Introducing...Jens & Anna!

Picasso Pictures is extremely happy to announce the signing of new directing team Jens & Anna.

This imaginative directing duo, exude charm and humour through their fresh and quirky 2D character design and 3D motion and composition. Animating in 3D gives their cute characters an additional quality and freedom, they also utilise stop-motion to great effect, combining technology with creativity.

London based for the last ten years, both hailing from Germany; they have been making a great impact on the Short Film Festival circuits with their short films 'The Squirrel and The Penguin' and 'Cooked'.

Picasso: So who are Jens and Anna?

Jens and Anna: We are Jens Blank & Anna Benner. We met playing inmates of a lunatic asylum.

P: Where in the world were you born?

J&A: We're both from outside Cologne, somewhere between the city, the forest and suburbia. The latest bus to Anna's house would go at 7pm

P: Where in the world do you currently live?

J&A: London

P: How did you get into Animation?

J&A: We got pretty addicted while studying illustration. Being able to give your creations life that extends beyond a still image was a pretty cool moment and it just made -click-

P: Did you study film-making or animation? If so, where?

J&A: After our BA we worked in the industry for a bit. Jens went to study directing for animation at the National Film and Television School. Anna did a Masters in Film Aesthetics at Oxford Uni, spending a wonderful year thinking and writing about film and animation

P: How would you describe your style? How did it develop?

J&A: Playful, imaginative, funny, quirky and sometimes even cute. When we start a new project we bring together our individual likes and strengths. Anna enjoys to work with textures and handmade stuff while Jens brings in a graphical touch and a bit of 3D.

P: What's been the biggest influence in your career?

J&A: A Wacom, a brush pen, Quink, Forests, Ice Cream and our second monitors.

P: Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

J&A: How about thanking the academy? We'd like to be amazing at making people laugh, which is a very hard thing to do.

P: Is there one specific project that you feel best sums up your style?

J&A: Our latest short 'The Squirrel and the Penguin' the 'Greenpeace Ocean Action' video and 'Don't Swim after Lunch' give a good idea of what we enjoy doing.

P: Tell us a secret!

J&A: We fight about potatoes and cauliflower

Please enjoy some of Jens and Anna's work below!