Expression College for Digital Arts’ Annual High School Animation and Design Festival Winners

Expression College for Digital Arts, among the premier schools of its kind in the United States, today announced the winners of first Bay Area High School Animation and Design Festival held Saturday, June 4th at the Bay Street AMC Theaters in Emeryville. Luis Lopez, from DeAnza High School in Richmond, CA won first place for his animation submission The Lonely Can. Lopez won a partial scholarship to Expression College valued at $4,000.00 provided by Bay Street, Emeryville.

Bellarmine College Prep student Tom Reyneri’s animation submission, High Quality, received second place honors and won Reyneri the Maya Complete Software valued at $2,000.00 provided by Alias. In third place, Sir Francis Drake student Courtney Boatwright’s still design submission, Dance Troupe Logo, won Boatwright $200 in cash.

The festival’s fourth, fifth and sixth place winners all won iPod shuffles for their still design submissions. The winners are as follows:

Fourth Place: Children of WW2 -Anita Law, Galileo Academy of Science and Technology (Still Design)
Fifth Place: Jestress - Dante Rushdan, Sir Francis Drake High School (Still Design)
Sixth Place: Troy Attack - Josh Fuchs, Sir Francis Drake High School (Still Design)

“Our first annual high school animation and design festival was a great success. The event gave students incredible exposure to phenomenal judges with an opportunity to receive unprecedented feedback and advice from industry leaders,” said Brian Roth, Outreach Coordinator, Expression College for Digital Arts who was also Festival Director. “We look forward to holding this event next year and giving high school students the opportunity to showcase their hard work and get the recognition they deserve.”

Professionals from the animation and design industries critiqued entries and attended the event. Judges included:

-Pete Docter, Pixar Animation Studios
-Phil Tippett, Tippett Studio
-Dennis Muren, Industrial Light & Magic
-Brad Soderlund, One Eight Six Design Group
-John Schroeder, Design Director, UPN Bay Area

Judging criteria for animation entries included story, application of animation principles and quality of images.

About Expression College for Digital Arts
Founded in 1999, Expression is a unique, fully licensed digital arts college. Expression College for Digital Arts teaches and grants Bachelor degrees in three programs: Sound Arts; Digital Visual Media (comprising 3DAnimation and Visual Effects); and Digital Graphic Design (emphasizing Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics.) Expression utilizes a professional accelerated program and students live and learn in the culture of digital arts for approximately 2.5 years. Each class is limited to a small number of students to insure excellent and hands-on learning and the student to computer ratio is one-to-one. Students are taught by and work with the best practitioners and equipment that the industry can offer. Expression’s close ties to top industry professionals provide students with real-world client projects, mentorship and internship opportunities and a top-rated career development track that has resulted in a 80+% placement rate for graduates. When graduates leave their Expression family behind, they are prepared to assume sought-after jobs in Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and other art and high technology centers around the world. Expression College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Career Schools and Colleges of Technology, (ACCSCT).

Expression College for Digital Arts’ campus is located in an imagination-inspiring 85,000-square-foot building, at 6601 Shellmound St. in Emeryville, Calif., just across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco. For more information, please visit Expression’s Website at: www.expression.edu.

Contact:
Karen Wertman, Director of Marketing
Expression College for Digital Arts

Expression College for Digital Arts Website
www.expression.edu