In 2012, Animation Portfolio Workshop was proud to be listed in the Animation Career Review’s top 100 Animation Schools in the World. To find out more about APW’s unique approach to helping students gain a substantial advantage in the competitive world of applying to top animation schools, writer Bonnie Boglioli-Randall interviewed APW Directors Gerard Sternik and Vince Peets.
Many thanks to each budding character designer who submitted drawings to the 2013 Character Design Contest! Our special guest judge Jim Zubkavich (Program Coordinator for Seneca Animation Arts Centre in Toronto *at the time of writing this post*) looked at all of the characters and chose Maisie Li’s character as deserving the 1st prize – free tuition for the 2013/2014 session of the Animation Portfolio Workshop. Here are some of Jim’s thoughts on what he saw in Maisie’s character.
Pixar animator and Animation Portfolio Workshop alumnus Graham Finlay dropped by to speak to Animation Portfolio Workshop students. Graham shared his story of starting off as a an APW student, moving on to 3 years of animation school at Seneca Animation Arts Centre and then getting his first job as an animator on tv series and feature films. These experiences eventually led him to San Francisco CA where he currently works as an animator at Pixar.
There was no shortage of questions from these motivated APW students. “What’s an average day like working at Pixar?…”How did you get the job?”…”Did animation school prepare you for the work you do now?” etc. Graham happily took the time to answer each question and surely inspired some future animators along the way. These students are at the beginning of the process of assembling their animation portfolios and then after that, applying to top animation schools. This kind of encouragement goes a long way!
The Animation Portfolio Workshop has been identified as one of the Top 100 Schools for Animation, Gaming and Design. In the world.
“To help students navigate through the world of animation schools, we’ve put together the Top 100 most highly-regarded and sought after animation schools on the planet.” Animation Career Review on April 17, 2012
