Breandan McGrath, our Animation Program Manager (based out of Halifax), had an exciting interview recently with AnimationCareerReview. AnimationCareerReview is “THE source for aspiring animation, design, and gaming professionals seeking info on training programs, schools and colleges, software and technology, career profiles, profiles of the leading industry firms, and more.”

Breandan started at the College in the year 2006 and is very dedicated to his trade. He has done a variety of jobs in the field of film and animation, including Producer, Production Manager, Animation Studio Manager, and 3D Animator.

He has worked on animated movies such as Beauty and the Beast and also movies featuring animation such as Night at the Museum and Dr. Doolittle.

Some of the questions that Breandan was asked about the road to success in animation were:

• Tell us a little about the basics of the College for Arts & Technology’s Animation program.
• Do students come into the program with any prior experience?
• What is CAT’s philosophy on teaching the production pipeline?
• What is your favourite course to teach?

Read the interview here.

Breandan is a fun and quirky individual (his students love him!) who answers questions in a way that can always make a person smile, such as “The first thing a studio looks at is your resume and your cover letter followed by your demo reel. Misspellings abound because students expect spell-checker to catch everything but it doesn’t (especially spelling the word ‘College’ properly)!”

The interview focuses on the fast-tracked Animation Program – Animation for Game, Film, & Digital Effects – at the College for Arts and Technology. The goal is success based on passion and this interview explains just how to get there.

Students take classes in everything from life drawing and storyboarding to modeling and career management. It’s all about who’s teaching classes and how it is taught. I try to teach students how to learn because this industry is continuous lessons in learning. There’s always new software and new ways of compositing so you have to be a generalist. We teach our students how to light and change textures… how to be an all-around person and understand the full gamut of the industry. – Breandan McGrath on AnimationCareerReview.

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