Just in from Nelvana is some detailed info on the guests expected this Thursday. First the correction though - the correct date is April 2, not April 3 as mentioned in my previous posting. And free pizza will be served at the the 5 pm lecture!
There's still space available for the 2 pm portfolio review, so please email me if you would like some feedback on your work from our Nelvana guests.
Now the details: The title of the 5 pm lecture is:
43 Years of Creative Excellence: How Do YOU Become Part of the Legacy?
The various guests include a range of artists and administrators, most of whom are Sheridan graduates. Here is some detailed info on who to expect:
Helen Lebeau is fully immersed in the kids and family entertainment business in her role as Vice President of Production and Broadcast Operation at Corus Entertainment. Helen oversees all animation and production operations for Corus’ 24 specialty television networks.
Helen joined Nelvana in 2002 to run its post-production group, focusing on servicing the animation slate and building the digital post facility to leverage creative and technical efficiencies. In 2006 she became Vice President, Broadcast Operations where she was responsible for the overall technical operation of network and production operations at Corus. As part of the Executive Management team in 2007, Helen took on a leadership role supporting the implementation of Corus Quay, the company’s new headquarters in Toronto’s East Bayfront district. As head of Production Animation Operations, Helen continues to create quality content, leveraging top talent and the overall investment in Corus Quay. Helen is a graduate of the Media Arts Program at Sheridan College and is a Sheridan Alumni Board member.
Aiden Glynn is a 9 year veteran of the animation industry. He graduated 2005 from the final classical animation class taught at Sheridan College and also took the post graduate Computer Animation at Sheridan. After graduation, he got his first job working for Nelvana. He started his career as a junior breaker on Ruby Gloom and quickly got promoted to full time animator. From there he has worked his way up from junior to senior animator while working on numerous 2D and 3D productions, including: Willa's Wild Life, Handy Many, Sidekick, Scaredy Squirrel and The Day My Butt Went Psycho .
In 2014 Aiden transitioned from animation production to character design/visual development. To date he has worked on several successful development projects and pitches.
Aiden can also be found creating his animation inspired street art "Toon Bombs" on the streets of Toronto. He is also active in the online character design community and can often found posting his designs to his site Pizza and Pixels.
Jason Groh has worked in Television Animation for 20 years.
He is the product of his parents on a careless Saturday night and famed Sheridan College Animation and Applied Arts Program.
His long client list includes Nickelodeon, Nick Jr.,Channel 4, WNET/ PBS, YTV, Fox Television, American Greetings Corp, CBS ,NBC, QUBO, Treehouse ,Warner Brothers and Teletoon, among others.Jason has worked as an Animation Supervisor, Animation Posing Artist, Character Layout Artist, Story Artist, Character Designer, Character Concept artist, Production Designer, Funpack Designer,Assistant Director and Director.
His work also includes Television Development, where the long list would include Development on top secret shows for King of all media Howard Stern, Comedian Jamie Foxx and 70’s Blacksploitation Cult hero SuperFly.
Jason’s silly voice work can be heard in the award winning short films “Skylight” and “Surly Squirrel”,currently playing to laughing audiences on the Festival circuit around the world.
In 2008 Jason was awarded the prestigious Cartoons on the Bay Pulcinella Award for Best Preschool Show.In 2009 he was a Winner of the Alliance of Children's Television Award /Best Animation for a show he Directed, which also garnered him a personal Gemini Nomination for Best Direction in an Animated Series.In 2010 He found 10 dollars on the street riding bicycles with his son.
Famous for at least a one block radius around the office, Jason is currently Directing the Hit Show "Little Charmers" which Broadcasts on Treehouse and Nickelodeon. He is known for his big picture thinking topped with uncanny attention to Hair care Products,his clubbed feet and tiny bladder.
Jason will stop talking about himself in the third person now.
Judy Leung has been working in animation industry for over twenty five years. She began her Animation career in Hong Kong as an Animator and Producer at an animation commercial company. Judy currently holds the position of Manager of Studio Operations at Nelvana, overseeing and managing staffing, recruiting, carrying out studio policies, guidelines and studio planning for the studio. Judy has been with Nelvana Limited since 1993.
Patrick Kil
Currently, Patrick is the Supervising Technical Director for the 3D department at Nelvana. He has an extensively broad industry background wearing numerous hats over many years including director of animation, art director, cg supervisor lighting director for commercial, film, TV and the gaming industries . Patrick is a Sheridan 3D Animation graduate who previously studied and worked in Architecture and Environmental Design in his past life. He has two beautiful B&W cats.
Don Gauthier is a graduate of the Sheridan Illustration program. He illustrated and designed Children’s books for 15 years before transitioning into the Animation industry as an art director/background painter. Over the years, Don has worked for studios such as Disney, Nelvana and Toon Box having worked on many productions including Beauty and the Beast; the Enchanted Christmas, Return to Neverland, Sidekick, Grossology, Clone High and Bubble Guppies. He’s currently developing and art directing new properties for Nelvana studios.
Ben Hu graduated from Sheridan’s Bachelor of Arts Animation program in 2009. Since then he has worked as a Character Designer, Layout and Location Designer, Storyboard Artist, Animator, and Posing Artist on a variety of shows such as Sidekick, Scaredy Squirrel, The Day My Butt Went Psycho, Wayside, Mysticons and other projects in development.
Michael Lahay is a 19 year veteran of feature and television animation production starting his career as a posing artist on Little Bear and The Never Ending Story. Michael then moved on to Fox Feature Animation where he was able to work his way towards being a traditional 2D animator on classic films such as Anastasia, Bartock the Magnificent and Titan A.E. Upon returning to Canada, Michael became a designer and animator for Nelvana's first 2D digital series QUADS as well as animation director for Max & Ruby.
In 2003, Michael left production to work exclusively with Toon Boom to design and implement Toon Boom Harmony. He is currently a Senior Technical Producer for Nelvana Studio over seeing 2D production as well as a few 3D series. During his career Michael has played a leading role in the production of many series such as Rescue Heroes, 6TEEN, Grossology, My Friend Rabbit, Sidekick, Guess with Jess, Bubble Guppies, Mike the Knight, Lucky Duck and other new projects.
Michael is currently fully invested in developing pipelines for the next generation of 2D productions.
