The ImagiNations Design Competition, Sponsored by Walt Disney Imagineering

If you have a passion for creative and innovative design, here's an opportunity to work with one of the most creative organizations in family entertainment. Created and sponsored by Walt Disney Imagineering, the ImagiNations Design Competition offers opportunities for diverse students to showcase their talents. You can win a 10-day all-expense-paid trip to present your project to a panel of Walt Disney Imagineering executives and have the opportunity to compete for the "Best in Show" awards. This incredible opportunity will provide participants with insight into Disney's creative process, and learn what it takes to succeed in an innovative organization. Additionally, all qualified applicants will be considered for Internship opportunities with Walt Disney Imagineering.

Imagineers are challenged to build on the Disney legacy of great storytelling to pioneer new forms of entertainment through technical innovation and creativity. The ImagiNations competition encourages you to do the same! Past winners of the competition have gone on to serve internships at Imagineering and some have become full-time Imagineers.

Entry forms must be postmarked from January 1, 2010 till January 29,2010. Student must be a Junior, Senior, or a recent graduate within 1 year of graduation.

READ MORE HERE!

Producers Guild Awards Maker of "Toy Story"

The Producers Guild of America is awarding John Lasseter, maker of "Toy Story", with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award. He is the first producer of animation films to receive the award.
Full Story.

A Bunch of Short Guys Meeting to FEATURE Ai Dallas Graduate...

As seen on the A Bunch of Short Guys site:

The next ABOSG meeting is October 24th from 10am to noon. CCCCD Campus room c-104.

The October 24th Meeting of A Bunch of Short Guys is entitled "Sculpting and Maquettes" and is described here: "This month we break away from the computer and get down with some tactile materials. ABOSG welcomes an all star line lineup of traditional and modern sculptors. Each panelist will have 15 min to discuss their style with q&a at the end. Come join us - meetings are free."

Each panelist will have 15 minutes to talk, and one of the panelists is our our graduate Tyson Summers.

Tyson Summers

Tyson graduate of the Art Institute of Dallas 1995. Long time fan of late eighties and early nineties skateboard art. He is influenced by things that cross lines, whether its comedy, music or artwork. Tyson grew up in Garland TX, surrounded by an artistic family and Sesame Street. I had the privilege of seeing first hand how hard work and dedication combined can be truly magical.TysonSummers.com

Design Portfolio Show

You are invited to attend the Design Portfolio Show...
Monday, September 28th
12pm-3pm
Fellowship Bible Church Dallas

Game Testers Needed!!

Do you enjoy playing games? Do you want to get paid $10/hr to play them?
Go to the online Student Job Board and find the Game Testers job posting and apply. They have multiple positions open and the schedule is very flexible.

On-Campus Memorial for Samantha (Shelley) Nance

The Art Institute of Dallas will be holding a short memorial service in remembrance of Samantha (Shelley) Nance on Friday, September 18th at 11am on the 8th floor. Any student, faculty or staff member interested in attending will be excused from class.

A Bunch of Short Guys Meeting - September 26th

Don't miss the next A Bunch of Short Guys meeting on September 26th. Jesse Sandifer, one of the owners of Green Grass Studios, will be presenting on ZBrush/Max.

Time and Location:
September 26th, 10am-12pm
Collin College Spring Creek Campus
2800 E. Spring Creek Parkway
Room C-104
Plano, TX 75074

Samantha (Shelley) Nance Memorial

As many of you know, Samantha (Shelley) Nance, an eighth quarter Media Arts and Animation student passed away last Friday. She will be sorely missed by many of her fellow students, as well as, the faculty and staff of The Art Institute of Dallas.

Grief Counselors are on campus Monday and Tuesday of this week from 12pm-6pm in rooms 521, 522 and 523. They will be holding both group and individual sessions for anyone who wants to participate.

There is also a bulletin board posted on the 3rd floor by the Security Office, dedicated to Samantha with slips of paper where students, faculty and staff can express their fond memories of her. These will be given to her family at the end of the week.

Visitation and funeral services are posted below. Any student, faculty, or staff wishing to attend will be excused from class.

Visitation
Wednesday, September 16
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Wayne Boze Funeral Home
1826 W. Hwy. 287 Business
Waxahachie, Texas 75165

Funeral Services
Thursday, September 17
2:00 pm
Central Baptist Church of Italy
113 S. Ward St.
Italy, Texas 76651

In Lieu of Flowers, donations may be made to:
Citizens National Bank
200 North ElmWaxahachie, Texas 75165

A Bunch of Short Guys - Speed Challenges!

Thanks to AiDallas Media Arts & Animation student, Chris Barker, A Bunch of Short Guys is hosting Speed Challenges on their forum. New challenges are posted every month and winners are announced at the monthly meetings. The Speed Challenges are divided into sections to accomodate all talents: Modeling, Animation, Painting, Sculpting and Texturing. The deadline for this month's challenges is September 20th. Winners will be announced at the September 26th meeting. Visit the website forum for more information.

Pixar wins Lifetime Award at Venice Film Festival

For the first time in festival history, the Venice Film Festival awarded an entire studio the Lifetime Achievement Award rather than an individual. The festival chose to award the team of 5 directors of Pixar: John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich for their outstanding work in the field of animation.

Read Article

Austin Game Developers Conference

Don't forget! The Austin Game Developers Conference is September 15-18. If you register BY September 9th, you will receive a 10% discount on conference passes.

Walt Disney Co. to acquire Marvel Entertainment

Walt Disney Co. will soon be adding Marvel Entertainment to the Disney family for a cool $4 billion in cash and stocks. Click on the link below to read the full story.

Disney purchases Marvel

AiDallas Alum, Chris Moffitt, Grand Prize Winner!

Chris Moffitt, a September 2000 AiDallas Animation graduate, recently won the Grand Prize in the Action Hero contest sponsored by Pixologic. Chris beat out 175 other artists to win an Axiotron Modbook, a one year subscription to 3D World Magazine and a choice of 20 Gnomon Training DVD's.


Images of Dr. Root, Grand Prize Winning Action Hero

Chris Moffitt Interview on CGChannel
Action Hero Contest Winners
The Making of Dr. Root
The Story of Dr. Root

QuakeCon 2009

Career Services made the trek to the Gaylord Texan Resort to experience QuakeCon for the first time this year. We met some really fun people including contacts at The Store Decor and Bethesda Software (who recently acquired iD Software). We also saw one of our Media Arts & Animation graduates, Amy Saunders, volunteering at the event.

Bethesda Software Reps

It's ON like Donkey Kong!

(Amy Young & MAA Grad. Amy Saunders)

Amy Young & Amy Saunders

Welcome!

Welcome to our new Media Arts and Animation Blog! As a resource to students and graduates of The Art Institute of Dallas, we will be continually posting industry-related information and will invite Guest Bloggers to provide inside-information. Please email Amy at ajyoung@aii.edu if you would like to ask a question or suggest a topic. Also, ALWAYS feel free to leave comments.