May 18 Industry Event & May 21,22 Year End Open House at Max the Mutt!

Max the Mutt College of Animation Art & Design will celebrate the work of 2016 graduates, as well as undergraduates!

2016 ‘Concept art’ graduate Harrison Smith (Camelot)

Acclaimed independent Toronto college of animation, art and design holds popular annual ‘Industry Event’ on May 18, and celebrating its 2016 graduates, gives the public a behind-the-scenes look at ‘Year-end Exhibition and Weekend Open House’ – with free workshops – on May 21 and 22

“A lot of potential talent here and we actually had two people working with us in the past. I would recommend it for students looking for a place.” – Mark Maia, creative director at Big Blue Bubble (Canada’s largest independent mobile gaming company)

“Really impressed with the student work. There are really talented people.” – Robert Anderson, supervising producer at 9 Story Media Group(world leading creator, producer and distributor of award-winning animated and live action content)

Toronto, ON, April 8, 2016 – Toronto’s Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art and Design (2944 Danforth Avenue, M3C 1M5) holds much anticipated annual ‘Industry Event’ for animation, gaming and publishing professionals on Wednesday, May 18 (2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.), and gives the public a chance for a behind-the-scenes look at their year-end open house exhibition (free workshops with top industry pros) on Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22, 2016 (detailed open house schedule below).

Max the Mutt’s industry only event, represented by top companies including Entertainment, Big Blue Bubble, Drink Box Studios, 9 Story Media Group, Moovix Media, Corus/Nelvana, Portfolio Enterntainment, Toon Box, Yowza! Animation and more, gives the opportunity to students and graduates to display their work and for industry pros to scout for new recruits. Works to be on view include; children’s books, animation reels and slide shows, prop and character design, comic book pages, figurative and portrait paintings and much more.

FACEBOOK EVENT (Industry only): https://www.facebook.com/events/1674996226098601

FACEBOOK EVENT (Open House): https://www.facebook.com/events/588134991343350/

MORE INFO: https://mtm-college.com.

Max the Mutt founder/director Maxine Schacker states, “Our year-end events are almost here! We’re happy to hear from so many companies that they will attend our Industry Event – it seems every year gets bigger! And we also look forward to welcoming the public to our weekend Open House, where we’re again providing free workshops on both Saturday and Sunday!”

OPEN HOUSE 2016 SCHEDULE:

Open to the public Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22. The main reception is on the second floor (enter through the side door, elevator is available). Year-end student and graduate exhibition, curriculum information, school tours and free one-hour workshops on both days.

Ø Saturday, May 21:

10:30 a.m. – Doors open.

11:00 a.m. – Information Session; school philosophy, the curriculum for the three diploma programs, workshops and certificate programs. Followed by group school tours.

1:30 p.m. – Free workshop; ‘Comic Book Layout’ with head of Max the Mutt’s Illustration for Sequential Arts diploma program Kent Burles. Burles has worked with Malibu Comics on creating a series of Planet of the Apes comic books, and a series called The Adventurers. He also worked on many role playing games by Fasa, Steve Jackson, White Wolf, and recently on Anvil Galaxy and Rifts for Palladium Books.

5:00 p.m. – Doors close.

Ø Sunday, May 22:

11:00 a.m. – Doors open.

11:30 a.m. – Free workshop; ‘Cartooning’ with MTM’s animation director Tina Seemann. Seemann is the head of classical and computer animation, and a cartoonist. Her work has appeared on TVO’s children’s shows including Polka Dot Door and Bookmice, she designed the ‘Max the Mutt’ mascot and is currently working on a children’s book. Seemann has also taught animation at Sheridan College and the Bell Centre for Creative Communication.

2:00 p.m. – Free workshop; ‘Character Design’ with MTM instructor Greg Beettam. He is a veteran comic book/graphic novel artist, freelance illustrator, graphic designer, writer and visual storytelling expert with more than 20 years experience. In addition to his work in comics, graphic novels and cartooning, he has worked in advertising as a concept artist, specializing in storyboards, story development, scriptwriting and presentation design.

3:30 p.m. – Doors close

Summer Programming: Workshops and Camps

Max the Mutt summer programming offers students an opportunity to upgrade skills or develop new ones. There are workshops and camps in drawing, painting, computer animation, cartooning and comic books and a new certificate program for Fine Art Skills & Portfolio Development. They are taught by the same industry professionals who teach in the diploma programs and they run on different dates starting from June 25 to August 2, 2016. See the website for full schedule: https://mtmcollege.ca/workshops-camps/.

ABOUT:

Founded in 1996 in Toronto, Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art and Design provides in-depth training via workshops and three programs of study; Classical and Computer Animation and Production diploma, Concept Art for Animation and Video Games diploma (only of its kind in Canada) and Illustration for Sequential Arts: Comic Books and Graphic Novels diploma (only of its kind in Canada). Max the Mutt prepares students for careers in animation, concept design, advertising, art direction, comic books and graphic novels.

First Year Art Show & Open House April 30, May 1!

ANNOUNCING FIRST YEAR ART SHOW & OPEN HOUSE!

Every year, to celebrate the hard work and amazing progress of first year students, max the Mutt presents an exhibition of their work. After the private opening ( for students and their friends &families) we host an Open House...and you are all cordially invited!

Please join us on Saturday April 30, from 10 AM to 4 PM, and/or Sunday May 1 from 11Am to 3PM.

On Saturday at 10AM at a brief meeting in our theatre, we would like to share with you Max the Mutt’s unique vision and philosophy, speak about pre-college workshops and the new Certificate Program, and share information about the growth and skill requirements for the increasing number of animation, comic book and game related careers available in Canada.

#maxthemuttTO

(PS Our major Open House of the academic year will take place the weekend of May 20 to 22, when graduate work and new work from year 2 & 3 students will be on display, free workshops will be offered, and a Saturday AM presentation will be held about all diploma programs. Full details will be posted soon!)

Open House, Free Workshops Sept 26th & 27th!

Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art & Design

Open House: Saturday and Sunday, September 26th & 27th

A shared passion draws first rate Canadian and international artists, students and instructors to Max the Mutt, and many graduates have gone on to careers at top companies including Corus/Nelvana, Guru Studio, Arc Entertainment, Toon Box, National Film Board of Canada, Sony, Nelvana, UbiSoft, Warner Bros. Games and Pixar.

…Come visit us!

RSVP to admissions@maxthemutt.com

or call 416 703 6877

The Open House Schedule:

Saturday, September 26th, 2015

10:30 am – Information Session; presentation about the school’s philosophy, the curriculum for the three diploma programs, workshops and skills development programs.

11:30 am – Tour of the school.

12:00 noon to 1:00 PM:

Dave Ross (http://www.daverossart.com/), one of Canada’s best known comic book artists (dynamic projects for Marvel and DC Comics include: • Spiderman • Daredevil • Avengers Westcoast • Batgirl • Catwoman • Punisher • Captain America • Excalibur • Birds of Prey • Aliens • Alpha Flight • Star Trek • Star Wars: Dark Times) will present a one hour introduction to his figure drawing methods . Dave teaches thus course as well as workshops at Max the Mutt, and his book on this subject was recently published by top art book publisher Watson Guptill ( a branch of Random House). Dave will be signing copies of the book, which can be purchased at this event, or bring your copy along !

2:30 PM: Complimentary Cartooning workshop with director of animation Tina Seemann.

If you know which program you’re interested in and would like a private tour and information session with a program coordinator, please call admissions to book for either Saturday or Sunday.

Sunday, September 27th, from 10 AM until 3 PM

If you know which program you’re interested in and would like a private tour and information session with a program coordinator, please call ahead to book for either Saturday or Sunday. Admissions and workshops staff will also be available for individual and group tours of the school.

1 PM to 2 Pm:

Complimentary Comic Book Layout workshop with Sequential Arts co-ordinator Kent Burles.

We look forward to your visit!

Maxine Schacker, Director

Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art & Design

(art work by 2015 Concept Art graduate Lily Vonk)

Now Is The Time: Start Developing Traditional Art Skills!

I’m writing this in the hope that more people will take action to start developing real skills! Sitting back and saying you’ll just attend “art fundies” is not a solution! Most courses that teach foundations have 30 people in a class, and you can spend one, two or even three years in such a program and still not have a good grasp of visual language. This is teachable! Start learning it now!

Nicolaides says that god is lavish with talent: there are many acorns. But what does it take for the acorn to develop into an Oak tree? Just as students study a musical instrument, take dance classes, get coached for sports those of you who may want to pursue a career in art need to begin NOW! That acorn needs nurturing.

It takes desire, focus, small classes, good instruction, and practice. Max the Mutt offers all of this.

The best place to start developing your art skills this summer is by taking the July learn To Draw program, open to all, at Max the Mutt. Now is the time to find out if you like drawing in a class setting everyday! Now is the time to start developing work that may be used when you need to develop portfolios for university or college applications!

I suggest the full program, but you can enrol in parts: Life Drawing every day for 2 weeks, or 4 weeks; 2 weeks of structural drawing; 2 weeks of learning, through the use of still life setups, the basics of composing and rendering a still life drawing.

When you understand process, and link it to feeling and sense of touch, the outcomes are surprising.

The tuition for this program is $400 for each of the 4 parts, with a discount for taking the whole thing, and a discount for signing up before the end of May. Parents of minors can claim a tax credit for art instruction. Professionals seeking to add skills (graphic designer? BFA graduate?) can claim professional development tax credit. Here is the link to more information:

https://mtmcollege.ca/beehive/learning-draw/

Don’t procrastinate: sign up now!

All the best, and wishing you all good drawing experiences,

Maxine Schacker

Max the Mutt’s First Open House At 2944 Danforth Ave: A Great Success!

Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art & Design offers three in depth diploma programs, #Classical&ComputerAnimation&Production, #IllustrationFor SequentialArts:ComicBooks&GraphicNovels, and #ConceptArtForVideoGames&Animation. We are also expanding our general interest workshops offerings, professional development and skills building courses testtest.

We moved to 2944 Danforth Avenue over the winter break, and held our first Open House on February 7th. It was a great day! An appearance on #CP24Breakfast on Thursday, February 5 had really spread the word!

Our Open House started with a 10AM Information Session about the college, our philosophy and our programs. The turnout was wonderful, and included our MPP Arthur Potts, who announced to me and the audience that The Pilot Tavern in Yorkville ( he is one of the owners) is inviting us to hold a fundraising event this spring, an auction of student and faculty art work, to raise money for the school.

Following the Info session, Tina Seemann, Carla Drmay, Roksolana Tchotchieva, and Kent Burles each led a group on a tour of the school, including visiting some classes that were in session.

At noon, following coffee, tea and doughnuts, a Panel Discussion, featuring Industry professionals began.

The panel: moderator, freelance Concept Artist, MTM year 3 & 4 coordinator, Jonathan Standing, Concept Artist Ben Reynolds (Uken Games), animation veteran Tim Deacon ( Director and co-owner, Smashing Animation), Adam Ghering (Legend 3D Director), Jeff Lyons (9 Story Entertainment Layout Artist), Greg Beettam (Ilustration and Comic Book veteran).

Feedback on this event was so good that we plan to present similar events as part of future Open House days.

At 2 PM, following a lunch break, Tina Seemann offered a free cartooning workshop to another full house: more photos soon!

For more information about Max the Mutt please check our website, , or call us at 416-703-6877 (toll free 1-877- 486 MUTT), or email us at admissions@maxthemutt.com. We offer personal tours and information sessions!