Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) has signed a multi-year agreement with the training arm of Academy Award® winning Aardman Animations.
The agreement will see UC become the only educational institution in New Zealand and the Pacific territories to specialise in Aardman stop-motion animation.
The expertise available through Aardman, the animation studio behind Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Morph, is particularly exciting for animation students under UC’s Bachelor of Digital Screen with Honours, with the opportunity to receive training both in their chosen specialty, and directly from industry leaders.
“It’s incredibly exciting to welcome the University of Canterbury as an educational partner with the Aardman Academy,” says Mark Simon Hewis, Head of the Aardman Academy.
“Canterbury is our first and only educational partner in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, so our relationship and activities in the coming years are even more special. We can’t wait to get going with world-leading animation insight, support and learning from our Aardman staff and Aardman Academy team.”
Created at a time when the studio desperately needed more animators to produce Chicken Run, the Aardman Academy has trained hundreds of animators, directors, model makers and more, globally.
The agreement came to fruition through Kōawa, the newly rebranded initiative from UC, formerly known as Digital Screen Campus.
“We want to ensure our graduates are not just exploring what is happening in the creative technology sectors,” explains initiative Director, Sam Witters. “The partnerships Kōawa brings to the University will ensure our students have a finger on the pulse of future trends of the industries into which they’ll graduate and work.”
The different ways the interconnected screen industries engage with storytelling helped the University form the foundation for Kōawa,” says Executive Dean of Arts, Professor Kevin Watson.
“It was built on the idea of the convergence between education and industry, creating an ecosystem where students learn from both academic experts and industry partners, ensuring we produce graduates with the creative and technical skills employers need to grow the sector and change the world through storytelling.”
UC is already home to a cinematic landmark with its Ilam Homestead playing a role in Peter Jackson’s 1994 film, Heavenly Creatures.
