By ROBERT GOLDRICH
THIRTY-NINE ART TEACH-ers from Chicagos public school system turned out for a January 22 seminar so that they would be better equipped to make their students aware of opportunities in the animation industry. The session was hosted by the Chicago Public Schools, in cooperation with Target Group Inc., a Chicago-based management consulting firm.
The event was part of the Target Groups broader initiative, Animate IllinoisA, a program funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Employment Security and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs. Animate IllinoisA is designed to help connect the animation business with the elementary and secondary education communities; the rationale being that by exposing youngsters to the animation discipline and stimulating their artistic sensibilities, an increased number of qualified home-grown artisans will emerge, over time, for the U.S. workforce.
As chronicled in SHOOT, a shortage of sorely needed American talent has caused assorted U.S.-based animation/ CGI/visual effects studios to look overseas to fill staff positions. This helped bring about last years passage of a law that nearly doubled the annual allotment of visas enabling foreign, high-tech workers to gain entry into the U.S. to assume positions for which qualified American employees could not be found (SHOOT, 10/23/98, p. 1).
But increasing the number of available visas is only a short-term remedy. Many in the industry view the long-term solution as improving arts education in public schools. And the Chicago community of educators seems to agree. Interest in the Target seminar was overwhelming; some 90 art teachers RSVPd but the session venue could only accommodate less than half that total. The public school system and Target are considering staging a second seminar to help ensure that teachers interested in integrating animation into their curriculum arent turned away.
Those who got into last months seminara23 elementary school and 16 high school teachersaviewed a new career-awareness video produced by the Target Group. As an introductory tool for educators and students, the video presents an animated piece of work and highlights how it was made. By identifying steps in that process, the video also delineates possible entry points to a career in animation.
The Target Group is packaging the video as part of a larger kit intended to help teachers to introduce their pupils to the fundamentals of animation. The seminar and kit are but part of a planned, long-term, sustained program which intends to meaningfully bring together the animation industry and public schools. Among the Chicago area-based animation/effects studios participating are StarToons International LLC and Kinetics Group Ltd. For example, Target is encouraging animation/effects houses to create apprenticeship programs that provide ongoing instruction and application of artistic capabilities for students graduating from high school.
The single biggest obstacle to developing animation talent is that students sometimes feel they dont have permission to animate, observed George Eastman, president of Kinetics and a consultant to Animate IllinoisA. The animation industry suffers from a perception that this is a craft that is inaccessible to young talent.
Once access is granted, Target hopes to identify promising artistic talent and then nurture it through further training and mentorship. However, the key is to enlist the proactive support of public school teachers at a grassroots level, starting in elementary school.
At the seminar, Target president Joe Williams addressed the teachers in attendance, stressing to them that your commitment and determination make all the difference. In trying to expose a sixth-grade child to a concept and a way of learning that achieves results and makes them proud, you are really our champions.
Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Explore Generations, Old School vs. New School, In “Poppa’s House”
Boundaries between work and family don't just blur in the new CBS sitcom "Poppa's House" starring father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.
"It's wonderful to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute," says the senior Wayans. "I don't think there are words to express how joyful I am."
Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a curmudgeonly radio DJ who's more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son, Damon, a budding filmmaker who's stuck in a job he hates.
"My character, Pop, is just an old school guy who's kind of stuck in his ways," says Wayans, who starred in "In Living Color" and "My Wife and Kids."
Pop yearns for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn't complain if he got fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation's participation trophies.
"It's old school versus new school and them teaching each other lessons from both sides," says Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the Fox sitcom "New Girl."
"They (the characters) bring the best out in each other and they're resistant initially. But then throughout the episode they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people," he adds.
The two have worked together before — dad made an appearance on son's "Happy Endings" and "Happy Together," while son was a writer and guest star on dad's "My Wife and Kids." But this is the first time they have headlined a series together.
The half-hour comedy — premiering Monday and co-starring Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson — smartly leaves places in the script where father and son can let... Read More