Check out the opening for the 2023 Producers’ Show, made by our fourth-year students, with help from our first-years! Jennifer Nie directed the opening, and Zoé Lacau produced it (full credits are in the video).
Here are some of the students who worked on it! They were so kind to give me artwork from the opening. 😭 From left to right: Jonathan, Maya, Zoé, Vivian, Jennifer and Noah.
We gathered at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures for our annual Producers’ Show on May 3, 2023 to celebrate our students’ films. View the film list and official photos from the event.
This year, Procreate partnered with us for the first time on a new award called the Procreate Award for Creativity in Animated Filmmaking. We’re very grateful for their support of our students’ work!
Check out our 2023 YouTube playlist, and 2023 Vimeo channel to see all of our students’ films from this academic year.
2023 Character Animation YouTube Playlist
The Producers’ Show took place on Wednesday May 4, 2022, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ David Geffen Theater! This was the first time since 2019 that the event was in person. We screened 27 films made by our students (view the list here), with 600 guests in attendance. Our students made truly incredible films this year, it was such a joy to see their work on screen. Thanks to CalArts leadership, and our sponsors, for making it possible for this event to take place.
Health and safety protocols were implemented, including masking at all times indoors, and proof of vaccination or negative test. For safety reasons, food wasn’t served, but we provided small boxes of Godiva chocolates to everyone after the event.
Our students’ films can be seen on our 2022 Vimeo Channel and YouTube Playlist, please check them out!
2022 Character Animation YouTube Playlist
Our annual Open Show event took place on Saturday April 24, 2021, viewable here!
The 2021 GLAS Animation Festival is currently taking place online — the festival is truly a must-see! It features a number of film competitions, retrospectives, Q&A’s, demos, and more. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to moderate a panel discussion about the upcoming feature film Arlo the Alligator Boy (Netflix), with creator Ryan Crego and several incredible artists from his team. The film will be available April 16, and the series I Heart Arlo later this year. Thanks to GLAS and the Arlo crew!
Thanks to Ellen Wolff (award-winning journalist for Animation Magazine) for the great article about how animation programs across the U.S. have adapted to teaching remotely during the pandemic, and for including the Character Animation Program!
We just launched the first-ever website showcasing all student portfolios from the Character Animation and Experimental Animation programs at CalArts!
It was a huge team effort, and I’m very thankful to all involved for their hard work — including our students, who put a ton of time and effort into preparing their digital portfolios and other materials.
Directors Michael Govier and Will McCormack, along with producer Maryann Garger, reached out a while back about If Anything Happens I Love You (Netflix), a beautiful and important film they were developing. After reading the script and having early discussions with the team, I connected them with CalArts Character Animation alumnx Youngran Nho, who became the animation director and animator on the film, as well as animators Haein Michelle Heo and Julia Gomes Rodrigues (also graduates of our program). Read more about the film on Deadline.
Update: If Anything Happens I Love You received the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in April 2021!
Read more articles: Cartoon Brew, Awards Daily, Below the Line, Film Independent, Salon, and The Signal.
It’s a great joy to be associated with the Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival, which programmed my film Bubble back in 2006, and has continued to support the film throughout the years! Many thanks to Dan Bennett, director of the festival, for organizing this fun panel discussion about filmmaking and animation, posted on the festival’s YouTube channel. (Update: the video is now private, and I’m including an Instagram post by the festival instead.)
