Teen Animation Festival International 2016

Congratulations to the Teen Animation Festival International 2016 participants. The festival was held at the museum on Saturday, April 30 and included work from more than 100 young animators representing five continents. The festival events included screenings of Official Festival Selections, portfolio reviews, panel discussions, and a keynote address from Academy Award® winning director, artist, and writer, Mark Andrews. At the close of the day, honors were presented for outstanding achievement, based on judging from a panel of industry professionals. The title of Best International Program went to Gyeonggi Arts High School in Seoul, Korea. The museum Staff Favorite was Berry Boy, a film by Erin Shin from Orange County School of the Arts. Second in Festival, also from Orange County School of the Arts, went to Kellsey Tamaru for Treasure. Best of Festival honors went to Marcus Emery from Saratoga High School for his action-packed tribute to low budget action films, Cardboard Car Chase. 

Mark your calendar for TAFI 2017: Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30, 2017

Deadline for entries: Sunday March 12, 2017

“After viewing Marcus Emery’s Cardboard Car Chase, you’ll never want to throw away that box from Amazon again. From simple cardboard and hot glue, Emery fashions a taut, well-edited action sequence that sizzles from beginning to end. When they get around to creating Fast and Furious with cardboard, they have their director.”

—Steve Hickner, Director, DreamWorks Animation

"I was hooked the moment the cardboard hit the pavement. Watching this was like playing cops and robbers as a kid, with the same innocence and visceral intensity. A tactile and gritty use of stop motion combined with adrenaline filled cinematography—on a budget!”

—Mathew Pugnetti, Concept Artist, ArenaNet

"Treasure is a wonderful short with a thoughtful narrative heart, built on strong, emotional and inventive animation.”

—Noah Klocek, Art Director, Pixar

"Treasure had everything I enjoy in an animated film– appealing character design, pleasing graphic style, solid animation principles, and the freedom to break the laws of perspective and physics for the sake of pushing the storytelling…. and what a touching story it is, simple yet heartwarming. It’s a great start, especially for a high school student. I look forward to seeing what they do in college. And I hope it’ll be in my program!"

—David Chai, Animation Director, Professor of Animation/Illustration at SJSU

First | Don Huy Nguyen, Sheldon High School, USA
Second | Nidhi Naroth, Silicon Valley Career Technical Education Center, USA

First | The Adventures of Sugar and Mopsy, Ian Moss, North Hollywood High School, USA
Second | Customizer, Luca Dell’Agostino, A. P. Giannini Middle School, USA

First | Cardboard Car Chase, Marcus Emery, Saratoga High School, USA
Second | Pocket Candy, Hannah Cosselmon, Lowell High School, USA

First | Blue and Orange, Ruben Rosochacki, Alexander Road High School, South Africa
Second | The Heist, Franklin High School, USA

First | Treasure, Kellsey Tamaru, Orange County School of the Arts, USA
Second | Clock, Hyo Won Jang, Gyeonggi Arts High School, Korea

First | Shoe Wars, K-9 Studio Students, Sheldon High School, USA
Second | Wagon Tales, Andrew Rajo, Silicon Valley Career Technical Education Center, USA

Gyeonggi Arts High School, Seoul, Korea

Berry Boy, Erin Shin from Orange County School of the Arts

The TAFI team would like to extend much thanks to our panel of judges, representing talent from film, television, and video game studios and university scholars. Thank you to John-Paul Balmet (ILM), Robert Carter (Memory Leak), David Chai (SJSU), Lancing Chen (Sony), Raquel Coelho (SJSU), Youri Dekker (Sony), Ryan Eways (Sony), Alejandro Garcia (SJSU), Andrew Harkins (DreamWorks), Steve Hickner (DreamWorks), Noah Klocek (Pixar), Chris Lam (Double Fine), Claudia Law (ILM), Jared Mills (Double Fine), Matt Pugnetti(ArenaNet), Becky Roberts (Sony), Lucie Roberts (Sony), Russell Story (ILM), Luke Suzumoto (EA), and Michael Tucker (Double Fine)

Individual Artists

Gillman Aquino, Woo Chan Baek, Kristen Broderick, Na Young Choi, Mike Cochiolo, Marina Common, Jasmine Cooper, Clara Cornish, Hannah Cosselmon, Scott Dietz, Paola Delgado, Marcus Emery, Paloma Front, Jocelle Galanza, Ji A Han, Ye Sol Han, Shannon Hoang, Isabella Hou, Cierra Lowell, Luca Dell’Agostino, Anya Dungca, Hyo Won Jang, Carly Johnson, Tae Woong Kim, Woo Hyun Kim, Ji Woo Lee, Xiu Li Li, Anya Martin, Ian Moss, Nidhi Naroth, Don Huy Nguyen, Hye Lim Park, Ji Woo Park, Benjamin Ragasa, Andrew Rajo, Ruben Rosochacki, Ryan Santiago, Erin Shin, Soo Jung Shin, Hannah Streu, Jacob Sullivan, Kellsey Tamaru, William Tsaur, and Brenda Vang.

Group Artists

The Flipper, Franklin High School Reel, Ghostly Grandpa, The Heist, Humidity100%, Shoe Wars, and Yo Yo Trick.