Thank you for your interest in the Hollywood Animation Academy of Kansas City!
Qualifications
We are located at 1740 West 92nd Street Kansas City, Missouri 64114.
What does it cost?
TUITION FOR 2-YEAR ANIMATION CERTIFICATE PROGRAM- IN PERSON PROGRAM
Our 2-Year Animation Certificate Program is $28,500 per year and subject to change yearly. We are a private school and we do not provide loans or financial aid. All financing should go through your choice of a bank, credit union, or private loan company. Our admissions staff can give you some tips on how to negotiate finding loans more successfully. 529 accounts can be used, and we will qualify for Veterans in 2024.
Our tuition is more affordable than most colleges and we give advanced training far beyond a bachelor's degree in animation in only 2 Years. Like any college, we require a full day of work from 9:30 to 5:30 plus time for homework in order to do some of our larger projects. Trust us, when you are doing what you love it isn't work!
Students with jobs can leave at 3:30 with evidence of employment.
ENROLLING NOW for Fall of 2024 until May 2024
Our animation academy in Kansas City is currently enrolling for Fall of 2024 and for continuing online classes which are available throughout the year. Please contact Lisa through the contact box on the website for details and start dates.
Do you need to be able to draw to be in our program? We are now forming a list of students who want to participate in our separate 3D animation only course path. For the 2D and 3D program there will be a portfolio review and intermediate drawing skills are required.
We have limited spots available so please be sure to contact us right away to apply with your portfolio. We are the only 100% animation college program in the country, and our students are taught by industry directors from Hollywood in Kansas City. We have no academic courses and have developed the country's most practical specialized animation program you need to be hired. Our instructors each have over 30 years of industry experience at major film, game, and television studios and are dedicated to their small classroom of students to give specialized attention daily. The students in our animation certification program will be taught animation with more industry insight than any college in the country. It gives you the advantage you need in this competitive industry!
Portfolio submissions for the next enrolling year are open now and we will let you know if you are accepted within 30 days of your submission. Because of high demand we recommend you apply before April of 2024 for Fall of 2024.
A portfolio review is required to attend. Students must have intermediate-level drawing skills. A test and a portfolio review are required for acceptance into our animation certification program in Kansas City. When you sign up for more info you will receive an extended list of portfolio guidelines to help you put your samples together. See the Qualifications section below.
ONLINE CLASSES
For information and news about our Kansas City animation academy, please sign up for more information so we can send you an introduction package with our catalog. We encourage you to call or schedule a Zoom meeting where we can answer any questions you have. Or we love to meet potential students and their families in person, so contact us to schedule a tour.
Online classes require 15 years and older with intermediate drawing skills. Unlike most other online schools, we teach live every week and you will be taught by a veteran animation director from a major Hollywood Studio!
Our online classes for Introduction to Animation, Character Design and Introduction to Storytelling will be enrolling several times a year. If you are interested in attending, please sign up for more info
For acceptance into our Kansas City animation academy, we require a portfolio review to qualify for our program. A portfolio is a collection of your best artistic work. We like to see character drawings and storytelling in a portfolio.
Please send 10 pages minimum and 20 pages maximum of your best work only. You can send your work in a zipped folder under 20 MB through email to Lisa@hollywoodanimationacademy.com. We will review your work and respond within two weeks of your submission.
We also require a letter of intent be included in your submission. This must be a 3-paragraph letter telling us about you and why you want to be an animator. Tell us if you like telling stories, acting, or filmmaking. Tell us what qualities you have that would make you a good candidate for our Kansas City based animation certification program. This should be a formal letter and spelling and punctuation should be taken seriously.
We like to have a consultation with our potential students to assess their experience level and goals before acceptance as well. Many schools do not learn enough about their students' goals before accepting them and we want to ensure our students have the same goals that we train for.
Classes will be held 9:00 am to 3:30 pm Monday through Friday and the school will be open for their use until 5:30 daily with mentor support. To ensure that students are equipped with optimal equipment to complete their homework, they will need to purchase a home computer setup (average cost $2000). This includes industry CPU, large drawing tablet, side monitor and software.
Students will take both 2D and CG courses, this includes a computer with the proper specs, a Maya and Toonboom license, a Wacom (what most major studios use), or Huion (equally rated but half the price) Tablet 19 inches or above (22 inches recommended), and one extra monitor, keyboard, and mouse
Have a look at our basic requirements and please contact us so we can get to know you and get you on our exclusive list for year one of the Hollywood Animation Academy in Kansas City!
Portfolio Submission Guidelines
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High School Diploma or HiSet equivalent |
upon request |
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High School Record (or Transcript) |
upon request |
Did you know when you are watching animation 30 frames go by per second? Did you know the voice actors act out the script into recordings for storyboard artists to then be the first to visualize the script? They say animators are actors, only with a pencil, well now they use a lot of different tools. This course will introduce you to the basic fundamentals that make animation work, and where animators fit into the process of making films, games, and television shows. We will discuss the history of animation and see where it is going. It is an eye opening introduction to the magic, the art, and the craft. Great for younger students as well ages 14 up with strong basic computer skills. On the final day of class, you will learn to animate the Iron Giant or Lego Batman!
3D Animation fundamentals will teach you how to use Autodesk Maya to create animation using character rigs. It’s like puppeting your character without drawing! You will learn the basics of weight, posing, timing and movement to create some awesome pieces for your portfolio using characters like the Iron Giant, Homer Simpson, Woody and Buzz and even Spongebob!