Los Angeles County High School for the Arts senior Kris Anka has been selected to receive the first Warner Bros. Animation/Hanna-Barbera Scholarship.
"Kris has been recognized by his instructors for his outstanding talent, passion and commitment to animation," said Warner Bros. Animation president Sander Schwartz. "We are very impressed by his early animation and hope this annual scholarship will allow students like Kris to broaden their education in animation and hone their artistic skills. Through their accomplishments, they will honor the legacy of the great pioneers of animation."
"I'm honored to be the first recipient of this scholarship as I've been a lifelong fan of the Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. cartoons and this gives me an incredible opportunity to further my education in animation," Anka said. "I love animation -- it allows me to experiment with life. I like being able to create a new person, to construct and exaggerate their world and how they interact with everything around them and, best of all, to see people laugh and enjoy those creations."
The scholarship was created this year in honor of the late William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and the great animation legacy of both Hanna-Barbera Studios and Warner Bros. Animation. Hanna passed away in March 2001, and Barbera died in December 2006.
As the recipient of the scholarship, Anka will be awarded a cash scholarship of $10,000, disbursed annually in equal amounts over the course of enrollment. Anka will be eligible for four consecutive paid summer internships at Warner Bros. Animation in Burbank, California, while in college. Anka will enter California Institute of the Arts this fall and has chosen character animation as the focus of his studies.
Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) has been producing award-winning original animation since 1930, when it released its first cartoon, SINKIN' IN THE BATHTUB. Since then, WBA's characters have set the standard for innovative, quality animation. The studio produces for network and cable television, online, home entertainment and feature films, both domestically and internationally. WBA also oversees the creative use of, and production of animated programming based on classic animated characters from the Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics libraries. WBA is one of the most honored animation studios in history, garnering a grand total of six Academy Awards, 34 Emmy Awards, the George Foster Peabody Award, an Environmental Media Award, a Parents' Choice Award, a Humanitas Award, two Prism Awards and 20 Annie Awards.
