In 2010, Tate set out to encourage 5-13 year olds across the country to engage with art and get excited about visual creativity. So the Tate Movie Project (TMP) was born, a national project and a first: an animation film made by kids, for kids, using great art as inspiration.Children were able to participate in the filmmaking process in two ways. Online, the TMP lived through a virtual film studio where children could upload drawings, sound effects and ideas, talk to each other and vote for their favourite contributions. On the ground, children participated in the project through a national workshop tour.The finished film 'The Itch of the Golden Nit' was brought to life from the childrens’ contributions by world-renowned Aardman Animations, with celebrity voiceovers from David Walliams, Vic Reeves, Miriam Margoyles and Miranda Hart amongst many others. This summer a London red-carpet premiere launches the film into UK cinemas and the film will air on the BBC.

www.tatemovie.co.uk launched a call to action for submissions, supported by a press and radio campaign. Children were encouraged to submit pictures, sound effects and ideas, with the best getting a namecheck in the credits.The TMP truck began a national, four-month workshop tour of primary schools, family events and festivals, generating thousands of contributions, including ideas for the film’s storyline.Blue Peter, the BBC’s flagship children’s programme, devoted a show to the TMP on 16th September 2010. From October 2010-March 2011, workshops took place at a network of partner galleries from the Orkneys to Penzance and 25 venues in-between and a bespoke education pack was given to schools. In February 2011, the film’s title and the main voices were exclusively revealed on the BBC. To coincide with the school break, Tate ran a poster, radio and press campaign, calling for extra submissions, including ideas for the film’s ‘baddies’.

The project immediately resonated with the target age-group, keeping them engaged by ensuring that all decisions were made democratically within the TMP community. Everything, from the basic storyline to celebrities they'd like to voice characters, were suggested and voted on by them.

To date, the website has received over 52,414 contributions from kids, 458,925 site visits and 21,976 account users.The TMP truck visited 55 locations across the UK, with over 6,000 children participating in workshops with TMP facilitators. Over 30 UK galleries held events about the Tate Movie Project for primary age children.The project created valuable partnerships with funders (the UK Legacy Trust and BP) and collaborators (Aardman Animations and CBBC, the BBC’s children’s channel).

PR and media results for the finished film are not included here, but already it has won BIMA's best website, an RTS SW Award and been shortlisted for a Learning on Screen Award.