In celebration of the month running up to International Animation Day on
28 October, we will be posting daily interviews with colleagues and friends
from the South African animation community. 

5 MINUTES WITH... MDUDUZI CWELE

3D animator, Triggerfish

1.  Tell us about yourself – who are you and what do you do?

I'm an animator from a small township in Durban called Lamonville. After finishing high school I attended an animation course at The Animation School at Cape Town in 2005. In
2007 I became an intern at Anamazing Workshop in Johannesburg and became a
junior 3D artist the following year, during my time there I worked on two animated short films, Bhovas and Sam 2 and Strawberry Milkshake and also a music video for Bhovas & Sam which the production manager and I where interviewed for and had the chance to
show it off on Yo-T.V.

After Anamazing Workshop shut down due to the economical situation in 2009, I freelanced for the remainder of that year. Then in 2010 I worked for Clockwork Zoo in Cape
Town. I worked on television series like Caillou for Cookie Jar and Florrie's Dragons
for Wish Films and Disney.

2.  What are you currently up to? Are there any exciting projects ongoing?

Due to cut backs in staff I was released from Clockwork in May 2011 and then the following month I joined Triggerfish Animation to animate for their movie Zambezia for a month. And I've now come back to work with them on a new movie called Khumba.

3.  What’s your best project/work to date?

My favourite projects are the ones that have normally been the smallest, like Bhovas &
Sam where you can have a bigger influence on how the story turns out and you
get to see who things come together first hand.

4.  When you’re not working, what do you like to do?

When I'm not working I watch movies, play video games and since joining Triggerfish Animation I've been playing soccer once a week.

5.  Finally, what tips or advice could you give to other creatives, just starting out or to the more experienced creatives needing a bit of encouragement?

To the new creatives coming in to the industry I'd say practicing their craft whenever they can, and to constantly push to create the best work they can, because your skill is all you have when it comes to attracting interest from the best companies around. And to the experienced creatives I'd say that the best creatives to work with, are the ones that don't want to stop learning from their colleagues.