Dec. 7 – 11, 2020
The Cherokee Nation Film Office is proud to sponsor the Native American Virtual Animation Lab, an intensive five-day workshop that prepares Native Americans for careers in animated film, television and new media.
The five-day total immersion workshop is offered by the Barcid Foundation and will be conducted online and guided by an industry animation professional. Other sponsors include Comcast NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Animation, Crunchyroll and Cartoon Network.
The fellows, or chosen participants, are all Native Americans and are accepted nationwide from an established network of nonprofit agencies, schools, universities, guilds and media organizations. The goal is that the participants garner the skills necessary to obtain employment in the industry.
The virtual lab consists of online panel discussions, virtual one-on-one meetings and Zoom group workshops and will offer supplemental support for existing creative material owned by the selected lab participants. One of the main components is the virtual pitching process. Participants will pitch their material in numerous online capacities throughout the weeklong intensive. Each participant’s creative material will be presented as a television feature or streaming project. In addition, all of the participants will offer ideas, suggestions and thoughts on developing each other’s materials.
The final component is the virtual pitch panel. All participants pitch their projects to an online panel of development executives.
Meet the 2nd Annual Native American Animation Lab fellows:
Ryan Abramson (Spokane Tribe of Indians)
Blake Brown (Cherokee/Chickasaw)
Joran Fox (Three Affiliated Tribes – Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara – Fort Berthold Indian Reservation)
Arigon Starr (Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma)
The goal of the Native American Virtual Animation Lab is to offer new information to prospective Native Americans who want to explore a career in animation. It was created in accordance with the LA Skins Fest’s mission to improve media portrayals of Native Americans and to increase the number of Native Americans employed in all facets of the media industry.
