snaddon.
Triggerfish Animation Studios has an ongoing relationship with publishing duo Donaldson and Scheffler and the Gruffalo team, which is managed by Magic Light Pictures. This partnership has produced award-winning film adaptations of other popular children's books including Stick Man, Revolting Rhymes and The Highway Rat.
My directing partner Max Lang pitched Zog to Magic Light Pictures in 2012. Of all the more recent books by Donaldson and Scheffler, he thought it would make a great film, as the characters and their journeys were very clear and relatable, says Snaddon. Triggerfish has since purchased the film as well as the merchandising rights for Zog.
According to Snaddon, the concept for the film started taking shape in mid-2017, with he and Lang working together on the storyboards. The pair then sought various artists from South Africa and the UK to work on the project. Our art director was Sarah-Jane Williams who was key in bringing the hand-made feel to the design and surfaces of Zog's world. Daniel Clarke, Caroline Vos and Stephen Howard-Tripp were the concept artists. Andrew Wilkins oversaw modelling, while Darren Hing and Roxanne Joyner oversaw surfacing, he says.
Zog took just over a year and a half to produce, with animation director Jac Hamman overseeing the 17 animators that brought the characters to life. Samantha Cutler was the lead character modeller and Malcolm van Aardnt managed the rigging of over 30 characters for the film.
Zog was produced using Maya, Arnold and Nuke, with additional VFX work done through a plugin called Phoenix FD which was used to generate fire and smoke effects in some scenes. Kane Croudace, Faghrie Coenraad and James Bihl were the technical leads and Sue Mari-Sauer headed up VFX. Everything was then brought together by Sarah Scrimgeour and her superb compositing team, says Snaddon.
Kaya Kuhn was our line producer, and though she was new to animation, she did an amazing job of planning and executing the production at Triggerfish, adds Snaddon. Aninka Jonk, Laura Irvine and Clare Savage did a great job of running the team on the ground.
Zog has since travelled to a number of international festivals including the Shanghai International TV Festival, where it won the Best Animation Award, and the New York International Children's Film Festival, where it earned the Audience Award.
The film recently bagged an International Emmy nomination in the Best Kids' Animation category and will compete against films from France, Brazil and India. The winning film will be announced on 31 March 2020 at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Speaking about the nomination, Snaddon says: We are thrilled, and hope that we win! I'm also really happy and proud of our team, as on Zog we had fewer resources than we did on previous projects and we still managed to pull off something really world class.
The film had its television premiere on BBC 1 for UK viewers, and is now streaming on South African streaming service Showmax. Zog can also be ordered on DVD through Amazon.
Snaddon and his team at Triggerfish are thrilled that South African viewers can now get to watch the animated film and hope that the heart-warming tale reaches more audiences. Zog was originally a BBC and ZDF (Germany) co-production. I'm thrilled that Zog is streaming on Showmax and I'd also love Zog to eventually show on national TV, and for either the SABC or kykNET to get some translations going! he concludes.
KEY CREW
Writers: Julia Donaldson, Max Lang, Suzanne Lang, Axel Scheffler
Directors: Max Lang and Daniel Snaddon
Producer: Mike Buckland, Martin Pope, Michael Rose Sound: Ren Aubry
Editor: Robin Sales
Sound: Ren Aubry
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Pinterest
-- --
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
25/06/2026
Launching a Career in Broadcast Engineering: Academic Paths and Essential Certif...
25/06/2026
This superstar shooter/storyteller from Central Indiana hopes to make his mark in the blossoming sports-documentary and -features space
In the live-sports-vid...
25/06/2026
Presidio and the National Hockey League have announced a multiyear renewal of their North American partnership. Presidio will remain an Official Technology Inno...
25/06/2026
Strike Fighter League (SFL) is the world's first professional air combat digital sport that combines elite human performance and physical immersion with cut...
25/06/2026
Rise, the award-winning advocacy group for gender diversity in the broadcast and media technology sector, is pleased to announce the global mentoring cohort for...
25/06/2026
The 2026 American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) All-Star Game will...
25/06/2026
Mediaproxy has named Heartland Video Systems (HVS) as its exclusive partner for US television broadcasting. The Wisconsin-based systems integrator will represen...
25/06/2026
Backblaze has formed an agreement with CoreWeave to create The Essential Cloud for AI.
Under the multi-exabyte, $335 million agreement, Backblaze will provide...
25/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the successful deployment and testing of FreeSpeak Cell by RTL Deutschland during a live event production at the N rburgring race circui...
25/06/2026
Mobile TV Group (MTVG) has announced the launch of the MTVG Production Platform,...
25/06/2026
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has announced a $100 million strategic investment in Cosm as lead investor in the company's Series C financing round, acqu...
25/06/2026
FOX Sports and Concacaf have announced a multi-year media rights agreement making FOX Sports the U.S. English-language home of the Concacaf Gold Cup and Concaca...
25/06/2026
Daktronics and Grass Valley have received the rAVe Pubs Best Solution for Large ...
25/06/2026
Six free workshops across two days
Global music education platform Music Production for Women (MPW), have just announced a brand new and highly anticipated ...
25/06/2026
Popular pedalboard PSU gets an upgrade
The DC7 v2 is a new and improved version of CIOKS' renowned effects pedal PSU, and is said to be the thinnest, mo...
25/06/2026
Optimised for lush, enveloping sounds
Described as an instantly rewarding reverb , the latest addition to Arturia's range of creative effects plug-ins ...
25/06/2026
27 June 2026, Westminster University Harrow Campus
GearExpo UK is now upon us, with just two days to go until 150 of the worlds top pro-audio brands and ind...
25/06/2026
The Name You Know, The Lineup You'll Love - SBS2 Returns
25 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Viceland rebrands as SBS2 on Friday 21 August, bringing the c...
25/06/2026
Cable Gains Share for Second Consecutive Month in Six-Month-High Finish, Boosted...
25/06/2026
alt= data-nectar-img-srcset=https://www.antonbauer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/0...
25/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/06/2026
The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna was a significant success for the Austrian public broadcaster ORF. In Austria, more than 1.5 million viewers tuned in...
25/06/2026
Wisycom has further strengthened its ecosystem of professional wireless solutions with the MPR60 Wideband IEM/IFB Receiver with expanded multichannel IFB mode, ...
25/06/2026
Ease Live, the interactivity expert, today announced that its graphics overlay platform is powering a new interactive experience on Rally.TV, the official video...
25/06/2026
VFX History: the origin of After Effects
Graham Quince June 25, 2026
0 Comments
Before it was Adobe, it was CoSA. This is the VFX history of Adobe Aft...
25/06/2026
Creative Remote, the provider of remote and hybrid offline editing infrastructure, today announced the opening of 41, its new offline edit facility located at 4...
25/06/2026
Rise, the award-winning advocacy group for gender diversity in the broadcast and media technology sector, is pleased to announce the global mentoring cohort for...
25/06/2026
Emergent, a pioneer in browser-based, AI-enhanced content production environments, today announced a strategic partnership with ROCKET, a premier media-centric ...
25/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/06/2026
Thursday 25 June 2026
Read all about it! The Paper will return for a second sea...
25/06/2026
Thursday 25 June 2026
How to watch the 2026/27 EFL season on Sky Sports
Which EFL matches are Sky Sports showing on the 2026/27 opening weekend?
Sky Sports w...
25/06/2026
Summer savings are heating up. From the Steam Summer Sale to GeForce NOW membership discounts, this week's GFN Thursday delivers double the deals and more w...
25/06/2026
Launching today (Thursday 25 June), new RT podcast Ramble with Joe McGucken is a series of curiosity-driven conversations where actor, writer and comedian Joe ...
25/06/2026
Immune molecule may drive excessive drinking in alcohol use disorder Scripps Research scientists showed that blocking an immune molecule tied to inflammation r...
24/06/2026
Plus: VoiceAssist Basic now available to UA LUNA users
NoiseWorks Audio have just released an update that adds a new Mouth De-Click module to the Advanced t...
24/06/2026
New heavy-duty mic stand joins range
The latest arrival to Gator's Frameworks family introduces a new heavy-duty boom stand that's been designed for...
24/06/2026
Latest major plug-in update goes live
Waves have just announced that the latest major update for their hugely popular plug-in range is now officially availa...
24/06/2026
When assessing cellular coverage, many people look at the signal bars displayed on a smartphone, router or modem. More bars are often assumed to mean better per...
24/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz THORIS sets new standard for counter UAS defense At Eurosatory 2026, Rohde & Schwarz is unveiling THORIS, a German engineered, sovereign count...
24/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz expands voice communications modernization program for Egyptian ...
24/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
24/06/2026
Streaming sets record high of 46.6% of ad supported TV viewing, driven by Super Bowl and Winter Olympics; overall share of ad supported TV remains steady
NEW Y...
24/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...