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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, January 11, 2013 · 30 Sheridan graduates sought the world over By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF They are sought after the world over -- they are graduates of Sheridan College's animation program. They end up working in studios producing major motion pictures, cartoons for Saturday morning television, late night programming, video games for the most current consoles and computers, in commercials and more. After 40 years of producing animators ready to take on the challenging and constantly-changing industry, it's hard to argue with Sheridan's track record. And certainly, none of the biggest players in the industry do. "Talk about Sheridan in Oakville, Canada, who would have thought. How does that happen?" asked Marilyn Friedman, head of outreach for DreamWorks Studios, one of the largest players in the animation world. "Somehow there was critical mass over the years that ended up at that school and I'm sure it's a combination of, historically, the faculty, and the fact that Toronto's so close and there's a strong animation community in Toronto. You have a lot of influx from the industry coming through the school." DreamWorks is just one of many places Sheridan animation graduates end up in when they finish school. Others include Walt Disney Pictures and its subsidiary, Pixar Animation Studios. In the world of video games, Sheridan graduates end up with such key game makers as Electronic Arts, Microsoft Games Studio, Blizzard and Ubisoft among others. And this doesn't even include any of the smaller players in the animation industry where former students of the Oakville college can make a big splash in the industry. "There has never been a production (at Cuppa Coffee) that hasn't, in some way, shape or form, tapped into Sheridan talent," said Adam Shaheen, who founded the Torontobased stop-motion studio in 1992. Shaheen said there are numerous reasons why the Oakville pro- Artscene submitted photo stop-motion: Sheridan College animation students Noah Comar (left) and Edward Coughlan work on their stopmotion animations at their internship this past summer at Toronto's Cuppa Coffee Studios. gram is so successful. "What makes them so special is that it's a very intensive course," he said. "They have some good professionals who teach the stuff and where else do you go? It's definitely filling a niche of kids who are now agreed with those sentiments and said the school has produced many excellent character animators over the years, many of whom DreamWorks now employs. She said DreamWorks currently employs more than 40 Sheridan Over the next few weeks, The Oakville Beaver will be exploring the award-winning Animation bachelor's degree program at Sheridan College. feature film, titled Turbo, scheduled for release in theatres in 2014. Additionally, key creators on the recently-released Madagascar 3 included former Sheridan animation students Robert Koo, who was head of story, and Rex Grignon, head of character animation. "Your people are everywhere. They're not just at DreamWorks. They're all over the industry," Friedman said. "It's really amazing. It's like a little gym, like a centre of excellence or something. I cannot explain it." DreamWorks has been hiring Sheridan grads since it formed 17 years ago, but its subsidiary company, Pacific Data Images, was hiring Sheridan alumni before that. Part of the work Friedman's department at DreamWorks does is to ensure the new hires are ready for the work they will be facing. Part 1 of 3 "Your people are everywhere. They're not just at DreamWorks. They're all over the industry. It's really amazing. It's like a little gym, like a centre of excellence or something." Marilyn Friedman, head of outreach DreamWorks Studios from a very much gaming background who are interested in that sort of field. I can only see that school growing in size, not shrinking. It's uniquely placed for Toronto, there are tons of production here. It's a good thing they're here." Friedman, of DreamWorks, graduates, most of whom are working as animators. The company has 2,300 employees. A number of those Sheridan graduates have risen in the ranks of the animation studio. Among them is David Soren who is currently directing the studio's upcoming "(Sheridan graduates) absolutely are ready as much as they can be coming out of school, but walking into a studio like DreamWorks is daunting," she said. "It's a lot of pressure right out of school. We try to cushion it and make them understand how to behave, we give them extra supports for their first six months and then they really are ready." For the first six months at DreamWorks, the studio provides what it calls onboarding for each new employee. This means the new staffers are supervised more closely and meet with supervisors regularly to ensure they are learning the craft and how they can improve. "We work with about 50 schools and we know, generally speaking, the kind of individual that's coming out of Sheridan, coming out of CalArts, coming out of Texas A&M. We know the curriculum so well, we know many of the faculty, we kind-of know what we're getting in an individual coming out of a certain program. So when they hit the ground with us, we know what they don't have. We're already augmenting that so they're set up to succeed at our studio," Friedman said. And DreamWorks helps grads prepare even before they get hired. The studio has representatives on Sheridan animation's program advisory committee (PAC) and at least twice a year, its representatives meet with Sheridan faculty to discuss ways to improve the program. Friedman has been doing the visits personally for about 15 years. Maintaining a relationship between the school and the production company is important, Friedman said. "It's a win-win for everybody," she said. "It keeps us supporting the school. The school is developing the right kind of talent and not just for us, but for the industry. The whole industry needs these programs, and not just Sheridan." Supporting the school is something the Toronto-based Cuppa Coffee Studio is familiar with. The company, which is recognized as the largest stop-motion production studio in the world specializing in TV production, sponsored to construct a stop-motion studio right at See Stop-motion page 31