Date: 02/16/2009

SJSU Animation/Illustration Program Receives Support from DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks Animator Rex Grignon Named Program's First Distinguished Scholar

Contacts:
Pat Lopes Harris, SJSU Media Relations, 408-924-1748
Shannon Olivas, DreamWorks Animation, 818-695-3658

View the work SJSU animation students.

SAN JOSÉ, Calif., -- San José State University has received support and funding for its School of Art and Design animation/illustration program from DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (NYSE: DWA). DreamWorks Animation has made a $420,000 commitment spanning three years. Rex Grignon, head of character animation at PDI/DreamWorks, has been named the program's first Distinguished Scholar.

San José State's animation/illustration program, which serves as many 400 students annually, is using the funding to develop an expanded curriculum that will focus on building professional skills and developing techniques and processes for character animation, visual development and storyboarding.

"We welcome DreamWorks Animation's support for arts education at San José State," said SJSU President Jon Whitmore. "This collaborative effort with an animation industry leader will provide our students with the current, practical information they need to put the academic and professional skills they learn here to work upon graduation."

"We have been closely involved with San José State for many years and are pleased to expand our support for the university's animation/illustration program," said DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. "I have had the pleasure of working closely with Rex for many years and believe that his significant talents and expertise will be a great addition to the program's instructional resources."

Rex Grignon

Rex Grignon has been an animator for more than 20 years and has lent his considerable talents to such breakthrough computer-animated films as DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek," "Madagascar," "Kung Fu Panda" and "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," as well as Pixar's "Toy Story."

"I am thrilled to work with the animation/illustration program at San José State," said Grignon. "At DreamWorks, we have been impressed by SJSU's resourcefulness and ability to provide a solid foundation for animation students year after year. My goal is to help SJSU accelerate and broaden this important program."

Grignon co-founded PDI's Character Animation Group in 1990 and helped create the Emmy award-winning M&M Mars TV special "The Last Halloween" as well as Jim Henson's "Muppet Vision 3-D" and numerous commercial spots featuring the Pillsbury Doughboy. He received a Presidential Scholarship to work and study at the New York Institute of Technology's Computer Graphics Laboratory. Grignon is a graduate of Sheridan College. He has taught character animation classes at San José State as well as at Cogswell College and the Academy of the Art University in San Francisco. In 2006, Grignon was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Animation Branch.

SJSU's Animation/Illustration Program

Graduates of San José State's animation/illustration program compete successfully for prestigious positions in the entertainment industry at companies such as DreamWorks Animation, Electronic Arts, Industrial Light & Magic, Hallmark Cards, Nickelodeon, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros. Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Cartoon Network, and Film Roman, producers of "The Simpsons." SJSU graduates have contributed to over 50 films, including "Bewitched," "A Bug's Life," "Curious George," "The Emperor's New Groove," "Finding Nemo," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," "The Incredibles," "Madagascar," "Monsters, Inc.," "Ratatouille" and "Toy Story."

For the past ten years DreamWorks Animation has worked closely with San José State's animation/illustration program. The program offers students special classes and workshops led by industry professionals from many more companies including Electronic Arts, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Blue Sky Studios, LucasArts and Hallmark Cards. Such collaborative efforts provide information on industry standards and critical analysis of student work.

San José State -- Silicon Valley's largest institution of higher learning with 32,700 students and 5,000 employees -- is part of the California State University system. SJSU's 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation's 10th largest city.