Simmonds Brothers Animation

Simmonds Brothers Animation is a small film and animation compay based in Raumati South which has had remarkable success in the past few years.

Phill Simmonds and his team create animated movies that tell extraordinary stories about ordinary people through 'documation' a term Phill coined to describe his unique style of film-making - a merging of documentary and animation.

Phill, a self-taught illustrator and cartoonist, and his brother Jeff started the company around ten years ago as both had an interested in film-making. After reading a few library books on the subject, the pair were ready to start.

The movies show stories as told by real people which are filmed and then turned into 2-D, hand-drawn animations. The original audio recording of the interview is used for the voices, giving a warm authenticity to a highly entertaining, often comic visual.

As well as making award-winning short movies, Simmonds Brothers produces innovative annimations for corporate communications.

"If you want people to entertain your idea, you should first entertain them", says Phill.

The Rasta Rangi series of fifty one-minute shorts was commissioned by Maori Television as a filler show. Five fully animated DVDs have been commissoned by The Ministry of Health outlining safety procedures for small water supplies and are now being distributed all over the world.

The company was recently commissioned by Transpower to make a seven minute recruitment video.

Awards

Their short film, A Very Nice Honeymoon, the story of the 1893 wreck of the SS Wairarapa on Great Barrier Island and supported by the New Zealand Film Commission, walked away with Best Film in 2007 at the Show Me Shorts film festival.

The following year (2008) their film Noise Control, which tells the story of a local kindergarten's pet rooster that was shot to silence it, won the award again. It was also included in the Chicago International Children's Film Festival 2008.

More recently, Simmonds Brother's Animation created the world's "first animated reality show" which every week followed local band The Volunteers and was broadcast on stuff.co.nz .

Today, after winning these awards as well as the SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year award (2007), Simmonds Brother's Animation are receiving well deserved national and international attention.

The DVD, Noise Control and Other Stories From The Centre of The Universe is a collection of their films available for purchase.