Animation South Africa Podcast

The Animation School, South Africa's leading tertiary institution for animation studies, recently faced some criticism when they announced they would be integrating AI tools into their curriculum. In this podcast, founder Nuno Martins and advisor Tim Argall had a chance to air the school's position and thinking in depth. Listen in to discover

- why TAS feels students need to get to grips with these tools

- how they are keeping artistic principles central to the educational outcome

- the distinction between node-based and prompt-based tools, and why they've gone with Comfy UI 

- how the school approaches issues of ethics and authorship

- how TAS will approach sustainability

- what they are doing to support students psychologically through this paradigm shift

- TAS's position on public policy and legislation

 

www.theanimationschool.co.za

https://www.youtube.com/@TheAnimationSchool

Pixar vet Esther Pearl, wrangler of Story and Art on titles including Monsters Inc, The Incredibles and Wall-E, talks to Julia Smuts Louw about the tumultuous state of the animation industry and offers advice for those breaking in. We delved into the upbringing that forged her can-do attitude towards changing the media landscape, her passion for empowering women and championing diversity on and off screen through initiatives like Reel Stories, and the challenges and opportunities of disruptors like AI.

Links:

Nell Productions

The Annenberg Institute, affiliated with Brown University, seeks to address educational inequality.

From drawing in the margins of her mum's medical reference books, to studying at Gobelins Summer School, to getting into Annecy with her first short film, Kabelo Maaka has walked a unique path as a 2D animator and business owner. Cabblow Studios, the business she co-founded with her mother, Dr Tshepo Maaka, is now building a grassroots audience for her multi-platform animated property, RORISANG AND THE GURLZ. Find out what she's learned about getting your characters into the hearts of YOUR audience - without needing anyone's permission.

 

https://www.youtube.com/@CabblowStudios

https://www.instagram.com/rorisaaang/

#Annecy

Alex Rockwell, Jim Henson's long-time right-hand woman, talks kids' content in today's animation landscape. From her experience wrangling muppets to her work on beloved kids' shows like Slumberkins and Word Party, Alex has gotten to grips with kids' content in just about every format. Tune in to find out how to identify your audience, how to find the "sticky things" that create confidence in the room when pitching, and how content trends are changing to accommodate the stark issues facing kids today.

DAVID had a resounding opening weekend at the box office, beating out the animated competition to come in at second place behind AVATAR PART 3!

Find out why Pixar story artist Nathan Stanton, veteran of beloved titles including RATATOUILLE, WALL-E and FINDING NEMO, moved his family to Cape Town to help Sunrise Animation realise their longstanding dream of bringing the life of the Biblical David to the screen as an animated feature.

Hear about his beginnings on Tim Burton's THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, his learnings at Pixar, working with renowned directors including Pete Docter and his brother, Andrew Stanton, and the chain of events that led him to take a bet on a small African studio with a big dream. #animation #southafrica #davidmovie #pixar #storyboarding #faithbased