97 Graduates from Sheridan Contribute to Two Emmy-Nominated Shows

Celebrating the Sheridan Emmy Connection

A total of 97 graduates from Sheridan’s art, animation, illustration and computer graphics programs – who are now working in industry – contributed to two shows up for a Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award on Sunday, June 16.  Bubble Guppies and Justin Time are both nominated in the same category— Outstanding Pre-School Animated Program. Both shows also share a strong connection to Sheridan.

Raising the Value of a Sheridan Education

“The fact that so many of our graduates are making their mark confirms that Sheridan is doing something right,” suggests Dr. Jeff Zabudsky, President and CEO of Sheridan.  “Their success continues to raise the value of a Sheridan education for every new student who follows in their footsteps. We are both tremendously proud and enormously grateful for what our alumni have achieved.”

Precision, Patience and Rigor

“Sheridan has a very strong legacy in animation,” adds Dr. Angela Stukator, Sheridan’s Associate Dean, Animation and Game Design.  “It stems from our commitment to teaching the fundamentals of the art form. Only after students have developed a sense of using pencils, paper and paint do they work in traditional cartooning or 2D and 3D film making.  With three hours of homework for every one hour in class, they also develop the patience and precision that are required to excel in this very meticulous and rigorous type of work.”

Bubble Guppies: Nickelodeon, Nelvana and Pipeline Studios

Season Two of Bubble Guppies was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, CA and airs on that network in the US and in Canada on Treehouse and Nickelodeon (Canada), with production work done at Nelvana Studio in Toronto and Hamilton’s Pipeline Studios. A total of 65 Sheridan graduates – 34 at Nelvana and 31 at Pipeline worked on the show, which represents close to two-thirds of the overall crew. One of Nelvana’s supervising producers, Helen Lebeau, VP Production at Corus (the company that owns Nelvana), is also a graduate of Sheridan’s Media Arts program.

Justin Time: Sprout and Guru Studio

Justin Time which airs on Sprout, is the first original production created by Toronto’s Guru Studio.  Guru’s President and Creative Director Frank Falcone is a graduate of the Sheridan-    UofT Art & Art History Degree and currently serves as the Chair of the Program Advisory Committee for Sheridan’s Bachelor of Animation Degree.  A total of 32 people at Guru who contributed to making Justin Time are Sheridan grads, including Falcone who is one of the show’s Executive Producers.

About Sheridan

Sheridan’s Faculty of Animation, Arts and Design is the largest arts school in Canada.  Its four-year Bachelor of Animation degree traditionally receives 800 applications from across Canada, the US, Korea, China, India and Brazil for 125 spaces each year. Another three, eight-month long post-graduate certificates are offered in computer animation, digital character animation, and digital visual effects to enable individuals to further hone their craft.  Sheridan is currently working on becoming Ontario’s first university that is exclusively dedicated to undergraduate applied and professional education.  Under the new model, creativity will become a hallmark of a Sheridan education and students will have even more pathways to continue learning throughout their careers.

For more information, or to request an interview, please contact:

Christine Szustaczek
Director of Corporate Communications & External Relations, Sheridan College
T: 905-815-4169
E: christine.szustaczek@sheridancollege.ca