MAD students come together for industry screening

Graduating students from Durham College’s three-year Animation – Digital Production and Game Development programs and one-year VFX and Digital Cinema graduate certificate program, housed under the School of Media, Art & Design (MAD), recently came together to host an industry screening at The Charlotte Room in Toronto.

The student-hosted event, which took place on April 18 and was largely paid for via fundraising done throughout the academic year, saw the students showcase short videos designed to highlight their best work to industry professionals. Durham College graduates, professors, program co-ordinators and Charlotte Hale, associate dean of MAD, were also on hand to show their support.

“The venue was wonderful and it was great to see Durham College alumni currently working in the field supporting the new crew of grads from MAD,” said Hale. “The turnout from industry was also impressive. I had a chance to speak with the director from Bioware who flew in from Montreal just for the screening.”

Traditionally students host their own individual program screenings on separate nights but for 2012 decided to team up to host one larger screening. The event allowed students to network with industry professionals and potential employers to learn about their experiences and prepare themselves for their future endeavours.

“We had guests from studios around the city,” said Melissa Wang, an Animation – Digital Production student and president of the Society of MAD, which also helped to fund the event.  “Students had a chance to speak to them about their experiences in and how they got where they are today. It was a fantastic opportunity to network with people working in the studios to which they are applying for jobs.”

Based on the success of the joint screening, students are hopeful that the programs will partner on the event again next year with VFX and Digital Cinema students considering the possibility of adding a second night to screen their short films in their entirety.