Nine graduates of Sheridan College in Ontario were nominated for 2016 Annie Awards that recognize the year’s top achievements in the field of animation. The International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood) announced the winners February 6 in Los Angeles, California. Created in 1972 by veteran voice talent June Foray, the Annie Awards have grown in scope and stature for the past 40 years.
Sheridan has four campuses in Ontario – one located in Brampton, one in Mississauga and two in Oakville. The nine nominees graduated from Sheridan’s Bachelor of Animation program within the past five years, further strengthening the program’s ongoing reputation for excellence.
And the winners are…..
Taha Neyestani, a 2015 graduate of Sheridan’s Bachelor of Animation program, took home the award for Best Student Film. Neyestani received the prize for the film which he created in his last year of study at Sheridan. The film is based on a figure drawing model who comes to life when he steps on the stage. Neyestani says he found it natural to recreate the environment he enjoyed the most during his Sheridan studies.
“I instantly fell in love with the craft of figure drawing and it became a highlight of my time at Sheridan.”
Born in Tehran, Iran, Neyestani discovered his interest in art and animation after taking a multimedia course in Malaysia. Upon immigrating to Canada with his family in 2010, he enrolled in Sheridan’s animation program. After graduation, Neyestani was hired as a storyboard artist with Toronto animation studio House of Cool.
Allison Rutland won the Annie for Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Feature Production for Inside Out (Pixar Animation Studios).
A 2003 graduate of Sheridan’s Computer Animation program, Rutland is one of many alumni who worked on Inside Out – which took top honours at the Annie Awards, winning 10 trophies including Best Animated Feature.
In her acceptance speech, she had special praise for Pete Docter, Director of Inside Out. “Thank you for letting me animate a little girl playing hockey which was fun for me as a Canadian hockey player.”
Alexander Poei was part of a team that received the award for Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Live Action Production for The Revenant – The Bear (Regency Enterprises, New Regency Pictures, Anonymous Content, M Productions, Appian Way, RatPac-Dune Entertainment).
Poei earned a diploma in classical animation from Sheridan in 1999 after graduating from the College’s Art Fundamentals program in 1996.
