Throughout 2025, Fonic’s services, including our newly updated foley studio were in constant demand. Alongside ongoing work on ‘Peppa Pig’, ‘Hey Duggee’, and ‘Squirrel Club’, the spin-off series from the global hit ‘Hey Duggee’, the studio also welcomed a new cohort of students awarded the Phil Davies Award. Fonic provided sound design and mixing, for the award winning animation students from Middlesex University, offering them valuable professional sound experience.
A notable past recipient of the award is Arturs Voblikovs whose film ‘Anomaly’ received three honours at the 2025 Royal Television Society (RTS) Student Television Awards. Reflecting on his time at Fonic, Voblikovs commented: “This experience taught me how much sound really matters. After the collaboration with Fonic, I always think about what sound will be needed in each scene before I start shooting, as opposed to afterwards like I used to.”
Alongside nurturing new talent, Fonic was proud to contribute to the restoration of a British cultural icon. ‘Thomas & Friends’ series producer Ian McCue uncovered the original pilot episode of Thomas The Tank Engine from 1983 in the Mattel archives. The material required significant restoration to clean scan the film in 4K. Using the original script, the footage was then meticulously stitched together to reconstruct the pilot as closely as possible. Fonic played a key role in restoring and enhancing the sound, recreating elements of the original soundscape where necessary. Sound editor Christopher Swaine carefully crafted the new material to match the aesthetic of the original series, bringing the 40-year-old pilot to life.
The year also saw Fonic reunite with long standing collaborators, including Jonny Kelly at Nexus studios, on a commercial for Austrian energy company Energie AG. The film brought electrical outlets to life through sound and animation. Foley recordist Stephen Maxwell, working with Foley artist Andrea King, noted: “Creating the subtle blend of live and animated action requires the foley stage to be handled with finesse. It is down to the combination of the correct items and foley performances that help sell the reality of inanimate objects coming to life.”
Fonic also once again worked with director and animator Will Rose on a charming short for BBC’s Springwatch. Another standout project was ‘Kid Cupid’, created with director Campbell Hartley to celebrate Pride. The short’s vibrant, glittering sound palette perfectly complemented its joyful and playful spirit.
Looking forward, Fonic is excited to be collaborating with Animate Projects on Roam, a new initiative supporting the ‘Right to Roam’ campaign. The project will commission three artists to create original works in response to the brief, with Fonic working closely with each artist on sound design and mixing.
Further announcements will follow soon. In the meantime Fonic welcomes the opportunity to discuss both new and past projects for features in the coming year and looks forward to continuing collaborations across the creative industries.
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