People

What is your name?

My name is Andrew Park

What do you do at Cognitive Media?

I’m the Director of Cognitive Media

And what does that involve?

Well sometimes I have a lot of different hats but ultimately, I think what people see first off is my hand drawing the pictures that are the public view of Cognitive Media. Behind the scenes, I set the direction of the company and hopefully that direction helps me to work on lots of creative stuff that I’ve set for the team and also myself. It’s basically setting the agenda for the company so that we have good projects to work on and also to delight our clients.

Apart from your role here, what else do you do?

I am married to Caroline, who is the most amazing wife. She is doing a much harder job than i'm doing in being a full time mum and bringing up our two children. If it wasn't for Caroline I wouldn't be able to do what I am doing at work. It's a real partnership. We also own a dog called Margot who is part of the team here at Cognitive Media. She's the naughty one.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Funnily enough I wanted to be an Animator and I went a really long way around it to end up becoming an Animator via Fine Art and the like.

What three words would you use to describe Cognitive Media?

Innovative…fresh and fun.

What is your favourite Cognitive Media Animate?

Oh, I think it’s the Renata Salecl one. It’s the first one that I really started to dig beneath the surface of with content, beyond the actual words to the actual meaning. I know that sounds like I should’ve been doing that anyway, but added research behind the words that were supplied to me by the audio, doing my own research. It tied it back to my fine art practice, I think they call it. It really helped me cement my Cognitive Media practice, which is sometimes client-driven, but I’ve also united that with my art practice brain, a real glue between those two worlds.

Apart from the Cognitive Media Animates, what else do you watch on YouTube?

I don’t like watching cats playing pianos but that wasn’t the question. So, this is going to sound really odd, but I don’t watch a lot of TV, I’m quite myopic really. I like old school stuff, old 1950s cartoons. I don’t watch a lot of YouTube, that sounds counter-intuitive, I should be watching everything. I like to read some of the comments on YouTube about our work, the arguments that people get into is I quite fascinating. As you produce this work, a kind of discourse develops totally separate from your original work, which I find really interesting. It's like having a baby.  You produce this offspring and it enters the world and has its own life and people talk about it in a way you never thought they’d talk about it. And I enjoy that side of it.

What is the best thing about Folkestone?

The best thing about Folkestone is the fact that it is turning a corner and actually being regenerated.

If the whole world was a drawing, which animated character would you be?

If I was an animated character? I like Mickey Mouse, I mean an old school Mickey Mouse, the early, Steamboat Willy Mickey Mouse. He was kind of like Douglas Fairbanks character, he was a bit of a swashbuckler, and he could fly planes, rescue the girl and be adventurous. He wasn’t the Mickey Mouse that people see now, cute voiced and pink, he was quite rugged and black and white. I quite like that.

What is your favourite film?

That’s a good question. It used to be Stanley Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey. I am questioning that now a bit as Kubrick has got a tendency to be quite left brain, even though he is very visual, he is quite cold. I question myself sometimes in that way, am I a bit cold?  I like it for its scope and vision, but almost like you are watching it through a mirror or two-way glass, seems to be the way Kubrick directs. There is nothing fluffy about Kubrick, it is voyeuristic, you’re watching the film through a screen.

What book would you recommend to a friend?

Wuthering Heights. I think it’s really romantic. It’s amazing that it’s really passionate and there is massive soul to it and you live it. And my wife recommended it to me.

Tell us something we don’t know about you.

There are a lot of things people don’t know about me. I have shaken hands with Jesse Jackson whilst being naked.

Tell us a fact about someone else from Cognitive Media.

A fact or an assumption? I know Brad’s got a favourite jumper and it’s the star of many an animate. It’s like Where’s Wally? but with Brad’s jumper.

What is your name?

My name’s Brad.

What do you do at Cognitive Media?

I’m the Animator/Editor and I make things move and look nice.

Apart from your role here, what else do you do?

I go to the cinema quite a lot, go to gigs, gaming, oh and model villages and castles. I like going to castles.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Ummm, I don’t actually know, some form of Artist or making drawings or something.

What three words would you use to describe Cognitive Media?

Fun, friendly and creative.

What is your favourite Cognitive Media Animate?

The BGC3 Animate.

Apart from the Cognitive Media Animates, what else do you watch on YouTube?

Lots of cat videos. Stupid music videos and loads of other Animations, comedy Animations.

What is the best thing about Folkestone?

The sea and the countryside right next to each other.

If the whole world was a drawing, which animated character would you be?

Captain Planet.

What is your favourite film?

I’ve got loads but one of my favourites is Jurassic Park.

What book would you recommend to a friend?

Professor Branestawm by Norman Hunter. It’s about a crazy scientist.

Tell us something we don’t know about you.

I’m secretly a woman.

Tell us a fact about someone else from Cognitive Media.

Andrew wears a toupee… Can you put that on there? Please. It is true.

What is your name?

Rob Coward.

What do you do at Cognitive Media?

I am the Business Manager.

Apart from your role here, what else do you do?

I’m married with two children, we’ve got a dog who is very much part of the family so we spend lots of time out walking at the weekends. I’m a trustee of the Shepway Citizens Advice Bureau and Chair of Governors at my children’s primary school. I also work with a charity in London providing healthcare for homeless people and my daughter and I are season ticket holders at Harlequins Rugby team.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I was never a child that wanted to be a fireman or a train driver. My dad worked in sales and in an office management job and I just wanted to be like him.

What three words would you use to describe Cognitive Media?

Innovative, leaders and cool.

What is your favourite Cognitive Media Animate?

The latest RSA Animate, Iain McGilchrist's The Divided Brain. Every time I watch it I learn something new.

Apart from the Cognitive Media Animates, what else do you watch on YouTube?

N/A

What is the best thing about Folkestone?

I love the whole harbour area, which has changed a lot over the last few years and is definitely 'on the up'.

If the whole world was a drawing, which animated character would you be?

Garfield - the strip cartoon one rather than the animated one though.

What is your favourite film?

Currently Cinderella, my daughter absolutely loves it!

What book would you recommend to a friend?

Voices and Silences which, the autobiography of James Earl Jones.

Tell us something we don’t know about you.

I’ve had dinner with George Michael.

Tell us a fact about someone else from Cognitive Media.

N/A

What is your name?

Daniel Stirrup.

What do you do at Cognitive Media?

I am an Animator / Editor.

And what does that involve?

Taking a lot of the images that Andrew prepares and breathing life into them, editing footage that we shoot of him as he draws.

Apart from your role here, what else do you do?

I do a lot of things. I’ve got my own allotment, I grow lots of vegetables. I play the guitar. I enjoy walking and looking for fossils down on Folkestone beach.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I think when I was very young I wanted to be a mad Scientist.

What three words would you use to describe Cognitive Media?

Fascinating, artistic and creative.

What is your favourite Cognitive Media Animate?

Umm, I am very interested in the RSA lectures, I found all the subject matters really interesting and quite intellectually stimulating.

Apart from the Cognitive Media Animates, what else do you watch on YouTube?

All manner of silly things, I occasionally try to track down something that you haven’t seen for years.

What is the best thing about Folkestone?

Umm, I like dramatic location between the sea and the hills.

If the whole world was a drawing, which animated character would you be?

It’s a difficult question, have to come back to that one.

What is your favourite film?

I don’t have a favourite film…I have several favourite films. I’ve seen Withnail and I far too many times. That’s probably the film I can quote off the top of my head.

It depends which kind of friend. But I think The Animators Survival Kit by Richard E. Williams is great if you want to get into Animation, it’s an essential read.

Tell us something we don’t know about you.

I’ll have to come back to that one.

Tell us a fact about someone else from Cognitive Media.

Vanessa has a nice bike!

What is your name?

My name is Jason.

What do you do at Cognitive Media?

I’m a Graphics Assistant.

And what does that involve?

Editing and cleaning up images, putting storyboards together, animating. All the fun stuff!

Apart from your role here, what else do you do?

A bit of this and that. I love film and enjoy going to the cinema, and I also like watching TV dramas and comedy.

I do also go outside now and again. I love sports and I play football for a Sunday League team called SharpOne (Yes after Sean Bean, not sure what the one is about though). The rest of my time is spent with my friends and family and on occasion I have been known to socialise and meet new people, but other than that I don't really get up to much.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be both a superhero and an animator, or an animated superhero. I'm still working on the animator part.

What three words would you use to describe Cognitive Media?

Creative, exciting and fun.

What is your favourite Cognitive Media Animate?

It would have to be "The Secret Powers of Time". It was the first one I watched and I really enjoyed how it made the subject so easy to digest and fun to watch.

Apart from the Cognitive Media Animates, what else do you watch on YouTube?

I watch a lot of odd things on YouTube. I like finding random animations, comedy sketches or things I used to watch on TV when I was young. I also weirdly watch a lot of interviews, usually about upcoming films and trailers.

What is the best thing about Folkestone?

Cognitive Media obviously.

If the whole world was a drawing, which animated character would you be?

Somewhere between Tin Tin, Mr Bean and Droopy.

What is your favourite film?

Very difficult question, I'm not sure I can pick just one.

I don’t read as much as I should. I guess Twilight was pretty good. Nah I'm kidding, New Moon was much better.

Tell us something we don’t know about you.

I talk way too much

Tell us a fact about someone else from Cognitive Media.

Brad is secretly a woman