FAQ

Are you hiring staff or willing to take on internships?
Nope.

Who are you?
Spite Your Face Productions.

Isn’t that a stupid name?
Yes it is, and we’re stuck with it. But then principled self-immolation is something of both a raison d’être and Achilles heel for us. For instance, choosing a stupid name on purpose.

What is Spite Your Face Productions?
Spite Your Face Productions is the animation studio and nom de plume of Director/Producer Tony Mines, offering multidisciplinary animation services to production houses or direct to client. Services range from storyboard and character design through to fully executed animated films and Explainers, on-site or remote.

Our versatile catalogue emphasises a practice of classical techniques implemented with new digital media, including traditional drawn animation, and stop-motion.

Meeting client needs worldwide since 1999, we are based in London.

Yes, I read that on the About page. But what services can you offer me?
Script and concept. Design and pre-visualisation. Storyboarding. Character design. 2D animation. Motion Graphics. Stop-motion animation. LEGO animation. AE Compositing. Illustration. Editing. Photography. Video. Academic lecturing. Children’s workshops.

Can my company hire your individual crew in a freelance capacity?
Please do. Tony Mines can be contacted for remote freelancing, or in-house to London studios, or we offer a full white-labeling service from brief to handover. Tony is UK VAT registered. Or contact Tim Drage about his availability as an animator and compositor.

What don’t you do?
We are not coders, nor a web design company. We are not accepting screenplay submissions.

What is all this about LEGO?
SYF pioneered the popular LEGO animation genre and hobby, with a series of influential and well received commercial shorts for The LEGO Group. The best of these films are available to view on this site, with further information about their production and history across our social media.

Can you make a LEGO film for my organisation?
Yes. A full service providing LEGO explainers and similar, is offered utilizing our in-house stop-motion facilities. Our working relationship with The LEGO Group may incline us to reject or edit certain briefs, but everything is open to discussion.

What is your fee for animation, LEGO or otherwise?
If you reach out to us with a detailed overview of your prospective project, we can respond with a case specific budget.

We work to a standard day rate for all animation, regardless of client or market, so differing budget outcomes will be gauged by complexity and duration.

That day rate covers all digital practices, but material practices like stop-motion, claymation, LEGO animation etc. have material overheads. Often a fixed studio rate will be included to cover these costs, but additional costs may arise as per your brief.

Audio content, including music and V.O comes from third party affiliates, and would be additionally budgeted accordingly.

How long will a project take you to complete?
Again, this depends on complexity of script/brief. But assuming a standard one to three minute duration, you can use the below as a guide:

Digital motionography projects, those with only text and infographic content, have the shortest turnarounds, and versions of a brief could be delivered inside of 5 to 15 working days.

Featured characters, human animation etc. no matter how stylised always add complexity to a project. We are reticent to advise less than a three week (15 working days) minimum for character projects. Usually three to five weeks.

Stop-motion animation, including LEGO animation, is more involved than 2D and digital processes, so we usually advise a five week (25 working days) delivery minimum for such projects.

Naturally, more demanding briefs will take longer. Some of the TV commercials you can view on this site were projects of three months or more, employing three or more persons full time.

I have a limited budget for a music video, such as those viewable in your Independent Work section. Are you available?
Sadly, running a studio is too expensive for us to take on low budget projects professionally. We offer a standard day-rate service for all projects regardless of client or intended market, and animation is generally unsuited to projects with limited resources.

The low-fi projects you will find on this site tend to be with friends and close affiliates.

I have no money to give, can I still have some animation?
Ummmmm… No. We are a working studio with working professional overheads, and are quite unprepared to operate as a charity.

May I share your work at my festival/workshop/blog etc.?
Probably. Broadcast quality materials are available upon request. If you choose to distribute our work without our permission, you will be acting in breach of our copyrights and of those of our clients, who may pursue accordingly.

What are those animation workshop videos?
SYF Director Tony Mines offers services teaching stop-motion to graduate students, or open children’s workshops for festivals and events. You’ll find the product of some of these workshops in our Independent Work section.

Please get in touch if you would like to run such a workshop at your event. Those to date have been affiliated with The LEGO Group to supply materials, so if you already have this relationship as part of an existing promotion, all the better.

Are you hiring?
Still not.

And do you take on internships?
Nuh uh.