Shawn Kelly realized his dream to animate films with the help of three mentors who took a personal interest in his career. Convinced that animation lovers everywhere should have the same opportunity, he cofounded Animation Mentor, an online animation school with student/mentor relationships at its core.

Kelly works with Bobby Beck, Animation Mentor’s CEO and cofounder, and cofounder Carlos Baena to help define and shape the school’s overall direction. Kelly balances his Animation Mentor role with his work as a senior animator at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in San Francisco, Calif.

Born in Santa Rosa, Calif., and raised in Petaluma, Kelly set his sights on working at ILM at age 5 when the movie Star Wars hit the big screen. Under the tutelage of animators Bill Hennes and John Root, he studied drawing and computer software throughout high school, attended community college and later enrolled in the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

A summer internship at ILM introduced Kelly to another influential mentor, animation director Wayne Gilbert. It was through Gilbert that Kelly realized he wasn’t learning what he needed at school. Kelly left the academy in 1996 for a job as character animator at former video game and educational company Presage Software, but continued his studies with Gilbert twice a week.

In 1998, Kelly fulfilled his lifelong dream and landed a job at ILM. Since that time, he has worked on numerous films including War of the Worlds, for which he animated tripods and probes; Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, where he helped develop and animate the vulture droids and animated Yoda in a pivotal swordfight; and Rango, where he was the Lead Animator for both the Mayor of Dirt and the Spirit of the West. Kelly also worked as Lead Animator on all three Transformers movies. Kelly’s credits feature 23 films including Hulk, the Star Wars prequels, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and The Avengers.

Kelly received the 2007 award for the “Best Single Visual Effect of the Year” by the Visual Effects Society (VES), an organization dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and application of visual effects. Kelly’s winning effect was for the desert highway sequence of Transformers, in which Bonecrusher skates through traffic, destroys a bus and fights Optimus Prime.

Kelly has developed curriculum and taught at the Academy of Art University and was on the team that earned the 2000 CLIO award for Best Computer Animation for a Pepsi/Star Wars “Alien” campaign. Kelly currently lives in San Anselmo, Calif., where he reads a lot — especially comics — and writes short films.

Alex McDowell is one of the most innovative and influential designers working in narrative media, with the impact of his ideas extending far beyond his background in cinema. McDowell advocates an immersive design process that acknowledges the key role of world-building in visual storytelling.

Since moving to LA from London in 1986, McDowell has designed for directors as diverse as Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, David Fincher, Zack Snyder and Steven Spielberg. He recently completed Man of Steel with director Zack Snyder, produced by Chris Nolan. With many awards for his film design work, McDowell was named a Royal Designer for Industry by the UK’s Royal Society of Arts in 2006. McDowell currently serves on the AMPAS SciTech Council. He is Design Consultant at the School of Cinematic Arts, USC, and is Visiting Artist at MIT’s Media Lab, where he collaborated with composer Tod Machover on the robot opera Death and the Powers.

He continues to work as a visual consultant and speaker, focused on the reframing of the designer’s role in the future of storytelling - building worlds as containers of narrative, and machines of the imagination. McDowell is co-founder and creative director of the 5D | Institute, and the 5D | Building Worlds initiative, a global series of distributed events and an education space for an expanding community of thought leaders across narrative media.

Dawn Rivera-Ernster manages global outreach, artistic and technical recruitment teams, and Disney Animation’s student programs. Dawn attended the American Academy of Art, Chicago with an emphasis on Advertising and Design.

Pete Bandstra is Program Director for 3D Arts degree program, which includes Computer Animation Bachelor Degree and Game Art Bachelor Degree programs at Full Sail University. Taking the role of Program Director over the associates degree for Computer Animation, Pete would design and launch the Bachelor degree in 2006, followed by Game Art Bachelor degree in 2008.

Working the last 14 years educating the students inside the classroom, as well as serving as a professional freelance educator. Pete was honored with the prestigious Full Sail University Top Gun Award in 2001.

Pete worked as a freelance visual effects artist throughout Florida, generating 3D content for commercials projects, sporting events, and for Johnson Controls in Cape Canaveral Space Center.

Pete earned a Bachelor degree in Organizational Management from Ashford University, as well as an Associates of Science in Recording Engineering from Full Sail University.

World Building proposes an experiential virtual collaborative space that integrates technology and the creative process from inception through iteration to tangible experience. Translating an obsolete 20th Century linear industrial model into a fluid non-linear workflow, World Building opens new possibilities of immersive storytelling & the weaving of multiple narratives across media.