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USC Launches The Expanded Animation (XA) MFA Program: A Bold New Frontier For Artists And Innovators
The University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts has unveiled its groundbreaking Expanded Animation Research + Practice (XA) MFA program, a comprehensive, interdisciplinary initiative designed for passionate visual media artists from all disciplines. This dynamic program invites creative artists, regardless of their undergraduate major or previous animation experience, to explore the vast creative potential of animation across multiple platforms and mediums.
Breaking Boundaries in Animation Education
The XA program emphasizes creative expression and innovation, offering an expansive curriculum that encourages experimentation across a wide range of animation techniques and artistic styles. Students can immerse themselves in a variety of media and research fields: traditional 2d/3d animation, real-time production, motion capture, VR/AR, documentary animation, dreams and consciousness, stop-motion animation, science visualization, sound design, immersive installations, and AI-driven animation. This wide-reaching approach allows artists to blend traditional techniques with modern technologies, pushing the boundaries of animation as an art form.
A Flexible and Self-Directed Curriculum
One of the most exciting aspects of the XA program is its flexible, self-directed curriculum. Whether a student is interested in cinematic installations, science visualization, or blending analog methods with digital tools, they have the freedom to explore their own voice in animation. With access to state-of-the-art technology, such as motion capture stages and IMAX/ AI labs, XA students are positioned to engage with the latest advancements in the field.
Opportunities for Growth Beyond the Classroom
The XA program provides students with valuable opportunities for internships, residencies, field trips, research, teaching, and exhibitions, both within USC and in Los Angeles, as well as internationally. This network of opportunities allows students to gain practical experience and exposure to real-world research.
An Artist-Centric Vision with Mentorship and Inspiration
The XA program is led by a distinguished group of professors and mentors who are not only educators but also active creators in the animation field.
Professor Kathy Smith explores consciousness and dreams as it pertains to the landscape through emotions of hope, fear, and desire. Her work combines oil painting, drawing, 2d/3d animation, AR, VR, AI holography, and installation. She has screened and exhibited internationally, including SIGGRAPH N-Space Art Gallery, Sundance Film Festival, New York Digital Salon, Hiroshima, Anima Mundi, GLAS, Sydney, Melbourne, and Ottawa International Animation Festivals.
Professor Sheila M. Sofian, the director of XA, is an award-winning independent animator who focuses on documentary animation and social issues. Her films have examined domestic violence, war, wrongful conviction, and disability. Sofian has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, The Pew Fellowship, and The Women in Film Foundation.
Professor of Practice Lisa Mann is a fine artist, an educator, and a collaborator. Her art practice investigates a broad range of serious social and cultural issues preoccupying the American collective consciousness. Her research has focused on technology and nature, homelessness, the connection between gun violence and children, police violence, domestic violence, domestic labor, and reproductive rights, and has culminated in live action and animated film/video/audio work, sculpture, installation, projection mapping, photography, community-based art, and performance art.
Professor of Practice Maks Naporowski is a multifaceted filmmaker, a visual storyteller, cinematographer, vfx supervisor, animation director and artist. He is best known for visualizing high-concept ideas for feature films like Aviator, The Matrix Revolutions, Bad Boys 2, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Superman Returns, Ghost Rider, The Patriot, and Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone.
Professor Everett Lewis is an award-winning independent filmmaker who has written and directed nine independent features. He has helped to both create and continually define (and redefine) independent filmmaking as a genre. He has developed a significant oeuvre and contribution to cinema as a filmmaker working to explore, through fiction filmmaking, and documentation of gay and lesbian characters and experiences.
Adjunct faculty include Miguel Jiron, head of story at Sony Pictures Animation, world-renowned roboticist and artificial intelligence expert Dr. David Hanson of Hanson Robotics, stop-motion director and filmmaker Musa Brooker, animator and storyboard artist Greg Garay, and Houdini professional Debra Isaac, among others.
In addition to the mentorship provided by faculty, the program invites inspiring guest artists from diverse corners of the animation world, offering students the chance to learn from leaders in the field and gain insight into emerging trends and technologies.
A New Era for Animation Artists
2024 welcomed the first graduating class in XA. When asked for his assessment of the program, XA MFA’24 Shengwei Zhou replied, “XA is a place where you can find your own zone and unique voice as an artist in the animation and digital arts field. It really expands not only your mind, imagination, and productivity but all possibilities of interdisciplinary technologies in both traditional and contemporary, organic and digital.” Shengwei Zhou is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida College of the Arts.
XA MFA’24 Tianyun Lyu stated, “There’s an old Chinese saying, ‘Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.’ Yet XA goes beyond, guiding us not just to our own fishing grounds, but helping us realize that perhaps, deep within, we never needed fish at all. It teaches us to listen to the whispers of our hearts, and to walk the path that truly belongs to us.” Tianyun Lyu is a director at the Animation Lab, Aniphant Studios.
XA MFA’24 Dina Garatly added: “Joining USC’s expanded animation program was one of the most transformative decisions I’ve made. It empowered me as an animator and unlocked countless opportunities across diverse industries, broadening my creative horizons in ways I never imagined.” Dina Garatly is the Senior Program Manager of Film Al-Ula, The Royal Commission of Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia.
USC’s Expanded Animation program is a game-changer for anyone passionate about pushing the boundaries of animation and digital storytelling. For more details about the program, including admissions requirements and application instructions, visit the official XA program website at https://expandedanimation.usc.edu or email expandedanimation@cinema.usc.edu. The deadline for applications is November 15th.
The future of animation is here, and USC’s Expanded Animation program is ready to shape the artists who will define it.