Animation Mentor, the online character animation school, has brought aboard management and production vet Lori Arnold as director of career services. Arnold will tap her solid experience supervising artists and working on 20 feature films to oversee the school's job placement program and enhance its already strong ties with the studios.
Arnold comes to Animation Mentor after spending more than a dozen years at Industrial Light & Magic, where she worked her way up from production to CG department production manager. In her final role, Arnold was responsible for more than 100 artists in the animation and creature group, overseeing hiring, employee development, contract negotiations, event recruitment and more. She worked on numerous award-winning films, including PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST, WAR OF THE WORLDS and STAR WARS: EPISODE III -- REVENGE OF THE SITH, beginning as an assistant and graduating to associate producer.
Said Bobby S. Beck, president/co-founder, Animation Mentor: "With her knowledge of the industry, extensive connections and great personality, Lori will take our job placement services to the next level. She will be yet another bridge to the studios, helping us keep in touch with their employment needs and helping our students land the job of their dreams."
Added Arnold, "I am thrilled to join Animation Mentor because I believe in the talent coming from the program and have worked closely with many of the school's mentors on numerous films. Already, Animation Mentor students have found terrific jobs at companies such as Sony, DreamWorks and ILM, and I look forward to elevating their great success rate with the graduates to come."
Based in Berkeley, California, Animation Mentor (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 an 18-month program built from the ground up by its founders, Beck, Shawn Kelly and Carlos Baena, whose combined credits include CARS, FINDING NEMO and STAR WARS: EPISODE III. Animation Mentor's California-certified curriculum includes student mentoring; expert audio/video lectures; live, realtime Q&A sessions (web classes); eCritiques and 24/7 creative community.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
