Waterside was opened on 29 April 2004 by actress Sarah Miles, (wife of playwright and screenwriter Robert Bolt).
The first event was with singer Thea Gilmore. Since opening, it has welcomed well over 1.3 million visitors. Waterside, like theatres and galleries across the country, is currently closed but wants people to help mark its birthday from home in its Heroes In Motion challenge.
Waterside houses the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive with some of the best loved animated TV heroes and characters from the 80s and 90s. To mark its sixteenth anniversary, the venue is asking people to have fun in creating something special at home, taking inspiration from the wonderful archive to celebrate the heroes in people’s lives.
Stopmotion animation is a brilliant way of bringing everyday things at home to life. With plenty of online tips and easy to use apps more people are having fun creating their own animations.
The challenge is simple – Waterside is looking for short, made-at-home, animation clips to celebrate our everyday heroes, using inspiration from all around, including from the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive housed at the venue. The competition is open to all ages.
Darren Adams, Waterside Manager says ‘The team and I would like to thank our audiences, artists and everyone who has been involved in our sixteen year history and we look forward to celebrating when the venue reopens. As you can imagine, we’re saddened to not be able to share this occasion with everybody at the venue.
I know the creative industries are showing such resilience and resourcefulness in these difficult times, and we are doing everything we can to support our artists and protect what we have all built together.
Over the past two months, we’ve seen such bravery from all front line workers, but also lots of lovely local heroes who’ve been supporting people through this uncertainty. So it seems fitting that we should mark our anniversary and celebrate these people through a creative response.
We’re really excited about the Heroes in Motion challenge, it’s great fun and suitable for all ages. We’re looking forward to seeing the results and hope people will enjoy working on it together at home.’
Waterside will select sixteen entries to be showcased on the Waterside website, and will also be included in a special Screenlight commission displayed in the venue when it reopens as well as a special screening for entrants and invited guests.
The deadline for submissions is Monday 1 June 2020. More information at watersidearts.org/animation
