Administrators set to announce future of BYU animation program
What: The president of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios will speak at Brigham Young University at the premiere of the award-winning BYU animation program's newest short, "Pajama Gladiator." The premiere and the speech will follow an administrative announcement regarding the future of the animation program at BYU.
Who: Ed Catmull is co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Pixar hires BYU three to four animation students and graduates each year and has a cooperative agreement with the BYU program, sending employees to Provo regularly to mentor students on projects. Catmull's address is titled, "What Goes Wrong Behind Blockbuster Movies."
BYU animation students, led by professors R. Brent Adams and Kelly Loosli, will be presenting the next animated short in the program's growing line of heralded films. BYU has won six College Television Awards, commonly known as "student Emmys," from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and two Student Academy Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
When and Where: The administrative announcement, the premiere, and Catmull's address will begin on Thursday, Mar. 27, at 11 a.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall in the Harris Fine Arts Center. (Building #39 on this map). The visitor parking lot at the Museum of Art provides easy access to the Harris Fine Arts Center.
Catmull and BYU animation program faculty, alumni and students will be available for interviews from noon until 12:30 in room 386 of the Museum of Art, just north of the Harris Fine Arts Center. The short will also be screened there for any members of the media who miss the premiere. Still images and clips from the short will be available for journalists.
Note: Although members of the media are welcome to attend Catmull's speech, the event is for faculty and students in BYU's Colleges of Fine Arts and Communications and Engineering & Technology. The public is not invited.
Writer: David Luker
