Students from four continents gathered Jan. 13 at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center to partake in online animation school Animation Mentor's first-ever graduation ceremony. Many flew for more than a day to meet their fellow graduates and mentors, all of whom are working studio animators, in the physical world for the first time.
The ceremony recognized graduates from the school's September and December graduating class. One hundred forty-four from 15 countries, ages ranging from 21-56, earned a diploma in Advanced Studies in Character Animation recognized by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. Many have already found jobs at such widely recognized film and gaming studios as Industrial Light & Magic, DreamWorks/PDI, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Electronic Arts.
Director Eric Darnell (MADAGASCAR, ANTZ) delivered the inspirational address at the fun and emotion-filled ceremony. Mentor Choice, Best Forum Ninja, Most Supportive Personality and other awards were given, in an event that embraced the school's roots in social networking, Internet technologies and one-on-one, mentor-focused education.
The event was kicked off by Animation Mentor founders Bobby Beck, Shawn Kelly and Carlos Baena, who gave their sincere thanks to the students and their families for believing in the school.
Darnell followed with "simple advice" for a complex world and insight into the animation industry. He counseled graduates: "Like any collaborative enterprise, animation can be pretty politically charged: one of the best tools I have found to negotiate the landscape is to give people you work with the same respect you expect them to have for you."
Darnell also delivered the hopeful message, "While the entertainment industry seems to operate on whimsy and luck, if you work hard, you will discover that luck has a way of finding talent."
The director ended his talk with congratulations and a recommendation, "You are truly making history, you are on the tip of the spear for what is happening in the 21st century for our industry and business in general. The three words to happiness and success in this world is to follow your bliss. Never forget why you are doing what you are doing, it's because you love it."
The highest achievement, the Mentor Choice Award, was given to Will Kistler, Mike Stern, David Sloss and Brandon Beckstead.
All the remaining award-winners were chosen via ballot by their fellow classmates. Aja Bogdanoff and Brad Bradbury were named Best Forum Ninja; Tom Barrett and Derek Andre were honored with Best Personality in a Q&A (web-conferencing classes); David Sloss and Brian Campbell received kudos for Best Dialogue Acting; and Fernanda Veloso and Will Kistler for Best Silent Acting.
Additional awards were handed out for Walk Cycle with the Best Personality, Most Entertaining Video Reference, Most Supportive Student and Most Improved Student.
Based in Berkeley, California, AnimationMentor.com (www.animationmentor.com) is a distance learning school at which top working professionals teach the art of character animation to students worldwide. Opened March 2005, the school offers an18-month program built from the ground up by its founders, Bobby Beck, Shawn Kelly and Carlos Baena whose combined credits include CARS, FINDING NEMO and STAR WARS: EPISODE III. AnimationMentor.com_s California-certified curriculum includes student mentoring; expert audio/video lectures; and live, realtime Q&A sessions (web classes).
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
