Winnipeg students to showcase films made with the help of Nickelodeon

WINNIPEG -

Despite a pandemic-disrupted academic year, a group of animation students at Sisler High School managed to create three animated short films.

Now the students are ready to present their work to the world.

“Having that experience with my group, who have become my friends now, it’s amazing,” said Dairyl Mabunga, a Sisler student part of The Orange Tree project, a collaboration between the Sisler CREATE program and Nickelodeon Studios.

“I can’t wait for everyone to see the film,” she said.

The Orange Tree Project, in its first year, is made up of high school and post-high school students with the Sisler CREATE program working with animation mentors from Nickelodeon studies to create original animated short films.

The students were organized into three separate teams (Monarch Martians, Yam Jam Animation, Eclipse) that functioned almost like small-scale animation studios.

Each group was paired with one or more mentors from Nickelodeon who helped the students craft their films from concept to finished product.

“Having my two mentors with me, I learned a lot technically and also a lot about myself as well,” said Jemimah Suba, the Eclipse team leader.

Learning the importance of scheduling breaks for herself and her team is an example, said Suba, among the many lessons learned from her mentors who, she adds, were incredibly responsive and helpful.

“The relationship that developed between the mentors and the students was just absolutely remarkable,” said Jamie Leduc, department head for Sisler CREATE who helped launch the Orange Tree Project along with Carson Smith from Nickelodeon.

Engaging regularly with industry mentors helped keep the students on track, said Leduc, despite the many changes to the learning environment caused by COVID-19.

“The engagement level was through the roof,” said Leduc.

“I honestly believe the work that was done this year surpasses anything that was done at Sisler in any years prior to this year in the CREATE area.”

Keeping a group of people focused on the task, while not being able to meet in person, was no easy feat, said Yam Jam Animation team leader Gab Reyes.

“I was used to working alone before,” said Reyes. “It was definitely a new experience.”

But, said Reyes, the collaborative nature of working on a team and getting input from Nickelodeon mentors helped create a superior finished film.

“Hearing suggestions, critiques from different mentors and my team… it was definitely something crucial that we needed,” said Reyes.

Beyond Nickelodeon studios, other animation industry groups joined in as mentors or led classes as the academic year went on, like Rise Up Animation, a group that helps promote diversity in the animation industry.

“There is not, or has not historically been, a lot of diversity in animation” in a North American context said Rise Up Animation co-founder Monica Lago-Kaytis.

Rise Up Animation is co-hosting an Orange Tree Project student showcase on Thursday, screening the three student-made films to audiences and industry professionals across North America.

“We really want to give the students at Sisler that have worked so hard during the pandemic a platform to showcase their amazing work,” said Lago-Kaytis.

One of the teams of students, the Monarch Martians led by Lya Langit, is already helping to promote cultures not often seen in animated media.

Most of the group’s members have a Filipino background, so they decided to adapt a creature from Filipino mythology, the “Nuno sa punso,” roughly translated as the “old man of the mound,” into their short film.

“We had never really seen ourselves in media before,” said Langit, “We wanted to highlight that, at least this time, so that it can be a start.”

Throughout the year, Langit said she learned a lot of valuable lessons on the ins and outs of the animation industry, from pitching concepts to writing and production.

Trent Correy, a member of Rise Up Animation and a former student of Leduc’s who now works at Disney, says the skills students learned throughout The Orange Tree Project will prepare them for professional life in the animation industry or any adjacent field.

And, while Correy is excited to help present the student’s work, he says they’ve already accomplished a major feat.

“They’ve already won in so many ways because they finished a short film, something most artists don’t get to do in their whole career,” he said.

Many of the post-high students taking part in this year’s Orange Tree Project will be continuing their journey into animation at the Vancouver Film School, tuition and equipment paid for, thanks to a donation from the Schroeder Foundation.  

The showcase takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom. 

-With files from CTV’s Michael Hutchinson and Kayla Rosen