BYU Center for Animation

BYU Center for Animation is an American animation school at Brigham Young University (BYU). The program is a leading university animation program in the United States and has collected 11 student Emmys.[1]

BYU Center for Animation
MottoThe Happiest Place on Campus
TypePrivate
Established2010
DirectorR. Brent Adams
Academic staff
6 full time
Undergraduates70
Location
Provo
,
Utah
,
United States
Websiteanimation.byu.edu

Students enter the program through one of two academic tracks: an animation route to graduate with a BFA in Animation or through the computer science route to graduate with a BA in Computer Science.[2] Students from the program have gone on to work at major studios including Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Blue Sky Studios, DreamWorks Animation, and Blizzard Entertainment. BYU’s animation program touts 40 alumni at Dreamworks and 15 at Pixar.[3] BYU animation student Emron Grover, for example, was the digital tailor for Pixar's Coco.[4]

Ed Catmull, former president of Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios, visited BYU and remarked, "It’s the perception not just of Pixar, but also at the other studios, that something pretty remarkable is happening here."[5]

History

Architectural designer R. Brent Adams was teaching evening classes at BYU and championed the creation of a BYU animation program. Donors including Ira A. Fulton provided the funding and supercomputer to establish the program in 2010.[6] An early gift of software from Toronto-based Alias Wavefront, valued at $4 million, helped establish the department's technology base.[7]

The Center now operates under the direction of three colleges including the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology, the College of Fine Arts and Communications, and the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.[8] In 2018, the BYU Center for Animation was ranked #1 of the Top 10 Animation Schools and Colleges with BS Programs by Animation Career Review.[9] Adams claims that "a high percentage of graduates of his program get hired by Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Sony and other major animation studios."[10]

Awards and notable alumni

In the program's first year it won both a Student Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and a Student Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Center has won 16 student Emmys and been nominated for 19 student Emmys including 2019's Grendel.[11][12] They have also won Nickelodeon’s Producers’ Choice Award and Viewers’ Choice Award, and has been invited to show at Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival.[13] Dan Lemmon, Academy Award winner, was one of the early students in the BYU Center for Animation.[14]

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Student Academy Awards Awards

  • Grendel - 2019
  • Owned - 2014
  • Kites - 2009
  • Pajama Gladiator - 2009
  • Turtles - 2006
  • Lemmings - 2004

References
  1. Mooallem, Jon. "When Hollywood Wants Good, Clean Fun, It Goes to Mormon Country", The New York Times, Utah, 23 May 2013. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
  2. Johnson, Sean M. "Feeling Animated", BYU Magazine, Utah, 1 June 2008. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
  3. Dodson, Braley. "BYU's animation program has created a pipeline to Pixar", Provo Daily Herald, Utah, 21 November 2018. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
  4. Terry, Josh. "BYU animation grad Emron Grover is the digital tailor for Pixar's 'Coco'", Deseret News, Utah, 20 November 2017. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
  5. Johnson, Valerie. "Pixar president speaks on creative culture at BYU forum", Deseret News, Utah, 31 January 2015. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
  6. "BYU creating a new center focusing on computer animation", KSL.com, Utah, 27 March 2008. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
  7. Carter, Edward L. "Software paves way for Y. artists", Deseret News, 10 February 1998. Retrieved on 12 April 2021.
  8. "A look at BYU's animation center", LDS Living, Utah, 16 August 2010. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
  9. "Top 10 Animation Schools", Animation Career Review, Utah, 21 May 2019. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
  10. "A friendly dragon earns Brigham Young University animators a student 'Oscar'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  11. Means, Sean P. "A friendly dragon earns Brigham Young University animators a student ‘Oscar’", Salt Lake Tribune, Utah, 20 September 2019. Retrieved on 31 December 2019.
  12. Walch, Tad. "Disney, Pixar hire BYU students who earned another student Emmy nomination for animation", Deseret News, Utah, 22 May 2017. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
  13. Horiuchi, Vince. "BYU nabs 11th award for animated film", The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah, 11 April 2011. Retrieved on 5 August 2019.
  14. Carter, Edward L. "Software paves way for Y. artists", Deseret News, 10 February 1998. Retrieved on 12 April 2021.
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