The Wrap Programme
Action for Children
John Lewis X Action for Children X Meantime
How Animation Helped Tell a Foster Child’s Story
We know that some of the most powerful stories don’t need big effects or loud moments. They just honesty, care, and creativity. Our recent project with Action for Children and the John Lewis Partnership reminded us of that in the most moving way.
The brief was to create a short animated film that would support the Wrap programme; a therapeutic trauma support service for foster carers and the children they look after. It’s deeply human work, and it needed a sensitive, emotional treatment. Animation gave us a unique way in.
Making It Move (and Matter)
We were asked to work within a hand-drawn animation style previously used by Action for Children, a challenge we relished. Replicating a freelancer’s illustration style is no small task, but our artists Alwin and Penny did a beautiful job blending new visuals with the existing look and feel. Their illustrations had the right balance of softness and raw emotion, and the rigs developed by Alwin and Martin brought the characters to life with nuance and care.
The pre-production process included sketchboards, which really helped us map out the emotional beats of the film. Even though they were mostly used internally, they made the transition from script to screen far smoother. And a simple timeline built in After Effects (mapping the VO to rough timings) proved invaluable — making the final animation process more fluid and intuitive. We’ll definitely be doing that again.
A Team Effort, on a Tight Turnaround
Like many projects, the timeline was tight — but the team pulled together brilliantly. We had strong collaboration across roles, and the client (a pleasure to work with) was incredibly appreciative of the effort we put in. Despite a few bugs in the animation rigs, everything came together on time, and the end result resonated deeply.
One of the joys of working at Meantime Studio is that we’re not just here to be another one of many animation video companies. We care about the people behind the story; and about telling it with integrity. Projects like this let us use our craft to support organisations making real change, like Action for Children and the John Lewis Partnership.
Credits
Credits:
Producer
Martin Eke
Project Lead
Brogan O Grady
Illustrators
Penny Goodhand, Alwin Ediagbonya
Animators
Penny Goodhand, Alwin Ediagbonya Martin Eke
Sound Design
Luke Billing
Like what you see? Let’s work together