Young student wows judges to win a short film contest.

A young animator from Raymonds Hill has a bright future ahead of him after winning a short film contest.

Joe Blandamer, who attends The Woodroffe School, was crowned the under-16s winner of the first ever Vue ExeterShorts with his animated film Chewing Gum Man.

“I feel very proud to have won,” says the 11-year-old.

As part of the competition he submitted nine films, three of which were chosen to go through to the final.

Joe’s interest in animation was sparked when he was around seven or eight and his enthusiasm has continued to grow.

He spends a lot of his spare time working on his animations and has his own make-shift studio in his bedroom where he films his creations using a web cam.

“Sometimes I make a model and think what I can do. I do some story boards to work out how I am going to film it,” adds Joe.

His parents and three sisters often have to lend their voices to Joseph’s animations and are over the moon about his achievement. Joe has had three films entered into Animated Exeter 2012, a week-long festival taking place this week, and has also been asked to submit his work to a festival being organised by a filmmaker in Venice.

“I feel proud that I have been able to get into all the competitions,” he added.

The young animator, who has been greatly inspired by Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman Animations, hopes to set up his own business in the future and make his own animated films.

To see some of Joe’s work visit http://vimeo.com/user6416789