Mark Komza - 1st Year Layout, 4th Year Mentoring

For the past nine years I have been teaching animation at Sheridan College. , I was creatively active for twenty years in the Animation industry. I worked on a variety of projects, with a multitude of people and different studios, including my own endeavour for a while. Prior to my professional Canadian career, I was educated in Fine Art in Poland. I obtained my MFA in the Field, and had a chance to produce my own animated films and be involved in several other animation projects in Poland and Germany. I have also participated in a number of Animation Festivals, receiving some awards.

Scott Caple - 2nd Year Layout

Scott Caple graduated from Sheridan College in 1980 and has been working in the animation industry for 30 plus years, as a character and environment designer, layout and story artist on features and television projects both good and bad. Titles include Horton Hears a Who (Blue Sky Studios), The Incredibles, Cars (Pixar Animation Studios) The Wild, Atlantis: The Lost Continent, Mulan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Fantasia 2000, Tarzan, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Inspector Gadget, Ewoks, Droids, Rock’n’Rule, and even effects animation on Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and E.T. The Extraterrestrial.

Scott's Blog

Mark Thurman - 1st Year Life Drawing

I've been teaching in the Classical Animation Program at Sheridan for the last 8 years, and I teach with an amazingly talented group of people.

It's also great to teach students who are focused, talented and love to draw. To see their growth as storytellers and film makers over their years at Sheridan is very rewarding.

I've earned my living mostly as an Illustrator/ Author, and designer of children's books (45 so far),with a 16 year period as co-creator and Illustrator of the Mighty Mites comic in OWL Magazine(154 episodes).

I've also pursued a career as a painter and gallery artist - with a primary focus on figurative work. I still draw the figure on Sundays at the TSA.

My one stint working in the world of Animation was one summer in the early 1960's when I painted cells for Rocket Robin Hood.

My interest in Figure Drawing and Anatomy is a natural extension of my childhood years where I spent summer holidays in an old log cabin with no electricity or running water. During day long hikes with my brothers I would collect stones,bones, sticks, feathers, frogs and snakes.

In public school I loved Illustrating my notes with detailed drawings from the world of science and nature -- and I still do.

Mark Palowich - 3rd Year Digital, 4th Year Digital

A graduate of Sheridan College's Classical and Computer Animation programs, Mark has spent the last 15 years working at a wide range of Toronto Animation companies and post production houses. He has been a part of numerous feature films (Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil 2, What the Bleep Do We Know), television programs (Peter Benchley's Amazon, Veritas, Jett Jackson) and commercials during that time, and continues to work as a freelance artist to the present day.

Mark's site

Chris Walsh - Stop Motion, Animation History, 4th Year Mentoring

Chris has worked extensively as a commercial stop motion animator on a variety of internationally broadcast television programs. He holds an MFA in Film Studies (York University, 2007), a BA in Film Studies and English Literature (Wilfrid Laurier University, 1993), and a Diploma in Media Arts (Sheridan College, 1998).

At Sheridan he teaches Animation History, stop motion animation, mentors 4th year films, and lectures on aspects of story. Chris is an active filmmaker, concerned with themes such as family bonds, fairy tales, local histories, and cinema's role in our everyday lives. His films have been screened internationally, including the Toronto International Film Festival and The Ottawa International Animation Festival. Big fan of David Lynch and Felix The Cat.

Chris's Blog

Trevor Davies - 4th Year Mentoring

Trevor Davies is a graduate of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, in Vancouver. He has worked in Film & Television for over 25 years as a Broadcast Designer, Animator and Visual Effects Artist.

Trevor began his career with the NFB in Vancouver and has worked for many of the Toronto based broadcasters and studios including Nelvana and YTV. He has taught part-time for the past 10 years. Trevor currently runs CORE Animated Effects Ltd.; an independent production company where he is employed as a full-time producer.

James Caswell - 3rd Year Story

James Caswell operates a freelance production service doing animation & live action/ effects design with an emphasis on storyboards, both traditional and digital. As a designer/illustrator, he has worked on a variety of projects: features, direct to video, series television and commercials. He works as a freelancer or as a team member as a director, producer, effects designer, character designer or storyboard artist. His projects cover a gamut of traditional 2D, stop motion, special effects and computer based animation.

James holds a Bachelor of Design: Illustration from the Ontario College of Art and Design and a Master of Arts: Media Production from Ryerson University.

His clients include Nelvana /Corus, Cuppa Coffee Animation, and Walt Disney Television Animation. He has worked with a number of famous characters in animation and continues to develop and illustrate on projects for independent production and studios.

Some credits are posted at:

James Caswell imdb
Jim Caswell imdb

James' Blog