From Deseret News archives:

Demand is high for Y. animators

Published: Thursday, March 15, 2007 12:09 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
PROVO — DreamWorks Animation SKG called Brigham Young University student Emron Grover on Wednesday morning to set up an interview for one of its three coveted internships.

Grover couldn't take the call for the very reason DreamWorks and Pixar want to interview him — he was at the premiere screening of the short animation film "Las Pinatas," winner of another student Emmy for BYU's decorated animation program.

Each year, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences gives out three student Emmys — for first, second and third place — which means it has awarded 12 Emmys for computer-generated 3-D animation in the past four years.

BYU has won five of the 12.

The competition is steep, with more than 100 schools submitting 500 films each year.

The 2007 award ceremony is March 31, when the students will find out if they took first, second or third.

Previous BYU winners are "Lemmings" (2004), "Pet Shop" (2005), "Turtles" and "Noggin" (2006).

Another short film, "Faux Paw," won a 2005 student Emmy for 2-D, or hand-drawn, animation.

Story continues below
All those awards have created a market for BYU graduates, some of whom have worked or are working on computer-generated special effects for "Spider-man 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End," "Horton Hears a Who" and "Night in the Museum."

Some students have landed jobs at Pixar, maker of the "Toy Story" movies. Or ILM, which is the creation of "Star Wars" genius George Lucas. Or Weta Workshop, which did effects for Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "King Kong."

What makes BYU special is that it modeled its program after the way DreamWorks does computer animation.

Film professor Kelly Loosli worked at DreamWorks for two years. When a family situation brought him back to Utah, industrial design professor Brent Adams asked him to model BYU's program after the DreamWorks' process.

Related content
BYU Web site: film clip
"Our goal wasn't to win awards," Loosli said. "The goal was to create an education pipeline that mirrored the real world. The idea is to have students pay all of their dues on one film."

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Image
BYU

"Las Pinatas," the latest short film from BYU animation students, has won a student Emmy.

previousnext

Latest comments

I just got the TickleMe Plant Greenhouse. My children can't wait to grow a...

Let's all save up for real fur coats. They are made from renewable resources...

RSL really struggled in May & June due to poor play, several injuries, and...

Of course the police officer was cleared, did anyone expect anything...

I'm am so ashamed at the very people I call fellow brothers and sisters....

Letters: Gays' parades offensive

Maybe you didn't read the same letter that I did - he specifically stated:...

Beck needs to be silenced and silenced now. He is constantly accusing our...

I think Boise is a great team...its the fans that are insufferable. Which is...

Utahns prove love for Twilight

women want to be equal with men in the work force, but heaven forbid equal in...

Animal-rights protest issues resolved

Did we read the same article? I didn't see where it was even insinuated that...

Advertisements