Cracking Ideas

• Pages: 9-11

>>>

9

three-quarters are based on projects in which

Aardman has a stake in the IP.

In line with the experimental style of its founders,

the company is still set up to keep the creative

process as uid as possible. “We like people to

move from project to project,” says Mr. Clarke.

“The challenge is the same whether it’s a movie,

commercial or TV show: to invent a character in a

story with a beginning, middle and end.”

“Our creatives always work with a mentor to pro-

gress an idea into a story, into a treatment, into a

storyboard and into an animation. When they join

the company, everyone signs over their copyright

in their work to us. We make sure that we strike

a balance by giving them an incentive to keep

generating ideas.”

“At various points in a production, we engage

freelancers and third parties to help develop

scripts, sets, models and the animation process.

All the rights in this work done on our behalf have

to be clearly transferred to us.”

Aardman is wary about even looking at unsolic-

ited submissions. For one of its lms, Chicken Run,

someone from outside claimed it had originally

been their idea. “In fact, our team dreamed it all

up o site in the outer Hebrides,” says Mr. Clarke.

“We have now adopted a protocol to consider

ideas/submissions and state this clearly on our

Aard Man began life as a spoof superhero. He was

sold to the BBC in a short animation for £25 and

the eponymous company was set up to bank the

check. In the far-o days of the 1970s, no one im-

agined how valuable the rm’s characters would

become.

Today, Aardman is an Oscar-winning animation

studio working on three sites in Bristol, U.K. The

rm currently employs over 500 people to work

on its productions, including a new movie with

Sony Pictures, Arthur Christmas, due for release

later this year.

“Everything we do is underpinned by intellectual

property,” says Sean Clarke, who joined Aardman

from Disney 12 years ago to become the com-

pany’s Head of Rights. “As a company, we have

developed our ability to create IP that goes across

all platforms.”

“If our characters are going to have any kind of

value or make a return, we have to be sure we can

take them to market securely. So over the years,

the IP Oce has been one of our key partners.

Our IP is what makes us.”

Aardman’s rst hit was a cheeky clay model called

Morph. He was created on the kitchen table of

the two founders, David Sproxton and Peter Lord,

and stole the show on Vision On, a BBC arts pro-

gram for children.

Morph was followed by Wallace & Gromit, a comi-

cal pair of inventors dreamed up at lm school by

Nick Park. He is now a director at Aardman, which

gave him the platform to turn the characters into

global movie stars and multiple Oscar winners.

Since then, characters such as Shaun the Sheep

and fellow ock member Timmy have spun o

into their own TV shows, which now play in 120

dierent countries around the world.

In parallel with its own creative work, Aardman

uses its distinctive capabilities in clay modelling

and computer-generated animation to produce

advertising campaigns, as well as videos for mu-

sic stars. About a quarter of its annual sales comes

from these commercial commissions. The other

CRACKING IDEAS

Aardman, creators of Britain’s national treasures, Wallace & Gromit, have learned how to retain, and

profit from, their intellectual property (IP). This article was first published in the May 2011 issue of, the

e-newsletter, IP Insight

1

, and has been adapted with the permission of the IP Office of the United Kingdom.

Wallace & Gromit, a

comical pair of inventors

dreamed up at lm

school by Nick Park.

1. www.ipo.gov.uk/news/

newsletters/ipinsight.

htm

Photo: Aardman Animations Ltd 2011