Dachau Near Munich (l) by Frederik Ring and Bärenbraut by Derek Roczen show off Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg's serious commitment to film festivals. © Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.

Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the most affluent states in Germany and home to companies such as Porsche and SAP AG. However, it is also home to the national film school Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, located in Ludwigsburg. This school is very serious about film festivals! Founded in 1991 as a non-profit company, they early on realized the importance of having a presence at film festivals and opened a Festival Office in 1995. The office helps students work out a festival strategy for their film and then ensures that it is entered and sent around the world. Their work is paying off. In 2006, the Filmakademie was represented by 760 films, 100 of which won awards! Six Filmakademie films were in the SIGGRAPH Animation Festival this year, a strong, strong showing. What impresses me about Filmakademie though is that their films are not all CGI. They produce a number of different techniques from 2D to 3D to every combo in between and their films are frequently by one or two students, not large teams.

The completeness and professionalism of these films is amazing. One of their best-known works is probably 2003's Das Rad, which was nominated for the Oscar in Best Animated Short Film. Quite a feat for this stop-motion, puppet and CGI student film by Chris Stenner, Arvid Uibel and Heidi Wittlinger. I am also very fond of Dachau Near Munich by Frederik Ring. This film was completed in 2006 and is a child talking about his hometown, blissfully unaware of its history. Another favorite of mine is the recent Bärenbraut by Derek Roczen. So far this year I have seen Roczen's film at SIGGRAPH and at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. Normally films wouldn't cross over between these two different events but this one is special. Among the school's mentors is Andreas Hykade, director of such fantastic films as We Lived in Grass, The Runt and Ring of Fire. I recently spent time with him at the Anima Mundi Festival in Brazil and his insight into story, a film's purpose and intent, is great. I can imagine his students are challenged and made to think of narrative in a very complex and meaningful way.

USC's program came on strong in the late '90s. At the 2001 L.A. SIGGRAPH Values by a USC MFA student was named Best Animation at the Electronic Theater. Directed by Van Phan. © USC.

The University of Southern California
Disclaimer: I am a Trojan! But I have to say I am so impressed with the growth of USC's animation program. While USC first offered "Introduction to the Photoplay" in 1929 and was the first university to have a degree in film, animation came to the university much later in 1970. While they expanded into computer animation in 1985, it wasn't until the mid to late '90s that I would say the films from USC's program began to come on strong appearing impressively at festivals and at the "First Look" annual show. It is a program that has gone from zero to 60 in the course of 10 years and doesn't show a sign of stopping. John C. Hench of Disney fame got involved in the program in 1997, along with such distinguished faculty as Christine Panushka, Ishu Patel, Kathy Smith and Vibeke Sorensen. At the 2001 L.A. SIGGRAPH Values by Van Phan, a USC MFA student, was selected as Best Animation at the Electronic Theater.

In 2002, one of my favorites, student film Horses on Mars by Eric Anderson, was selected for the Sundance Film Festival. Since then they have been off and running with films appearing in Hiroshima, Anima Mundi, Zagreb, Annecy and, of course, SIGGRAPH's Electronic Theater. I was on the pre-selection committee for Zagreb Animafest in March of 2006, when the USC films were shown and I was surprised by their sudden leap forward in quality and storytelling. They were meaningful films, beautifully done, with big name advisors like Igor Kovalyov attached. One standout is Small & Deep Love Stories by Hsin-Ping Pan. In 2006, the Hench Foundation endowed the program in John's name. George Lucas then went on to endow the school further with $175 million. This included a brand-new state-of-the-art building. I know the mantra at USC is story, story, story. I also know it is a serious place to learn. They are there to prepare people for the industry. Now with a great faculty in place, a huge endowment and facilities galore, I expect great films from this school.

California Institute of the Arts
Created in 1961 by Walt and Roy Disney through the merger of two professional schools, the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, founded in 1883, and the Chouinard Art Institute, founded in 1921, CalArts is the grandfather of all animation schools in the United States. Their Producer's Show, held at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Theater, is sold out every year with people scrambling for tickets to see the Character-Based Animation program films.