Joe studied computer science, then went to Maine to build wooden sailboats before boredom and isolation sparked a whole new creative life. He tells Gilly how he makes his content with just an iPad, microphone, and Premiere, and why he was determined to end Kid Vampire cleanly rather than exploit its success.

You'll hear how a silly voice became something deeply personal, drawn from his experience as a first-generation American, and why he trusts his own instincts when it comes to fan suggestions. Joe's short film pick is Kid Vampire itself — the full movie. Settle in and get all lit up!

WATCH Kid Vampire Full Movie

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Don Hertzfeldt is referenced in yet another episode of All Lit Up!

You can watch his work on Youtube or Dropout TV. Dropout TV will also premiere Hertzfeldt's September 2026 release, Paper Trail.

YouTube

Dropout TV

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All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

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Martin unpacks what it meant to grow up a gay Traveller in a small Irish town, how creative storytelling is in both his blood and his name, and how he considers which projects to work on next. He shares how his play (soon-to-be short film) The Dead House, was inspired by the sight of men laughing at a funeral and why he thinks comedy is the best way into hard subjects.

Plus, hear an exclusive scoop on a new project Martin is working on with Lighthouse Studios...

In a conversation that ranges from the nomadic history of Irish Travellers through how the nickname 'Beanz' came about to the sound of rain on a tin roof, Martin closes with a reading of an original piece written to a 1963 photograph of his grandparents' wagon, Home.

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Martin Beanz Warde is a multi-disciplinary artist and a prominent voice in today’s Irish media. As Ireland's first gay Traveller comedian, he uses his platform to advocate for human rights, most recently as the TV presenter of RTÉ’s sustainability docuseries The End of the World with Beanz (2024-).

As a comedian, he’s worked with Des Bishop on Joy in the Hood (2005) and toured Ireland with his stand-up show Gomey Feen (2019). As an award-winning journalist and photojournalist, he writes for The Irish Times and the Examiner and has opened two exhibitions on Traveller identity and experiences - Through Our Eyes at Photo Museum Ireland and The Mincéirí Archives with the National Museum. As a writer and performer, he sold out his one-man show The Dead House (2023) at its opening run in Dublin Theatre Festival, and has just wrapped production on the short film adaptation.

With a BA in Sociology and Politics from NUI and an MA in Journalism from University of Limerick, Martin is also highly-sought-after TV and radio guest.

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All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

Visit lighthousestudios.ie or follow the studio on social media to stay up to date with all news and the latest episodes.

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Ever wondered who makes the sound of a kiss, a footstep, or a spaceship snack floating in zero gravity?

On this episode of All Lit Up, host Gilly Fogg is joined by Ellen Heuer, an award-winning Foley artist with over 45 years of experience bringing Hollywood's biggest films to life through sound.

From her home in LA, Ellen takes you from her surprise start as a dancer-turned-Foley-artist to unforgettable stories from working with David Lynch, Pixar, and the team behind Apollo 13.

You'll hear how she built sounds for Ratatouille, The Incredibles, and Cars, and get an honest look at the physical and emotional toll of decades spent performing for the screen.

Ellen also shares two short film recommendations; including the sound-driven animated short (and 2026 Oscar Nominee) Butterfly. Settle in and press play.

WATCH BUTTERFLY on YouTube

Read more about Ellen's upcoming book on her life in the industry, If These Shoes Could Talk, over on her website.

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Ellen Heuer is a celebrated foley artist and storyteller whose career spans over four decades in film and television. Her work has been heard in countless acclaimed productions, though rarely seen — until now.

Now, her currency is the joy to share with you this exclusive and unique world of sound with all the old-fashioned, analogue charm one could imagine.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Ellen resides in the Hollywood Hills where she teaches at USC, Motion Pictures Sound Editors, Crossroads Elementary, and various international panels on sound design.

Selected Credits

12 Years A Slave —Foley Artist / 2013

The Fifth Element —Foley Artist / 1997

Shawshank Redemption —Foley Artist / 1994

Schindler’s List —Foley Artist / 1993

Who Framed Roger Rabbit —Foley Artist / 1988

Back To The Future —Foley Artist / 1985

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All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

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Tom lays out how frustrations can drive growth and fuel passion projects - though not always without a cost. Gilly and Tom also discuss how breaking into the animation industry differs now vs then and how to balance nostalgia with modern advances.

In this not-to-be-missed launch of season 2, we also welcome the return of the Short Film segment as Gilly and Tom discuss his recommended watch "The Cat Came Back" by Cordell Barker (1988).

Watch The Cat Came Back

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All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

Visit lighthousestudios.ie or follow the studio on social media to stay up to date with all news and the latest episodes.

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Plus we hear why Georina chose the 1930s classic, The Mascot, for her short film selection.

Watch The Mascot here!

Georgina Hayns. Director of Character Fabrication

Georgina Hayns has served as a puppet creator and creative director for over 30 years. Her career began in the UK, working for Cosgrove Hall Films with puppet-makers Mackinnon & Saunders. She worked on projects including BBC Television’s Noddy, HIT Entertainment’s Bob the Builder, Lipton® Brisk® Tea and Puffs Tissues. She also worked on the animated feature films Mars Attacks! and Corpse Bride and shorts including the Academy Award®-nominated Periwig Maker.

She was the Creative Puppet Fabrication Supervisor at Laika for over 10 years, supervising the puppet builds on the Oscar-nominated films: Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and The Missing Link.

Georgina is currently at Shadowmachine and served as Creative and Technical Director of Character Fabrication for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. She then moved on to the TV show In The Know, currently streaming on Peacock and Season 2 of The Tiny Chef Show, which airs on Nickelodeon.

Georgina serves as a creative and technical consultant and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

Visit lighthousestudios.ie or follow the studio on social media to stay up to date with all news and the latest episodes.

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If you haven't already seen Lisa's latest work, we recommend you head straight to Netflix for Long Story Short, the highly anticipated adult animation from the team behind Bojack. Season One is excellent - and Season Two is on the way!

This one’s for anyone obsessed with character-driven comedy, and the messy, collaborative craft that is adult animation.

All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

Visit lighthousestudios.ie or follow the studio on social media to stay up to date with all news and the latest episodes.

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Plus we hear Emily's short film choice, the 2019 short film Goldie - written and directed by Emily and which was later adapted into a series on Apple TV+.

Goldie

A giant girl feels out of scale in her colorful little town, only to realize she takes up just the right amount of space.

Watch Goldie here!

Emily Brundige

Emily Brundige is the creator of GOLDIE on Apple TV+ and the mind behind the cult-favorite YouTube series Pubertina, with over a decade of experience crafting original, heartfelt, and slightly oddball stories for kids and families. She served as Story Editor on Hilda Season 3 and Head Writer on Big Nate. Emily recently self-published A Guide to Developing Animated Shows, praised by animation legends Joe Brumm (Bluey), Jorge Gutierrez (El Tigre), and Chris Viscardi (The Adventures of Pete & Pete). Her latest project, Strawberry Vampire, is a Kickstarter-backed pilot animatic about a family of strawberry-draining vampires trying to blend into American suburbia.

Find Emily and Li'l Toughy on Substack here.

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All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

Visit lighthousestudios.ie or follow the studio on social media to stay up to date with all news and the latest episodes.

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Posy's landmark characters include reworkings of female characters from 19th century literature Gemma Bovery and Tamara Drewe, both of which began as serialised cartoons published by The Guardian and were later published as graphic novels, before being turned into feature films.

In 1997, Famous Fred, the Joanna Quinn short film adapted from Posy's children's book, Fred, was nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Short Animation and won the British Academy Children's Award for Animation the same year. The film was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 1998.

Join Posy and Gilly as they discuss Posy's lifetime of storytelling, from her early love of creating comic strips right through to her retrospective exhibition in Paris's Centre Pompidou and winning the prestigious Grand Prix at Angoulême in 2024, the first British comic creator to ever win the prestigious award.

Plus, we hear Posy's short film recommendation, Un Chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí.

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Un Chien Andalou

Un Chien Andalou is the 16-minute debut film from Spanish and Mexican director, Luis Buñuel, who teamed up with artist, Salvador Dalí for this surrealist, dream-like narrative that has both shocked and influenced audiences ever since its release in 1929.

Watch Un Chien Andalou here!

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All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

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Maggie and Chris share the steps they took to push their film forward, when they had to push back instead, and how an idea pitched over brunch became a multi-million-dollar production.

Hosted by interviewer extraordinaire, Gilly Fogg.

Recorded in October 2025

MAGGIE KANG - DIRECTOR

Maggie Kang is a director of Sony Pictures Animation’s KPop Demon Hunters, which originated from her idea and is now streaming on Netflix.

Kang began her career at DreamWorks Animation as a story artist on various projects including the Puss In Boots franchise and The Croods: A New Age, as well as Rise of the Guardians, Kung-Fu Panda 3, Trolls, Shrek Forever After, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Over the Hedge.

Prior to joining Sony Animation, Kang contributed her talents as a story artist at Illumination Entertainment on Minions: The Rise of Gru, and Warner Animation Group, where she was Head of Story on The LEGO Ninjago Movie.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Kang grew up in Toronto, Canada and attended Sheridan College where she studied classical animation.

CHRIS APPELHANS - DIRECTOR

Chris Appelhans is a director of Sony Pictures Animation’s KPop Demon Hunters, now streaming on Netflix, with fellow director Maggie Kang.

Appelhans wrote and directed Sony Pictures Animation’s 2021 animated feature film Wish Dragon, also streaming on Netflix.

Prior to joining Sony Pictures Animation, Appelhans wrote and developed several original projects with major studios including Disney, Laika and Paramount.

Appelhans began his career as a concept artist on animated hits such as The Princess and the Frog, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Monster House, before moving into production design on the stop-motion feature Coraline, which earned him an Annie Award nomination for his work on the film.

Appelhans’ other credits include story artist and illustrator on The Little Prince and character designer on Rise of the Guardians.

Appelhans studied illustration at the Art Center College of Design. He resides in Eagle Rock with his wife Maurene and their cat.

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All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

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In each episode of All Lit Up! we ask our guests to recommend a short film to our listeners. Candy's choice was....

Hen His Wife / His Wife is a Chicken

This 1990 Palme d'Or nominee for Best Short Film is from Igor Kovalyov and is about the relationship between a married couple, which shatters when a visitor reveals to the husband that his wife is secretly a hen.

Watch Hen His Wife here!

Candy Guard

Writer, author, animator and director Candy Guard began her career with short animated films for Channel 4, the BBC and MTV - 'Alternative Fringe' (1988) 'Fatty Issues' (1988) 'Fantastic Person' (1990) and many others.

Candy then created, wrote and directed 20 episodes of the cult animated series for Channel 4, 'Pond Life', overseeing 20 animators. She had a long running strip cartoon in the Observer magazine called P.T.O and her first novel 'Just A Little Disco on an Open-Top Bus.' was published by Penguin in 2006. Between 2012 and 20015 Macmillan published her series of books for 8 - 12-year olds, 'Turning to Jelly', 'Jelly Has a Wobble' and 'Jelly Breaks the Mould.'

Candy was given a grant by the BFI in 2022 as part of their Short Form Animation Fund to make her film, 'She's My Best Friend (And I Hate Her)'. She was dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century and managed to learn the animation programme, TV Paint, in order to make her film (with the help of a wonderful little crew).

Learning TV Paint, and the sound recording programme, Audacity, allowed Candy to get back to what she did at the start of her career - making short animations in a simple style doing all the production herself, including the voices, except now on a Wacom Cintiq instead of paper!

Candy has a YouTube Channel, 'Dolly Pond - Fantastic Lifestyle Channel', where you can watch all her work including her new mini films.

Candy is currently writing her 4th Novel, 'The Butchers and The Bakers.' She lives in South East London with her husband the animation director and illustrator Robin Shaw and their rescue dog, Bernie.

Find Dolly Pond's Fantastic Lifestyle YouTube Channel here!

Find Candy on Instagram here!

All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

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Join Michael and Gilly as they discuss finding the perfect IP to adapt and how to go about securing the rights. Plus, hear Michael and Gilly discuss the Nick Park Oscar winning short, Creature Comforts.

Creature Comforts

Nick Park's 1989 Academy Award® winning short film, Creature Comforts features a series of interviews with the animals in an English zoo. Used to open spaces and sunnier climates, they comment on accommodation, diet and of course – the English weather! The short film premiered in 1989 on Channel Four as part of a series called Lip Synch. The series was ground-breaking, using real recorded voices with animated characters.

Later Creature Comforts also went across the pond to the USA where the unique format was used once again to tell real-life stories from people in America.

Watch Creature Comforts here!

MICHAEL ROSE

Michael Rose is joint CEO and co-founder of Magic Light Pictures.

Michael began his career programming and running independent cinemas in Plymouth and Bristol before moving into television, where he spent four years at Channel Four as a buyer of international programming.

In the mid-1990s, Michael joined the renowned Aardman Animations as Head of Development. There, he played a key role in growing the studio, launching its feature film division and serving as Executive Producer on hit films Chicken Run and the Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, both produced with DreamWorks.

Earlier in his Aardman career, he produced Nick Park’s Oscar-winning A Close Shave, as well as two other Oscar-nominated shorts, Humdrum and Wat’s Pig. His television credits there include Rex the Runt and the pioneering web series Angry Kid. He has won two individual BAFTA awards for his producing work.

In 2003, Michael founded Magic Light Pictures with fellow producer Martin Pope. Since then, the company has built a worldwide reputation for creating distinctive, high-quality entertainment for children and families. Michael has produced a string of successful productions including The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, Zog, Revolting Rhymes, The Snail and the Whale, Chico and Rita, Pip and Posy, and most recently Tabby McTat. The company oversees not only production, but licensing, global distribution and marketing. Its work has been nominated for four Oscars, and won five Baftas, five International Emmys and two Children’s and Family Emmys.

Beyond animation, Michael’s producing credits include feature films Wild Target, starring Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt; Sparkle starring Stockard Channing, Bob Hoskins and Shaun Evans; and wildlife documentary One Life, narrated by Daniel Craig.

In 2024 Michael was awarded the OBE for services to animation.

All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

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Plus, Kevin and Gilly have a conversation on the short clip from Enchanted, 'Happy Little Working Song'.

Please note: This episode was recorded during the Kilkenny Animated festival in October 2025, before the tragic passing of director and producer, Rob Reiner, whose film The Princess Bride is referenced in this interview.

Happy Little Working Song - Enchanted

Find the clip here!

About Kevin Lima

KEVIN LIMA traces his fascination with animation to seeing Disney’s Jungle Book in 1967, when at the film’s end, he told his mother, “I’m going to make that when I grow up.”

Lima was true to his word and after graduating from the California Institute of the Arts worked on many of the films of the Disney’s renaissance including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin before taking the director’s chair on A Goofy Movie and Tarzan.

In 2000, Kevin made his live-action feature film debut with 102 Dalmatians, then the TV movies Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmastime for which he won the Director’s Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs. His film, Enchanted was the joyous culmination of all of Lima’s filmmaking experiences in live-action and animation.

Currently, Kevin and his wife, Brenda Chapman, the Academy Award winning director of The Prince of Egypt and Brave, have combined their talents, developing and writing a slate of diverse projects across all media and platforms.

Lima is represented by David Saunders at IAG and Farhad Amid at McKuin Frankel Whitehead LLP.

All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

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Plus, a departure from our usual short film discussion, as Sarah and Gilly take a look at the story-led gaming app, Florence.

Florence

At 25, Florence Yeoh feels a little stuck. Her life is an endless routine of work, sleep, and spending too much time on social media. Then one day, she meets a cello player named Krish who changes everything about how she sees the world.

Experience every beat of Florence and Krish’s relationship through a series of bespoke gameplay vignettes – from flirting to fighting, from helping each other grow... to growing apart.

Drawing inspiration from ‘slice of life’ graphic novels and webcomics, Florence is intimate, raw and personal.

Read more or download HERE!

About Sarah Wallendjack

Sarah Wallendjack is an Emmy award-winning Executive Producer with a 20+ year career developing and creating impactful children’s content.

Prior to joining PBS KIDS as the Senior Director of Content Development, Sarah served as Vice President of Development and Production at 9 Story Media Group where she Co-Created Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures, having worked her way up to Executive Producer working across 103 episodes over three seasons of the original series. She also developed and Executive Produced Netflix’s Charlie’s Colorforms City, and served as the Supervising Producer on five seasons of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

A leader in the industry, Sarah was the President of the Children’s Media Association and is passionate about fostering the next generation of children’s media makers.

In her free time, Sarah enjoys scuba diving, synchronized swimming, sewing a handmade wardrobe, the Muppets, and making things.

All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

Follow the studio on social media to stay up to date with all news and the latest episodes.

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Harvey Krumpet

Harvey Krumpet is the 2004 Academy Award winning short film by Adam Elliott and the biography of a man who has Tourette's Syndrome, chronic bad luck, menial jobs, nudist tendencies, and a book of "fakts" hung around his neck.

Watch HARVEY KRUMPET here!

The Mask

In a world where everyone has masks, a couple always wears smiles for each other. One day he loses his smile outside, and she is waiting for him. By Hyoung-Min Choi.

Watch THE MASK here!

About Mackinnon & Saunders

Ian and Peter are co-founders of Mackinnon & Saunders, the world-renowned leaders in character development for animation and producers of stop motion and 2D digital animation. Over 3 decades the team at Mackinnon & Saunders have brought some of the best-known animated characters to life for movies and TV series.

The team have crafted puppets for Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox, Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks!, Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie and Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar winning Pinocchio for Netflix.

The Mackinnon & Saunders studio produce the animation for countless projects, including The House, Postman Pat, Twirlywoos, Raa Raa the Noisy Lion, and most recently animated sequences for Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

Follow the studio on social media to stay up to date with all news and the latest episodes.

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The Man who Planted Trees

The Man who Planted Trees is the 1988 Academy Award winning story of a shepherd's single handed quest to re-forest a barren valley. Directed by Frédéric Back.

Watch THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES here!

About Brenda Chapman

BRENDA CHAPMAN started her career as a story artist at Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1987, where she worked on several animated films including The Little Mermaid, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Oscar nominated Beauty and the Beast. Brenda was the story supervisor on the original The Lion King, for which she won ASIFA’s Annie Award.

Brenda then helped launch DreamWorks Animation Studios, and co-directed the 1998 release of the Oscar winning Prince of Egypt. She also developed several projects at DWA and consulted on Shrek, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron among others.

Joining Pixar Animation Studios in September 2003, Brenda created, wrote and directed Brave – inspired by her relationship with her daughter – for which she won an Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film.

Her live-action debut, Come Away, starring David Oyelowo and Angelina Jolie, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

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Rejected

'Rejected' is Don Hertzfeldt's 2001 Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Short Film, featuring a collection of animated television commercials that were rejected because of their creator's failing grip on sanity.

Watch REJECTED here!

About Steve Levy

Steve Levy is the Vice President and Executive Producer at Dan Harmon’s company, Harmonious Claptrap, where they are producing: multiple seasons of RICK AND MORTY; the Fox animated comedy KRAPOPOLIS, which has already been renewed for a fifth season; the soon to be released HAUNTED HOTEL for Netflix and; the highly anticipated COMMUNITY movie.

All Lit Up! is a Lighthouse Studios production.

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