Art&Graft: In Pursuit of Magic

Art&Graft — In Pursuit of Magic, 2026-09-01: the London studio’s self-initiated short that took two years, involved 42 people and was made between commercial jobs to remind why studios make art for itself.

What happened — and why music fans should care

The film assembles five distinct characters — the Explorer, the Bird, the Skateboarder, the Trumpet Player and the Wagon — each realised in a different technique (2D, 3D, felt, hand-drawn, cartoony). That plurality is mirrored in the soundtrack: Zelig Sound joined early and built audio blind, section by section, never seeing the full picture until everything came together. For listeners and sound designers, that means the score and effects feel responsive, surprising and born from collaboration rather than a single auteur’s vision.

A studio exercise turned statement

The short began with one question posed to the whole studio: “What is the pursuit of magic for you?” Every answer was read, mixed and fed back into a communal process. The result is meant to be felt as much as followed — a sequence of creative struggles, confusions and the breakthroughs that follow. Creative director Stephen Middleton calls it “a love letter to creativity and all the facets, joys and despairs that come with the process of being creative.”

Making the film became a form of play. Art&Graft treated sections like picture consequences: one team handed work to the next without a full view of what came before. The same blind handoff applied to sound, which gives the film an elastic, collage-like rhythm that will appeal to anyone interested in how audio can reshape animation.

Why this matters beyond the studio

The project grew from Sparks, Art&Graft’s non-commercial strand that protects time for experimental work. Founder Mike Moloney and new business director Vicky Ghose frame the film as proof that side projects cultivate style, community and creative stamina. For musicians, sound artists and fans, In Pursuit of Magic is a useful reminder: when visuals and sound are developed in parallel and in partial isolation, the surprises can be where the real magic lives.

If you’re into collaborative sound design, inventive scoring or just the messy alchemy of a big creative team, this short is a clear argument for why studios should keep making things for themselves.