News Releases

CARIMAC to graduate first group of animators

For Release Upon Receipt - January 22, 2014

UWI


Kingston, JAMAICA - In less than a month’s time Jamaica and the Caribbean’s largest group of trained cartoon animators will graduate from a six-month intensive animation course in a programme offered by the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) at the University of the West Indies (UWI).

A total of forty three (43) trained animators will receive their certificates of achievement and completion in two graduation ceremonies to be held respectively at the UWI’s Mona Campus in Kingston and at the University’s Western Jamaica Campus in Montego Bay, during the second week of February.

“I am delighted that so many young Jamaicans from all walks of life have been able to realize their goals of formal training in animation. I am also pleased that we will be graduating 43 out of an initial group of 45 students enrolled at the two campuses, with only two students withdrawing from the programme overall,” said Professor Hopeton Dunn, Director of CARIMAC.

The graduation ceremony at UWI’s Mona Campus in Kingston is scheduled for Saturday, February 8, 2014 starting at 3 p.m., at the CARIMAC Annex 2 Lecture Room and will see 28 students graduating. A similar ceremony will be held at UWI’s Montego Bay-based campus on Wednesday, February 12 at 6 p.m., with 15 students graduating. The events will be held in association with the local animation company GSW, with whom CARIMAC and the UWI have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), addressing training, employment and animation industry development in Jamaica.

Professor Dunn said that although there were entry requirements related to information technology competences and CSEC subjects, the majority of the entrants to the training programme were admitted without any prior formal knowledge of digital media arts or animation. “This was a deliberate effort to be inclusive and to provide an avenue for the creative development and employment of creative young people, without erecting major barriers to entry. It has been reassuring that these students have fully embraced the opportunity and stayed the course towards graduation. They displayed the inherent creativity, adaptability, enthusiasm and diligence required to excel in Animation studies and in other areas of the creative industries,” he said.

It is expected that from this initial batch of students, a majority will be employed with our partner GSW Animation after interviews. Several students have also indicated interest in setting up their own freelance businesses and others are likely to pursue further studies in animation, motion graphics, film production, digital media production and game development. According to Mona Campus Principal, Professor Archibald McDonald, “these initiatives form part of an overall programme of curriculum expansion and reform now underway at CARIMAC in the areas of Digital Media and Advanced Communications, with studios at both the Mona Kingston campus and in Western Jamaica.”

While this six-month training programme in 2D animation is the first stage in the teaching of animation, other more advanced training opportunities at CARIMAC will be available in the near future. A second group of students, with a background in free hand drawing and related technical and creative skills will be enrolled in March 2014, approximately a month after the first cohort graduates.

In addition, CARIMAC is preparing to offer a first degree in Animation, in the form of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), with an intended start-up during the current calendar year, 2014. An MFA is shortly to follow, covering such areas as game development and 3D Animation.

End

About CARIMAC

The Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) at the University of the West Indies is the premier institution for teaching, research and training in media and communication in the English-speaking Caribbean. http://mona.uwi.carimac.com

 

Contact

  • Caribbean Institute of MEDIA and COMMUNICATION

  • Tel.: (876) 927-1481, 977-2111, 977-0898, 977-1398, 977-
  • Email: carimac@uwimona.edu.jm