Animation Mentor Overview

Have you dreamed of doing animation for movies like Pirates of the Carribean, Ice Age or Transformers? Get ready – your animation dreams are about to come true! Thanks to Animation Mentor, the ONLY animation school built by professional animators, you’ll get real world guidance and learn the skills you need to succeed in a movie studio. That’s right – AM gives you all the tools you need to get your foot in the animation door!

 

Animation Mentor is a for-profit university online animation school that teaches students character animation skills. Located in Emeryville, California, the school offers an 18-month program in which students are taught by “mentors,” or experienced animators who are professionals working in the animation industry.

 

The school was founded in 2005 by three working animators: Bobby Beck, who is the CEO and president of the school, Shawn Kelly, who is a working animator at Industrial Light & Magic, and Carlos Baena, who is a working animator at Pixar Animation Studios.

By graduation, every student works in a production-style environment where mentors stand in for directors and assignments stand in for film or game shots. You’ll learn how to accept guidance and criticism, meet deadlines and to budget and schedule your time to succeed in the working world. At the end of the 18-month program, you’ll walk away with a professional demo reel that you can use as your resume. Plus, AM coaches graduates on interviews and connects them to job opportunities with major recruiters, video game companies, and film studios.

 

The school operates 24/7 and offers a reasonable tuition for the 18th-month program: $ 17, 425. The school is certified by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. Graduates receive a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Character Animation.

Besides getting constant guidance from experienced animators, the program offers live question and answer sessions and audio-visual critiques of assignments. Since the faculty are working professionals experienced in the animation field, they work hard to have career placement support for all students. Alumni enjoy a career service website that features network events and a web reel that shows creative work by students.

The school has won several awards, including the 2006 Best Practices in Programming Award Gold Level, 21st Century Distance Learning Award from the U.S. Distance Learning Association, and was an honoree at the 10th Annual Webby Awards. The school also won the 2008 PRSA Bronze Anvil Award for its white paper “Behind the Characters: Job Satisfaction, Career Outlook, and Salary Survey Report” and was again named an official honoree at the 13th Annual Webby Awards. In 2008, Sony Picture Imageworks awarded its top scholarship to student Luis Rodrigo Huerta to earn a Master’s Degree at Texas A&M and participate in online animation courses at Animation Mentor.

So what are you waiting for? Learn more about Animation Mentor today!