Will Becher, Aardman Animations creator and co-director of "A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon," is in China for the Shanghai International Film Festival, where he will act as jury president for the festival's animation category. This is his first time in China. He says he's amazed by the culture, sights and food.

Becher runs the stop-motion program at Aardman Academy, Aardman's own training arm. His advice to young creators: don't doubt, just practice. "It's about using your hands — it's sculpting, it's creating that performance frame by frame."

Becher stresses that story always comes first,  and Chinese animation, he notes, is growing globally thanks to streaming.