Hollywood Animation Academy was developed by animation veterans from major Hollywood studios. It is the first specialty school for animation in the country designed specifically to give our students the training they need to get jobs in the animation industry. Many people do not know that the animation industry does not require a college degree and it is one of the few careers that you can earn more than 100k a year to start!

Studios want to hire individuals who fit a very specific group of styles and skills. We have an inside advantage because our guest instructors are currently working in top positions at these studios and know what they want in a portfolio. Our experienced directors work with our students in person every day to guide and support them in every assignment they do. Several times per semester our students will meet a new guest instructor who is working on a film, game, or show at a major studio via Zoom. This gives our students an insider's window into what is happening in the industry and what they need to do to get in.

Our groundbreaking animation training program is designed to train you to build a winning portfolio using the processes and programs currently used by major Hollywood Studios and Game Developers. Because we are in Kansas City, we can offer the best animation program in the country for half of the cost of expensive colleges on the coasts. The cost of living in KC will give students less overhead while attending the school as well. Our small class sizes ensure that students get the attention they need. Currently we have 12 students per classroom. 

Realizing that the cost of college was getting prohibitive, and many schools are not training with portfolios in mind, founder Gavin Dell decided to design a specialized school for animation in his hometown of Kansas City. Mr. Dell explained. “It’s critical that students get trained in a way that actually prepares them for the industry they are going to work in. Most colleges aren’t taught by industry animators and that is who you need. I think getting enormously in debt from college and then risking not getting hired in a very competitive industry is a terrible way to start.”

Our instructors have often been the ones at the studio who review the portfolios and know exactly what you need to succeed. This gives the students in our Kansas City animation training program a huge advantage.

Learning animation is an incredibly fun and exciting experience and I don't want my students struggling over a problem with their computer or rig to inhibit their potential. The other thing I think is incredibly beneficial is that students get to work together and see each other develop like we do in major studios. We feed off of each other’s creativity and it raises the level of our work. You don't get that experience at home taking an online class.

When I went to Cal Arts in Los Angeles, I learned more from looking over my fellow student’s shoulders than from many of the teachers. It was the first time in my life I was around better artists than I was and I was on fire to learn all of their tricks. When you are competing with thousands of other artists for jobs, you need every advantage you can get, and although I think online schools have a lot to offer, they are missing these things.

Our students are going to have the best of all of these experiences and many things I haven’t seen other animation training programs do in Kansas City or elsewhere in the country.