Former Disney supervising animator, author, and character designer, Tom Bancroft is the president of Taught by a Pro, a website “made by artists for artists to learn and improve their skills.” Over the past few years, Bancroft has worked hard with a few of his animation colleagues to create a place that brings in animation professionals to offer artistic video tutorials in a growing number of techniques like character design, animating effects, overlapping action, comics and many more.
Taught By A Pro ProWeekend
Aside from what they have put together to offer in the digital world of instruction, Taught By a Pro has branched out into the world of live events and workshops. Rock stars of the 2D animation world are going to be convening at Lipscumb University October 24-25th to take part in Taught By a Pro’s first ever ProWeekend.
Disney Legend Ruben Aquino (Ursula, Adult Simba), Disney concept artist Claire Keane (Tangled and Frozen) and Disney animator Tom Bancroft (Mushu) himself, among others, will spend a few hours at the event lecturing on the day in the life of an animator, sharing stories of their time in the industry (that includes their time at Disney Animation Studios), and share comprehensive tips and tricks to improve anyone’s artistic skills.
In addition to the lecture, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with each of the featured lecturers. This entire event will also provide great tips on how to promote yourself as an independent artist as well as how to break into the the world of animation, video games, and comic books.
VIP Dinner
If learning at the feet of these animation masters isn’t enough, there will also be a VIP dinner, which will be held the Friday night before the lecture series and will not only include the above guests, but also some other animation celebrities such as John Pomeroy, Guy Gilchrist and Doug TenNapel (in addition to a few other unnamed surprises). At $99, the opportunity to rub shoulders and socialize with these greats is well worth the price.
Purchase Tickets
Typically these type of seminars are only given on the west coast so it is very exciting to see such a great gathering of talent on the east coast. If you are anywhere within reach, I would highly recommend making the trip. I’m not going to miss it and hope to see some of you, honorary Rotoscopers, there as well.
Early registration tickets are $175; however, if you purchase before October 10, you can score a pass for $150. For a more detailed list of the events, speakers and schedules or to purchase tickets, visit ProWeekend’s information page here.
