Blog

After a highly followed social media campaign last week, current Old Spice guy, Isaiah Mustafa remains the brand’s pitchman. Isaiah squared off against Italian sex symbol, Fabio in a series of challenges from each other and viewers, in what has been called “Mano a mano en el baño” (hand-to-hand in the bathroom).

On July 20th, instructors from CG programs at schools such as LMU, Academy of Art, Art Institute and Santa Monica College attended an Educator's Summit at Escape Studios' Santa Monica campus.

The ongoing saga of educational budget cuts has me continue to question what lies ahead for students. Although it is a national concern, the issue really hits home right here in California. Programs are closing, professors are relocating to other states to teach, faculty positions are left unfilled and class sizes continue to grow. Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education shares his concern, “What we are seeing is the abandonment of the state’s commitment to make California’s education available to all its citizens.”

With several key additions to their staff, a new Telecine division and the acquisition of a 24,000 sq ft digital studio in Culver City's Blackwelder Arts District, it is safe to say that our friends at The Mill LA are experiencing exciting developments. 

As we near the launch of our US campus in Santa Monica, CA, Escape Studios will be hosting our first ever Summer Apprenticeship Program. Over a period of 12 weeks, selected juniors, interns, PAs, TAs, or runners from some of our partner studios including The Mill, The Third Floor, Method, a52, and Digital Domain and will gain the full Escape Studios’ experience.

Tad Leckman and Joe Kelly visit The Art Institute of California - Hollywood as their latest stop on the Academic tour.

Our friend Jason Cohon from Brand New School has shared with us a Facebook application they have designed and created for Microsoft Outlook called “Creature Creator” for Seattle based agency, Cole & Weber United.

As we are getting closer to our official launch, we have developed more relationships with industry professionals. I am happy to introduce the newest members of our advisory board and look forward to their contributions to the Escape Studios experience.

Escape Studios' Tad Leckman and Joe Kelly were welcomed by Santa Monica College.

For anyone who cannot attend courses at our London or Los Angeles campuses, look no further. Escape Studios’ Online Mentored Training Courses are designed for you to learn the same curriculum as our classroom courses but from the convenience of your own home or office. If you have thought about a career change or simply want to advance your skills to land that dream job, we have the solution for you. Our dedicated instructors will guide you as you learn professional industry related skills.

Joe and I stopped by Westwood College on Monday morning to share some of our VFX expertise with the students there.

Escape Studios’ Tad Leckman and Joe Kelly are set to begin their Visual Effects Presentation Tour to a school near you. First stop is Laguna College of Art & Design on March 25th.

Toy Story is and always will be one of my favorite movies—that is Toy Story the original. The other night I put in Toy Story 3 which I’d gotten for Christmas and enjoyed some great animation from Pixar (again). As I watched, I wondered what other folks thought. Was this one of the greatest animated films ever? What do other folks think? I pulled up the “Top Rated "Animation" Titles from IMDb to see if I was sitting in good company. And, much to my wonder, I am sitting well. Toy Story 3 is right there at number one on the list of best animated titles. They also list the worst animated titles—I’d only heard of one. Check out the list—see if you are in good company.

I was poking around the internet today and ended up reading this article entitled “The importance of Real-World Physics when creating Visual Effects.”

I think it is safe to say that many of us have been affected by the decline of the economy and downfall of the US job market the past few years. However, times are changing. I wanted to share my recent discovery of this article highlighting the demand for new grads to go digital.