ANIMATION SCHOOL CONTINUES TO PRODUCE WINNERS

ANIMATION SCHOOL CONTINUES TO PRODUCE WINNERS
Monday, 6 July 2009

Auckland, New Zealand - Lifeway College 3D Animation student, Jonathan Mafi, has won the Auckland Technical Prize as part of the 2009 Hamburg Animation Awards.
The Hamburg Animation Awards are international awards for animation cartoons. Hamburg is the epicentre of German media including film, TV, advertising and music production, with the contest open to graduates and students of film academies, technical colleges and universities in Germany. New Zealand entries are possible through the Auckland City Council's strategic alliance with Hamburg, signed in April 2007.
Jonathan’s animated short, Pride Comes before a Fall, was highly commended by the panel of industry representatives. This is the second year a Lifeway College 3D Animation student has been honoured through the Hamburg Animation Awards, with Austin Hillbrecht, winning the Country Award for New Zealand in 2008 for his film, The Missing Sock. Austin’s prize was 2000 Euros (NZ $4,000), and a trip to Hamburg to attend the award ceremony and to meet with Disney character designer, Stephen Silver.
“It is great to see one of our first year students being recognised among the best new talent in New Zealand. We are extremely proud of a first class individual achievement by Jonathan and like Austin before him, are looking forward to seeing his potential released further in his second year of our Advanced Diploma in 3D Animation. We believe this focus on the individual needs of students combined with our long-term relationship with the animation industry, is what makes our graduates employable by star New Zealand companies such as Weta and Huhu Studios” says Craig Hansen, Principal of Lifeway College.
Jonathan’s short, Pride Comes before a Fall, can be viewed here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qztsMebtnvQ&feature=channel_page and was aired on C4, ‘Select Life’ on Monday 6 July.
Lifeway College School of Animation is currently accepting enrolments for February 2010. Places are limited.

Notes to Editor:
Lifeway College School of Animation www.lifeway.ac.nz is an industry based school in Snells Beach, Auckland. Working closely with animation companies, the College is focussed on producing students with exceptional technical skill and storytelling ability who are ready to enter the workforce on graduation. Lifeway College is NZQA accredited offering New Zealand’s highest level animation qualification and is a member of the Auckland Creative Digital Content group with companies such as Huhu Studios, Flux Animation and Kangoo Animation.

For further information, please contact:

Craig Hansen
Principal
[email protected]
094254054