Animation Mentor

by MovieMaker Staff | Published February 5, 2007

Itâ€™s not uncommon to see ads for online universities on your favorite Website, or even have them pop-up with an accidental click of the mouse. Like many people, youâ€™ve probably wondered about these schoolsâ€”are they real? Will they help? Are they reputable? The answers to those questions are yes, yes and yesâ€¦ at least if youâ€™re talking about Animation Mentor.

The first school of its kind, Animation Mentor offers its international student body a diploma in Advanced Studies in Character Animation. Courses are taught by experienced animators, employed by some of the top companies in the field (i.e. Pixar, Industrial Light & Magic, Dreamworks and Sony Pictures Imageworks). â€œWe call our teachers â€˜mentors,â€™ because this is exactly what they do: One-on-one mentoring, in addition to leading interactive Web classes,â€ says Animation Mentor CEO and president Bobby Beck.

This online film school began from a conversation between Beck and his peers Shawn Kelly (ILM) and Carlos Baena (Pixar). What and how would they want to learn if they were given the chance to begin again? Establishing an online school was an obvious choice, Beck explains: â€œAll of our mentors spend long days working on films such as Shrek 3, Pirates of the Caribbean and Ratatouille, and the Internet provides the best way for them to teach at the same time.â€ Last month, the student body gathered in San Francisco to celebrate the commencement of its first class, and since then many graduates have already received job offers from the top studios. Looks like this online education revolution just might work out.

Looking to apply? Head over to www.animationmentor.com for more information.

Sound Off: Animation Mentor seems to have found a way to optimize online education. Do you think this kind of long-distance learning can work with other moviemaking specialties? Let us know in the comments section!

Photo: Student Taylor Mahoney participating in an online class with microphone and headset. Courtesy of Animation Mentor.

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Comment by nanio on 2/05/07 at 8:39 pm: $2200 per course seems somewhat antithetical to the spirit of media democratization on the web these days.
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Comment by Matt on 2/23/07 at 9:06 am: Nice idea shame it seems so over priced.
Comment by Sue on 6/23/07 at 2:33 pm: When compared to a traditional art school, the prices are a bargain, and the classes are top notch.
No way would I consider it overpriced!