Click image or HERE for larger version of this image.

Earthlight Pictures Animation Training guides students at all levels across the landscapes of animated and live-action motion picture production, and prepares them to make their own contributions to the field. Young people and adults—regardless of age or school affiliation—have access to film/video producer John Teton’s comprehensive college-level production training in programs similar to those he has run at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and at San Francisco State University. (Click for Faculty info.)

Earthlight Trainees develop their talents through exercises in a workshop environment, allowing for one-on-one instruction and hands-on operation of equipment, and receive coaching in the production of projects of their own design, whether designed for portfolio use and exhibition or just for fun.

The college-level animation training program open to secondary and grade school students—believed to be the only one of its kind in America—in addition to adults, and teaches traditional and digital animation techniques and animation history in the pursuit of artistic self-expression and/or a career in animation. Some have started as beginners and within two to three years have had their work exhibited in international film festivals while in their early teens or younger. The first Earthlight trainee was hired by DreamWorks Animation to work on Shrek 3 and other features after taking the top college student animation prizes at the international student animation festivals in Ottawa, Canada from 2003 through 2005.

Earthlight Trainees’ real-world orientation is enhanced by opportunities to participate in field trips to major animation studios such as Dreamworks (Shrek), Pixar (Ratatouille, The Incredibles), Warner Bros. (Space Jam), Film Roman (The Simpsons), Rhythm & Hues (Golden Compass, Superman Returns), Sony Pictures Imageworks (Spider-Man 3) Digital Domain (Transformers, I, Robot, The Day After Tomorrow, Titanic), and Cartoon Network (Samurai Jack).

In-person classes run year-round in Oregon and Washington and during the summer in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara as well. Beginning in 2007, the new all-live, interactive, online Earthlight Pictures Animation Teletraining program has become an option for students regardless of location. Private training in both on-site and teletraining modes is available by arrangement.