25-28 April 2024
MEET THE CARDIFF ANIMATION FESTIVAL TEAM
LAUREN ORME
Festival Director
festival@cardiffanimation.com
Lauren is an award-winning animator and director based in Cardiff. She is the Festival Director of Cardiff Animation Festival. Lauren studied animation at the University of Wales, Newport, and has been based in Cardiff since 2010.
In 2014, Lauren founded Cardiff Animation Nights, showcasing animated short films from the international festival circuit to a thriving audience in Cardiff, before co-founding Cardiff Animation Festival in 2018.
Lauren is also Creative Director of Picl Animation, an animation studio in Cardiff which she co-founded in 2018. Picl is one of the first animation companies in the UK to become a certified B Corporation.
ELLYS DONOVAN
Festival Producer
festival@cardiffanimation.com
Ellys is the Producer and Programmer for Cardiff Animation Festival and has been a member of the CAF team since she volunteered at the first festival in 2018. Ellys also organises regular in-person and online screenings for Cardiff Animation Nights.
In 2023, Ellys joined the British Animation Awards team as their Awards Administrator.
Ellys has previously worked as a cinema manager. Alongside her work she also studied for a BA Hons degree in Video Production at Swansea Metropolitan University, a Masters Degree in Film and a PGCE in Further Education Training both at USW.
ERYKAH CAMERON
Marketing & Events Coordinator
marketing@cardiffanimation.com
Erykah is a Media and Communications graduate from Cardiff University. She has recently produced a mini interview series with Creative Cardiff called ‘5 minutes with...’ which kickstarted her love for producing and hosting!
Erykah also works for a range of Cardiff based media companies, including the Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Short Film Festival, Newbridge Memo and Creative Cardiff.
CHRIS JAMES
Photographer & Videographer
heywildtrack.com
CJ is the Videographer and Photographer for Cardiff Animation Festival and has been a member of the CAF team since the early days in 2016.
A Creative Brand & Content Lead, CJ has worked freelance and full-time on everything from large productions to not-for-profits, national to international, with various clients and companies. A selection of his work can be found here - heywildtrack.com
In his own time he builds Lego and is a dog-dad.
CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT
Director of Operations
Christopher Wright is the Director of Operations for Cardiff Animation Festival and has been helping to run Cardiff Animation events since 2015. Christopher currently works as Production Supervisor for the third series of the popular CITV show ‘The Rubbish World of Dave Spud’.
Christopher went from specialising in animation at Norwich University of the Arts to working as a freelance animator in London and Toronto, before moving to Cardiff in 2014 where he has frequently worked with Cloth Cat as a Layout Supervisor for multiple children's television projects.
LAURA WELSMAN
Development Officer
Laura is an award-winning Artist, Educator and Arts Management consultant who has been working with Cardiff Animation Festival since 2019.
She is a recognised researcher at Transtechnology Research at the University of Plymouth, interested in how digital technologies mediate our experience of the world. Her work in arts events and exhibitions has led to international collaborations across the UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, USA, and South Africa. Laura's artwork can be found here.