News
SJSU Animation/Illustration Students are National Finalists for the 40th Annual Student Academy Awards
Couch and Potatoes, a stop-motion, animated short film directed by SJSU Animation/Illustration students Eunsoo Jeong and Christopher Lam, has been selected to be a National Finalists for the 40th Annual Student Academy Awards.
The Student Academy Awards is a national student film competition conducted by the Academy and the Academy Foundation. Each year over 500 college and university film students from all over the United States compete for awards and cash grants, with films being judged in four categories: Animation, Documentary, Narrative and Alternative. Film students from outside the U.S. are honored each year as well. The presentation ceremony is a popular event that is annually attended by a capacity audience in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
To reach this stage, U.S. students competed in one of three regional competitions. Each region is permitted to send to the Academy up to three finalists in each of the four categories.
Through the Student Academy Awards, the Academy recognizes and encourages this country’s most promising new filmmakers. Past winners include Spike Lee, Trey Parker, Bob Saget and Oscar winners John Lasseter and Robert Zemeckis.
Final judging by the Academy will be completed by May 20, 2013, and announcement of
the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal Award winners in each category will be made at the
Student Academy Awards Presentations on June 8, 2013, in Beverly Hills, California.
SJSU Animation/Illustration Program Coordinator, Alice Carter, is ecstatic. “We are
so proud of Eunsoo and Chris and all of the success they have earned from their film.
We are especially gratified to honor a goal we set with DreamWorks Animation in 2008,
when they made a significant donation to our program. At that time, DreamWorks told
us that they would like to have an SJSU Student Academy Award nominee within five
years. Thanks to our dedicated faculty and motivated students, we made it. Sharing
this news with Dreamworks was the icing on the cake.”
Animation/Illustration Students Hired at Cartoon Network
Animation/Illustration (A/I) graduating seniors Cory Fuller and Lauren Brown have been hired at Cartoon Network. Fuller will be working as a background designer on the show Uncle Grandpa and Brown will be a Production Assistant on Ben 10: Omniverse. Both attribute their studies with SJSU’s A/I program to their successes.
Lauren Brown writes, “The Animation/Illustration program at SJSU prepared me for a job in the Animation industry. The faculty and the A/I program taught me to work hard and challenged me to go beyond what I thought was possible in terms of my own personal goals. Without the A/I Faculty's support, I would never be where I am today.”
Cory Fuller adds “The thing about the program that prepared me most for this job was working on numerous animated short film projects. The majority of my graduation portfolio consisted of background layouts and designs from summer and student short films. These projects were perfect training for working on the show. They gave me not only insight into how to apply my work to the production pipeline, but more importantly they gave me the opportunity to learn about and get better at something that I love to do. Everyone at Cartoon Network is just as silly too!”
Fuller stresses most importantly however, “My contract will extend through August, which is when the show airs. At which point the studio will see if gets picked up for more seasons. So tell everybody to watch it so I can keep working! ;)”
Congratulations to another two of our great A/I students!
Animation/Illustration Student Making Legends
SJSU Animation/Illustration senior, Lauren Zurcher, is helping to make animation legends! Lauren spent the summer of 2012 interning at Nickelodeon animation in Burbank, CA, working on The Legend of Korra, and has just accepted a full time offer to work on the show after graduation! Lauren says, "My education at SJSU prepared me for a dream job where I continue to learn and grow as an artist." Lauren will be the eleventh SJSU A/I alumni to be currently working at the studio.
TULE LAKE – 2 WINS AT THE CREATIVE AWARDS
2012 Animation/Illustration graduate Michelle Ikemoto and a production team composed of her classmates in the 2012 Advanced Animation class won awards for Best Film Under 30 Minutes and Best Student Film for their animated short film, Tule Lake. Tule Lake is a tribute to the Director’s late grandmother and the risks she took to preserve normalcy for her family during their exile in the Tule Lake internment camp during World War II. The awards were sponsored by CreaTV San Jose, a non-profit, public benefit corporation serving the City of San Jose whose mission is to inspire, educate and connect San Jose communities, using media to foster civic engagement. The ceremony was held on January 5, 2013 at San Jose’s historic California Theater.
Previous wins for Tule Lake include 1st Place in the Animation category and a tie for Best In Show in the CSU Media Arts festival in November 2012. To learn more about the film, please visit http://tulelakeproject.blogspot.com/
New York Society of Illustrators Gold Medal
Associate Professor David Chai and his production team consisting of current SJSU A/I students and alumni won the Gold Medal in the Moving Image Category at the New York Society of Illustrators 55th Annual Exhibition for their animated short film "A Knock on My Door.” The film has a two-fold San Jose State connection as it documents the life of David Chai’s father, Hi Dong Chai, Professor Emeritus, SJSU Electrical Engineering.
The awards ceremony was held on January 4th in New York City. The Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibition is open to artists worldwide, and each year a jury of top professionals considers thousands of entries before selecting the best for inclusion in their exhibition at the Society’s gallery in New York. Professor Chai’s accomplishment marks the first time that SJSU has received a Gold Medal at this prestigious venue.
(http://www.societyillustrators.org)
Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Gold Medal
Five illustrations by SJSU A/I Lecturer, Inga Poslitur were accepted into the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles Illustration West 51 Competition. Her illustration "Eve Redeemed" received the Gold medal. The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles (SILA) was founded in 1953 to promote the professional status of illustration art as well as to foster both philanthropic and educational projects. From this small beginning, SILA has grown into a productive membership whose work is seen locally and nationally by millions in printed media, television, films, the Internet and gallery exhibitions. Today SILA is firmly established as a major professional art entity on the West Coast.
SJSU Animation Takes Top Awards in AsiansOnFilm.com Festival
Two films produced in the Animation/Illustration program at San Jose State have won awards at the AsiansOnFilm Festival. "Couch & Potatoes" a stop-motion film produced and directed by May 2012 Graduate Chris Lam & current senior Eunsoo Jeong, was the winner in the Short Animation category. "A Knock On My Door," Directed by Associate Professor David Chai and produced by his 2012 Advanced Animation class took Honorable Mention in the same category.
The Festival, which is sponsored by Asians on Film. com, will run from February 15-17, 2013 at J.E.T. Studios in North Hollywood.
Animation/Illustration Film wins Honorable Mention at the Ottawa Animation Festival
Why Do We Put Up With Them, a film directed by Animation/Illustration (A/I) Associate
Professor David Chai, won an Honorable Mention award in the “Short Animation for Children”
category at the Ottawa 2012 International Animation Festival, North America’s longest running
and most prestigious venue for animation art. The film was one of only 97 selected
from the 2376 entries submitted worldwide. In such a competitive venue, it is remarkable
that Professor Chai produced his film on campus during the summer of 2011 with the
help of a team of twenty-two A/I student volunteers.
“The Ottawa Animation Festival is known for being highly selective. This is the first
SJSU film to be accepted since we first began submitting in 1999. So this is a real
honor for us, and another great reflection of the success of our program,” Professor
Chai writes.
Fundraising efforts by the Shrunkenheadman Club made it possible for sixteen A/I students to accompany Professor David Chai and lecturer David Yee to the festival, which ran from September 19 through September 23. Because the majority of the films are unavailable elsewhere, this venue presented a unique opportunity for the students who attended. In addition to the film screenings, the A/I students met with internationally known animators and directors, as well as other students from around the world.
Animation/Illustration Student Film Selected for the 2012 San Jose International Short Film Festival
"Tule Lake," A short film produced in ANI 118 (Advanced Animation) was just accepted into the 2012 San Jose International Short Film Festival. May 2012 graduate Michelle Ikemoto wrote and directed the film, which is based on her grandmother’s experience in the Tule Lake Relocation Center during World War II. "Tule Lake" tells a story of perseverance and the strength of family bonds during the Japanese-American internment," Ikemoto writes. Other Animation/Illustration students who contributed to Ikemoto's film include Erin Schleupner, Cody Gramstad, Timothy Tang, Joanna Johnen, Christopher Lam, Jong Kim, Alan Pasman, Salvatore Criscione, and Ishmael Hoover. The San Jose International Short Film Festival runs from October 18 through October 21 at the Cinearts Theater on Santana Row.
Art by Ishmael Hoover
Animation/Illustration Graduate Joins Pixar Studios
When Yung-han Chang was offered an internship in the story department at Pixar Studios, he was not sure if he could accept. As an International student, he needed authorization from the International Program Services office as well as official paperwork for Curricular Practical Training—a process that usually requires more time than Pixar was prepared to give him. Fortunately, A/I Internship coordinator Professor Courtney Granner and Assistant Director of International Students, Louis Gecenok understood the importance of this opportunity. Yung-han got his paperwork, and with it a chance to work at the world’s most prestigious animation studio. He made the most of this chance, and at the end of August when he completed his internship he was offered a position as a Pixar story artist. “Most top studios demand that their student hires are receiving faculty-supervised internship credit,” says Professor Granner. “That’s why we are so happy to offer this opportunity to students like Yung-han whose scholarship and talent put him among the best in the world.”
“Couch and Potatoes,” a stop-motion animated film by May 2012
Animation/Illustration graduate Chris Lam and Senior A/I major Eunsoo Jeong just won the Technicolor/Palo Alto International Film festival Grand Prize. The festival runs for four days from September 27 through September 30 and features 50 films from the United States, Europe and Asia. “Couch and Potatoes” was completed in Spring 2012 and shown in the Animation/Illustration program’s annual Senior Exhibition on campus. Chris Lam has put his SJSU education to good use and is now working as an animator at Camouflaj, a game studio in Bellevue, Washington. Eunsoo Jeong, who will graduate in 2013, is currently in Los Angeles completing her internship at Nickelodeon Studios.
Animation/Illustration Students Earn Accolades for Short Film
Monday, August 20, 2012
“The Pod” a nine-minute film produced by Animation/Illustration seniors Jaydeep Hasrajani, Alvyn Villanueva, Carlos Nunez, Michael Harding, Nick Carpenter and Leonard Hung has recently been accepted into the Burbank International Film Festival. This latest honor comes following seven previous screenings in festivals nationally and internationally as well as a third place award in the ASIFA San Francisco Animation Showcase and semi-finalist status in the upcoming Adobe Design Achievement Awards. “The Pod” took five months to complete. “We work in a collaborative, no-ego environment,” Jaydeep Hasrajani writes. “There is no director because we all contribute to every step of the production.”
