Sledgehammer Revealed + David Sproxton & Susannah Shaw In Conversation

Celebrating 50 years of Aardman, we are delighted to be joined by Aardman co-founder David Sproxton in conversation with Susannah Shaw. Sledgehammer Revealed documents the making of the groundbreaking stop-motion music video for Peter Gabriel. Including extensive interviews, behind the scenes stories and a fully restored version of the legendary stop-motion video. Sledgehammer won a record-breaking 9 MTV awards and was the most played in MTV history.

David Sproxton:

David Sproxton is the co-founder of Aardman, alongside co-founder Peter Lord. He has overseen the development of the company from a two-man partnership to one of the pre-eminent animation houses in the industry. David was Director of Photography on Peter Gabriel’s 1986 Sledgehammer pop video and produced and directed the documentary on the making of the video “Sledgehammer Revealed.” He has overseen the development of the company from a two-man partnership to one of the pre-eminent animation houses in the industry. Their first professional creation was the character ‘Morph’. David co-produced many of Aardman’s feature films including “Chicken Run”, “Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”, “Flushed Away” all made in association with DreamWorks. “Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists” and “Arthur Christmas”, produced in association with Sony Pictures. “Shaun the Sheep: The Movie”, “Early Man” and “Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon,” produced in association with STUDIOCANAL. In 2006 Peter and David were awarded CBEs in the Birthday Honours and in June 2026 were ennobled as Knights Batchelor in the King’s Birthday Honours. David Sproxton spent 3 years on the Board of the UK Film Council and many years on the boards of the National Film and Television School, Bristol Old Vic, We The Curious and Encounters Film Festival, and is now a director of the Bristol Bike Project Cooperative. In 2018 David oversaw the transition of Aardman into an Employee Owned company, stepping back from the role of MD in 2019. David is now a trustee of the Aardman Employee Ownership Trust.

Susannah Shaw:

Susannah spent several years working at Aardman Animations as a camera assistant on commercials and features, and later set up the Bristol Animation Course at the University of the West of England, with support from Aardman. In 2004 she wrote a successful book: Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation. More recently, Susannah was CEO at the Curzon, retiring in 2023. *The film is an hour long, followed by an hour’s conversation and Q&A.