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Animating charities

336. Dan Heighes
339. Brydon Gerus

Dan Heighes, 42 from Teddington and Brydon Gerus, 33 from Notting Hill set up the ADCAN awards in 2014, a not-for-profit initiative that generates awareness for great charitable causes, while at the same time championing aspiring filmmakers by providing them with access to leading industry figures and organisations.

The free-to-enter competition invites unsigned creative talent to select from one of four charity briefs. They must then create a 30 second film championing its cause in a unique and engaging way, helping them to further their causes.

Last year, ADCAN awarded ‘Learning Through Landscapes’, a charity which is dedicated to enhancing outdoor learning and play for children; ‘Open Cinema’, which is a film studio for excluded communities and ‘Engineers Without Borders’ which facilitate human development in developing countries through engineering. All benefitted from the expertise made available to them through the ADCAN Awards.

Prime Minister David Cameron said:

“The ADCAN awards are a fantastic initiative to bring charities together with talented filmmakers and animators.  Dan & Brydon have taken their own experiences of the advertising industry and found a way to give something back to the community.  These awards have helped smaller charities come to life and get their messages out there, and given the next generation of filmmakers an incredible opportunity to break into the industry.   I am delighted to be recognising Dan & Brydon’s services with this Points of Light Award.”

Dan & Brydon said:

“We’ve been amazed at the positive response that we’ve received since starting the ADCAN awards. Not only have we managed to help the next generation of filmmakers get into the industry, but we’ve created some much needed content for some thoroughly worthwhile charities.  We’re looking forward to seeing where else we can take this.”

Juno Hollyhock, Executive Director of ‘Learning Through Landscapes’, said:

“We thoroughly enjoyed being involved in the ADCAN Awards. We have met such promising film-makers that have gone to the trouble to make our charity come to life and were so impressed by their talent.”

The daily Points of Light award recognises outstanding individual volunteers - people who are making a change in their community.

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