The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School has added Ron Thornton to its team of instructors. Thornton was a founder of the legendary Animation house Foundation Imaging in Valencia, California, and a pioneer in the use of computers for vfx. His credits include BABYLON 5Babylon 5 (for which he won the Emmy for best visual effects), STAR TREK VOYAGER, DEEP SPACE 9 and ENTERPRISE. He was recently nominated for his work on the series finale of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.
"Through his leadership and guidance at Foundation, Ron has launched literally hundreds of careers in the entertainment industry and I am thrilled to be able to offer the same kind of experiences to my students," said school director/owner Jeff Scheetz, who spent much of his career working with Thornton at Foundation. "Essentially he will be producing the short effects films that each class creates in the final quarter of our one-year program. Ron talent's go far beyond effects, he is a master storyteller with a proven track record as a producer and director."
"I really welcome the opportunity to work with Jeff again," adds Thornton, "especially because the DAVE School has the well earned reputation of being the only facility that truly prepares students for production work. The animation industry is a continuously evolving business and I'm looking forward to helping the next generation of visual effects artists achieve their goals. I've spent the last few years wrangling budgets and spreadsheets. Here I get to do what I got into this business for: creating cool stuff."
The DAVE School (www.daveschool.com) is located at Universal Studios in Orlando Florida.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
