Animation Studio Petrick Joins the Masters & Savant Stable
May 23, 2026
Fresh off a successful festival run, this beautifully drafted short film from directors Karl Doran, Winston Tsang, and the animation crew at Flow in Manchester wrap the magic of creative collaboration in myth and mystery.
Karl Doran and Winston Tsang: “We wanted to push ourselves as a studio to try some new art styles and animation techniques, so we decided to create a short film where the inhabitants of the Forest of Eels answer a mysterious call, summoning them to join a sacred ritual.
“With characters based on the Flow team, the film tells a story of creative collaboration – that alchemy that happens when like-minded people are drawn together.
“The idea was to use a strong limited color palette, combined with a bold graphic style, influenced by comic art and eastern culture.”
“Often with an animated film the story comes first, and the characters are made to fit into it. In this case, illustration legend Guy McKinley had been sketching animal characters based on the Flow team, and we loved them so much we knew we had to animate them.
“We experimented with halftone textures, brushstrokes, and colors, until we were happy with the look. The idea was to use a strong limited color palette, combined with a bold graphic style, influenced by comic art and eastern culture.
“At the same time as testing the character animation, we set up layered compositions in After Effects for the landscapes. We then recreated some of the artwork using Cinema 4D to create depth in the shots, and move the artwork into 3D space. This allowed us to create the camera fly-throughs in the forest and riverbed shots.
“We were really lucky to collaborate with the super talented team at Sanctus, who created a bespoke soundscape for the film. The sound perfectly builds the tension in the opening shots and creates the atmosphere of foreboding that we wanted – all building to the crescendo of the final shot.”
Production: Flow
Director: Karl Doran, Winston Tsang
Production Manager: Emma Shaw
Art Director: Winston Tsang, Guy Mckinley
Character Designers: Guy Mckinley, Elena Gonzalez Sanchez
Animator: “Winston Tsang, James Lawson, Rosa Kennedy, Jordan Painter, Guilherme Gomes, Inês Margarida
Sound Design: Sanctus Audio
Team: Wesley Slover, Trevor Richardson, Kevin Mosher
