‘I’m working in my dream job’

“PEPPA Pig used to be my little sister’s favourite cartoon, and it’s crazy to think I’m now working on it,” laughs production assistant Maria Pullen.

Maria works for the animation studio Karrot. But her dream career started in 2016 with the BFI Film Academy’s National Lottery-funded week-long animation and VFX course. She later applied to the BFI-supported Future Skills scheme and ended up working on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – which was “like being in a lucid dream”.

She’s now developing her own show and, as a mixed-race Filipino/Briton, is keen to help fellow creatives of colour who want to work in the industry: “I believe it is just as important to reflect the diverse world we live in within the workplace as well as on-screen.”