With hundreds of young Canadians graduating yearly from animation schools, many will be facing a significantly tougher job search than they would have a decade ago. And in response to the diminished job market and changing recruitment needs of studios, educational institutions are adapting their training practices.

The animation business experienced a growth explosion in the mid-’90s, as animation technology grew more affordable and it became clear that the medium had expanded well beyond its children’s programming roots.

‘Growth was so extreme in the mid-’90s that when things leveled out, people called it a slump, but it was really just things returning to normal,’ says Chris Robinson, artistic director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (Sept. 22-26). However, he adds, ‘we keep seeing more and more graduates, and I wonder where all these people are going to go, because I don’t think there are as many jobs out there.’

There are still large growth sectors such as the gaming industry, and both employers and educators are beginning to shift their focus to a more well-rounded education in the arts complemented by specialized skills, rather than the less personalized, studio-driven approach that accompanied the recent animation boom.

Return of the artist

During the ’90s, Robinson explains, young animators from schools such as Sheridan College in Oakville, ON stopped showcasing complete films to potential studios, in favor of presenting pencil tests, considered a better way for studios to gauge talent level. As the industry focused on filling the slew of new positions opening up, students’ work became more studio-specific and less a reflection of the individual artist, a trend that has been reversing itself over the past two years.

‘The single biggest dilemma of students coming out of the schools now is whether to specialize or be a generalist,’ says John Morch, VP of business development at Toronto animation house DKP Studios. And while Morch says that what he really needs are specialists, such as texturists, lighters or animators, his advice to students is to hone in on what they’re good at, but also to work on a secondary skill so as not to limit job opportunities.

While the current market is challenging for some animation houses, DKP is experiencing considerable growth in its 20th year. Four years ago there were 20 people working at the studio. Today it has a staff of 125 and is part of U.S.-based IDT Entertainment Group, which owns nine studios internaionally, including Vancouver’s Mainframe Entertainment.

‘It’s a complicated time in our business right now,’ says Morch, pointing to losses in the industry such as the closure of Toronto’s Calibre Digital Pictures, the assets of which were purchased by DKP. ‘But [DKP] has had a very stable plan and we’ve always had a variety of work. We’re not so specialized that a downturn in one specific area could [have a dramatic impact].’

With more than five projects on the go, including Yankee Irving, a CGI feature directed by Christopher Reeve, and the CBC series Shoebox Zoo, DKP is actively recruiting new animators. On Sept. 9 it hosted a recruitment event for approximately 300 hopefuls, in partnership with Mainframe. As part of a larger group of studios, DKP is in a position to provide more long-term opportunities for recruits, Morch says.

He also notes that the quality of recruits from Canadian schools is improving. ‘Over the past two years the Canadian schools have been delivering much more qualified production-ready artists. Three years ago when we were looking at reels, they wouldn’t last 20 seconds in the machine. Now we hire people who can sit down in the studio and be productive almost right away.’

The challenge for schools, according to Angela Stukator, associate dean of animation at Sheridan’s School of Animation, Arts and Design, is to prepare students for a marketplace that is looking not only for qualified specialists, but also artists with a developed sense of story who can help studios develop new intellectual property.

‘The industry is looking for professional, mature team players willing to take direction,’ she says. ‘Getting a really solid education in art, humanities and social science is going to produce that kind of a person.’

Sheridan, which has a 30-year history in animation education, is moving towards this by phasing out its three-year classical animation program and replacing it with a four-year bachelor of applied arts program, which Stukator feels better prepares her students for the demands of the current marketplace and leaves them open to other related avenues of employment, such as education, production and research.

‘Our program has a real integrity in terms of arts education, so I don’t feel I’m just training animators, but rather creative, artistic people,’ she says.

Sheridan has about 120 postgrad students, as well as 140 first-year, 110 second-year and 95 third-year students in the undergrad department. The school receives an average 1,800 applications for 120 to 140 available positions yearly.

‘Thirty years ago there were three animation educators in North America. Now there are hundreds, so we’ve definitely glutted the market collectively,’ says Stukator.

While admitting there are more students than jobs out there right now, she says there is still growing demand in areas such as gaming design, which was the leading topic at last month’s SIGGRAPH, the annual computer graphics conference, this year held in L.A. This is hardly surprising, considering that game developer Electronic Arts, for example, reportedly went from making $100 million to $3 billion in profit within a three-year period.

-www.awn.com/ottawa

-www.dkp.com