On Wednesday, January 25th, VanArts was excited to welcome Recruiter Maggie Lee and Recruiting Supervisor Joe Caggiano from Rhythm & Hues Studios to give a presentation to our students & staff.  The award-winning studio from Los Angeles has opened a branch in Vancouver and is busy gearing up for full production.  Maggie and Joe showed us production reels from their feature films, talked about how to apply to their studio, and took many great questions from our students in Character Animation, Game Art & Design and Visual Effects.

A big thanks to Rhythm & Hues for taking the time to spend with us here at VanArts!

VanArts was very glad to receive a visit today by local VFX studio Image Engine's Recruiting Coordinator Jimmy Ockey along with Roto Lead Jackie Mills, who came in to interview our senior VFX students and a few recent graduates.

Image Engine has visited our school on several occasions to give presentations and information on how to apply to their studio, and we are very proud to have this strong relationship with them.

Thanks for spending time with our students as they prepare for the industry!

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Georgie Daburas, a graduate from the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study at VanArts, is featured in the lead role (with additional credit as a co-producer) of a new local web series called Hitman 101, which consists of 12 episodes currently continuing their release online. VanArts acting graduate Jacob Wolpert is also featured with a role in the series.

Since graduation, Georgie Daburas has been actively involved in several local productions for film, television and theater.  He also continues to lend support to current students at VanArts, in the areas of acting, voices & reference for animation, and visual effects. One of our visual effects graduates, Pranjal Verma, was recruited to contribute some effects work to Hitman 101, through his connection of previously working with Georgie.

(Visit Georgie Daburas online at www.gdaburas.com.)

Hitman 101 is created & directed by Scott Staven, who had this to say about our graduates working on the show: "Georgie was not known to us before auditioning, and was cast based on his acting talents and look. It was only after casting him did the production realize how awesome a human being he was and how above and beyond nailing the role on screen he aided in the production of the film. He earned the co-producer credit and was very integral to the project's completion. I think it's a testament to the work ethic VanArts teaches and the Hitman 101 team is grateful VanArts is producing professional actors who are driven.  Also Pranjal Verma, who is doing all our visual fx on his own, is another great VanArts product who time and again is saving our butts in post production fixing all our mistakes and adding in elements that raise the production value. Not only driven and talented, Pranjal is also a pleasure to work with. Thank you!"

To view episodes and learn more about Hitman101, visit www.badguyfilms.com/hitman101.

Here is the teaser trailer: 

Madeleine McAllan graduated from our Visual Effects Diploma Program last year and began working at Zoic Studios in Vancouver.  She just recently posted a great review of our program at ArtSchoolReviews.ca.

In her own words, "Studying at Vanarts was the best decision I ever made. I've gone from making silly little videos with friends to working at the company that inspired my effects fascination (Zoic Studios). I got my job less than a month out of school and just 2 months after I finished school, my work could be seen online and on TV! A fantastic feeling!

Just about everyone in my class is working now! If you're serious about a VFX career, and willing to put in the effort, this is the school for you!"

Read the entire review here >>

VanArts is proud to share our most recent survey of graduate and placement statistics, with very promising results for our grads finding work relevant to their field of study.  Surveys were conducted six months after our last two graduating classes, and the average job placement rate was 88%! 

According to school president Alan Phillips, "This high placement data speaks volumes about what a great job VanArts is doing at offering first class, industry-relevant education."