Congratulations to our Spring 2012 class of graduates from our full-time programs in Visual Effects, Game Art & Design, Digital Photography and Character Animation!  Their official ceremony was held at Simon Fraser University's Goldcorps Centre for the Arts on Thursday, March 15th.  

We wish our grads all the best and look forward to seeing their names in lights! 

Photos by Jen Piper

Josh Awesome is one of our celebrated graduates with a long history of attending VanArts and working his way through to a successful industry career.  When he was still in high school, Josh took our part-time courses in 2D Animation & Basic Drawing, and was also accepted into our Media Arts Boot Camp program for high school students.  These courses inspired him to apply to VanArts upon graduation, and he thereby entered our full-time (Classical) 2D Animation Program in September 2004.  Josh continued into a second year in our Visual Effects Program, and finally graduated with a 2-year diploma from VanArts in 2006. 

Since then, Josh has worked locally at Electronic Arts Canada, where he is currently a senior motion designer leading a team of animators.  He has also freelanced for such clients as the Vancouver Canucks, Whistler, and Canadian Pacific Rail, and recently opened up his own company, eyeslice Studios.

In his own words, Josh shares with us, "VanArts provided me with an amazing atmosphere to develop the skills I needed to really succeed in the industry.  The instructors were constantly engaged with the students, working one-on-one with us and providing intense but supportive education.  There were amazing talks given by leading industry professionals, and this pushed me to do better than my best and prepped me for the real working world.  I owe a lot of what I've learned and where I am today to my schooling at VanArts."

joshawesome.com

eyeslicestudios.com

Eleonor Lindvall, from Sweden, graduated from our Visual Effects Diploma Program last year and is now working at Double Negative Studios in London UK. 

She has just been featured in the career advice section of their website, where she says, "Go to a school that will show you the whole spectrum of Visual Effects, and that will prepare you for the industry."

Read the entire interview here >>

Related Blog Posts: VFX Grads from Sweden launch their Careers >>

More VanArts Grad Success Stories >>

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!

Related Stories:

Image Engine Visits VFX Students

Endorsement from Head of Image Engine Studio

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."