About the Animation MFA

An impressive track record of producing successful animations artists and nurturing innovative storytelling

The UCLA Animation Workshop has been turning out innovative and accomplished artists for over half a century, never more so than in the past decade, as the popularity and commercial impact of the genre has exploded. The secret seems to be striking a perfect balance between technology and creativity. Although the Workshop has always acknowledged the importance of staying abreast of the latest hardware and software, its central emphasis has always been originality. The rule of thumb has guided the program since it was founded in 1948: "one person, one film." Students learn every phase of the filmmaking process, from scriptwriting to editing. They become masters of a demanding craft who are also master storytellers.

It is not surprising that Workshop graduates have been well-prepared for the CG innovations that have transformed the field of animation: established by gifts amounting to almost a million dollars from the Walter Lantz Foundation, the program's Walter Lantz Digital Animation Studio is a state of the art facility, a matchless resource for instruction, research and student film production.

And alumni such as Gil Kenan MFA '02 was nominated for Best Animated Feature last year for his directorial debut with Monster House, David Silverman '79, MFA '83, one of The Simpsons defining directors who brought The Simpsons Movie to the big screen in 2007, and Oscar-nominated Shane Acker '04, who expanded his visionary short film 9 into a feature film for producer Tim Burton — these Workshop pros are able to use the technology with freedom and expressiveness.

"One person, one film" means freeing the imaginations of artists by training them to control the entire process of making movies.