Skip to main content
Laura Jayne Hodkin's work Still courtesy of the artist

It was the work of an Animation alumna that encouraged Laura Jayne Hodkin to come to ECA. Now, having graduated last year and picking up numerous awards for her final film 'Nailbiter' and follow-up 'Hayley and Joanna', Laura shares her experiences of ECA and tells us what is next.

Tell us about your time at the University

I chose to study Animation because I felt it would force me to learn something new from scratch. At the time I was drawing a lot, but I felt like the still image wasn’t always capturing the right feeling I wanted. There was also an artist I had admired for years who had done the same programme, and I suppose I felt like I needed to follow her path to ECA.

I remember university feeling quite lonely sometimes, especially when working on something as all-consuming as animation is. But the Animation department was a great place to be surrounded by people who really care about what they do and understand the same sh*t you’re going through. My favourite memories are of being in the studio staying late with friends, animating together and drinking lots of tea.

"[T]he Animation department was a great place to be surrounded by people who really care about what they do..."

Laura Jayne Hodkin, BA (Hons)

Animation Class of 2017

Tell us about your experiences since leaving the University

Like most people, I was quite nervous about leaving university because of the fear of not being good enough. I felt like I wanted more time to work on the ‘style’ that I had developed during my time at ECA, but I knew in the outside world I couldn’t realistically work on a new film as freely as I wanted. I really enjoyed the studio atmosphere at ECA and wanted something similar for just a bit longer, so I decided to move to London and began the MA in Animation course at the Royal College of Art.

Since then, I’ve managed to make another film which has been featured on sites such as It’s Nice That, chosen as a Vimeo Staff Pick as well as gaining a couple of audience awards as it makes its way around festivals. I’m currently working on another film pitch for my final year, which will hopefully be received just as well.

Laura Jayne Hodkin

Laura Jayne Hodkin

Alumni wisdom

Tell your peers when you like their work! You don’t have to be arrogant just because you’re in an art school, so support each other. You could end up working together someday.

Associated programmes