Emmy award-winning Storyboard Supervisor Kyle Menke speaks to students about creating story-driven animatics.
Innovative ‘Pilot Project’ Leads to Students Pitching Animated Series Idea to Disney Animation Exec
T
his past summer, Imagination Up Productions (iUP Productions), DiscoveryOnstage, and Providence High Arts produced a groundbreaking endeavor, The Pilot Project. Eighteen young people ages 13-18, comprised of existing and prospective PHS students, embarked on this immersive, hands-on experience collaboratively participating in the process of developing an actual, viable television pilot from inception to final product.
and pitched, all with the hopes of launching iUp Productions’ very first television series celebrating the power of the creative spirit and the impact of process participation.
“It was exhilarating for us to seize on an engaging interdisciplinary opportunity,” said Cinema Arts Focus Program Director Chris Schaefer. “By combining Providence Theater and Cinema Arts we were able to create this innovative workshop.”
The students were split into three teams and engaged in the process of developing an animated television series from each team based on ideas generated from younger students at Providence High Arts Summer Acting Camp produced by DiscoveryOnstage. Once their stories were developed, each of the teams were tasked with creating a full length animatic of their pilot episode including a fully produced voiceover track (in which they performed alongside a team of professional actors) recorded at a professional studio and animation elements in the style of their choosing.
Within the walls of Providence’s brand new, state-of-the-art Cinema Arts Center, participants wrote, performed, produced,
Additionally, each team had to generate a pitch package for their series which included their animatic along with writing and
Pioneer Connections
12
