Students in a booming Animation Industry – not a complete Bed of Roses…

The Animation Industry in Ireland is currently experiencing a boom, with a huge demand for graduates (and even undergraduates) to do real production work in studios large and small. IADT’s DL041 Animation course has had long experience with community and industry collaboration, with undergrad external work fully credited (by negotiation) under our modular system. This presentation will describe some of our community engagements over recent years and will also describe our student’s successes in the current boom climate. I will also describe the evolution of our policy document on traineeships, internships and work placements and will highlight how we strive to protect and enhance student learning in the pressurised environment of animation studio production. There are downsides, dangers and challenges to engagement with community and industry partners – we’ve learned and we continue to learn many lessons in our dealings with external partners. Fundamentally, the Teaching and Learning needs of education do not always chime with the demands of business and industry. Studio partners are more preoccupied with filling short-term production seats in studios, rather than considering the long-term learning benefits for students. Why do successful studio heads fail to understand the potentials of education and what can we do to address this problem? How do we future-proof our students through progressive and flexible Teaching and Learning? David Quin has worked as an animator continuously since the early 1980’s, producing TV series and award-winning short films, as well as becoming Brown Bag Films first CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) Technical Director. David Quin has also lectured in IADT since 1999. On the subject of education’s engagement with industry, his experience allows him perspectives from both sides of this complex and evolving issue.