All Lit Up!

Lighthouse Studios

ALL LIT UP is a brand new podcast from Lighthouse Studios hosted by Head Creative, Gilly Fogg. Each episode features a special guest who shares the secrets of their creative success, plus one short film they think everyone needs to see. Season One features directors, producers, writers and artists from right across the creative industries.

Episodes

  1. Pitch Perfect: How to Spark Ideas That Light Up Children’s Content. With Emmy-winning Producer, Sarah Wallendjack.

    23/12/2025

    Pitch Perfect: How to Spark Ideas That Light Up Children’s Content. With Emmy-winning Producer, Sarah Wallendjack.

    In Episode 4, Sarah Wallendjack shares PBS's open-door policy for creative pitches and what it is that the team looks for - other than a great story, of course! 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. Instagram: @lighthousestudiosire LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lighthousestudios

    22 min
  2. Crafting by Hand, Building out of Necessity, and the Short Films, Harvey Krumpet and The Mask, With Stop Motion Legends, Ian MacKinnon and Peter Saunders.

    16/12/2025

    Crafting by Hand, Building out of Necessity, and the Short Films, Harvey Krumpet and The Mask, With Stop Motion Legends, Ian MacKinnon and Peter Saunders.

    Ian MacKinnon & Peter Saunders discuss building their world-famous stop motion studio out of necessity, how a soup spoon transformed the Corpse Bride, and their long-established relationship with Tim Burton. 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. Instagram: @lighthousestudiosire LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lighthousestudios

    20 min
  3. Getting to the Heart of the Story, Channeling Challenges into Fairytales, and the Frédéric Back short, The Man Who Planted Trees. With Academy Award Winner, Brenda Chapman.

    09/12/2025

    Getting to the Heart of the Story, Channeling Challenges into Fairytales, and the Frédéric Back short, The Man Who Planted Trees. With Academy Award Winner, Brenda Chapman.

    Brenda Chapman tells the incredible story of her life and career to date, from being roped into directing her first major studio feature to how becoming a mother led her to create the Academy Award winning feature, BRAVE. Featuring a Discussion on the Frédéric Back short, The Man Who Planted Trees. 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. Follow the studio on social media to stay up to date with all news and the latest episodes. Instagram: @lighthousestudiosire LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lighthousestudios

    21 min

About

ALL LIT UP is a brand new podcast from Lighthouse Studios hosted by Head Creative, Gilly Fogg. Each episode features a special guest who shares the secrets of their creative success, plus one short film they think everyone needs to see. Season One features directors, producers, writers and artists from right across the creative industries.