Hollywood animator Jamie brings magic of the movies to Wolverhampton
He’s helped create blockbuster movies like Fast and the Furious and Jurassic World – but far from going all Hollywood animator Jamie Bakewell has set up his studio right here in the Black Country.
The talented 30-year-old takes hand drawn story boards and turns them into animated 3D sequences.
It helps top film directors work out what will work on the big screen.
And he’s hoping his work will help studios in the region create the next best Hollywood movie.
Thirty-year-old Jamie has set up his business Big Tooth Studios in Wolverhampton Science Park.
He’s been a pre-visualisation (or pre-vis) artist for nine years, working on films like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Fast & Furious Six.
“What we do is we take hand-drawn story boards from the artists and turn them into fully animated 3D sequences,” said Jamie, who lives in Wolverhampton with partner Rebecca Murphy.
“It creates a rough animation of the shot and gives the directors an idea of what it would look like. So, for example, on Guardians of the Galaxy if the director wants to see Gamora run and jump and make a spaceship explode, then we can show them that.
“It saves directors a lot of money too, this way. It’s easier than bringing in Chris Pratt to run it through with.”
The animator’s day job has also seen him rub shoulders with the stars.
“I met Will Smith, while working on the new Aladdin film which is out soon. And I met Andy Serkis too while working on the latest Planet of the Apes, which was amazing.”
Jamie was born in Walsall and admitted he felt excited to be working back home in the Black Country rather then London, where he had been based for almost a decade.
He studied animation at the University of Staffordshire for three years, and received his first creative job before he had completed his final year, working at pre-visualisation company Proof before setting up his own firm.
Speaking about why he set up Big Tooth, he said: “I just wanted to create a company to help supply this sort of work to the Midlands. I don’t feel like it’s available to film makers in this area - they have to go to London.
“And pre-vis can be quite expensive too, so I wanted to provide an affordable, accessible new pre-vis company to help lower budget films in the area.
“Then hopefully it will grow in the future.”
Jamie officially started creating Big Tooth back in March but said it was only recently that it all started gradually coming together.
“It really feels like it’s happening now, “ he said.
“It feels like it’s growing, and could be the start of something.”
He said his favourite film to work on was the latest Fast and Furious blockbuster, but added that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - a spin-off from the popular Harry Potter flicks - was also a fun project.
The animator is now working on the new Aladdin film, due on cinema screens in 2019, which stars Men in Black actor Will Smith as the genie.
