Animation Mentor

by MovieMaker Staff | Published February 5, 2007

It’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, you’ve probably wondered about these schools—are they real? Will they help? Are they reputable? The answers to those questions are yes, yes and yes… at least if you’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). “We call our teachers ‘mentors,’ because this is exactly what they do: One-on-one mentoring, in addition to leading interactive Web classes,” 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: “All 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.” 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.

COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

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!

Comment by Richard Matthews on 9/09/08 at 2:02 pm

Let’s see - roughly $16k (as of 2008)for an education where you are being taught character animation by professional animators that work for major studios or are highly successful freelance animators, making contacts with people that work for Pixar, Disney, ILM, Weta, Blue Sky Studios (just to mention a few), access to a community of students from all around the world that share the same passion for animation that you have - and being able to communicate with them, getting a video critique of your work each week by a professional working animator (not to mention a weekly campus mentor giving you a written critique of your work), and having an awesome demo reel at the end - not to mention help with job placement.

VS

Paying $20K plus a year to attend a 4 year school, taking animation classes, then realizing you didn’t learn everything that you need to know, so you spend another $16K to go to AM (where you should have gone in the first place) for an education that’s actually going to help you land your dream job.

How do I know this?  Because I’m an AM student and in my first and second terms there were several people that had attended art schools (that are incredibly over-priced and highly reputable) that realized that they didn’t really learn what they needed to know - mainly the principles of animation and what to put on a demo reel that’s going to get you a job.

Comment by Animation Hunter on 7/30/10 at 11:36 pm

Lol.Animation Hunter do need an Animation Mentor…

Comment by Cardinal on 10/10/10 at 2:05 am

Certainly seems as if accelerated online degree programs of all kinds are here to stay.  Many top rated collleges and universities are starting to offer a wide variety of accredited online courses. So don’t be surprised to see alot of different curriculums offered in the future.

Comment by GulfPearls on 11/11/11 at 12:42 am

thank you a lots

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