Program Details
The 2023 Summer Academy will be held July 10-14.
DePaul University welcomes high school students interested in the film, television, and game industries to join us for the 2023 Game, Cinema, and Animation Summer Academy. The Summer Academy will be held July 10-14, 2023 from 10am to 5pm at DePaul University’s Loop Campus.
Participants will receive hands-on instruction using the latest equipment and technology taught by full-time DePaul faculty from our nationally-recognized programs:
- #15 Film School in the US (The Hollywood Reporter)
- #16 Animation program in the US (Animation Career Review)
- A Top Game Design School (The Princeton Review)
Students must have completed their freshman year of high school by July 1, 2023 to be eligible for the program. Seniors who will be graduating in 2023 are also eligible.
Lunch will be provided for participants each day of the Academy. Housing is not provided. Please see local hotels and AirBnBs for housing needs.
view sample schedule (pdf)
Apply Now
The deadline to apply for this session is June 24, 2023.
Choose from Five (5) Tracks:
Film and TV Production Track
Students will work in groups to write, produce, shoot, and edit short films. Students will have the opportunity to take on multiple roles within the productions. Students will learn basic editing techniques to complete their films. This track will be taught by Gary Novak, Susanne Suffredin, and Meghan Artes.
Game Development Track
Along with students in the 3D modeling and animation track, game development students will work in teams to brainstorm, design, program, and produce assets for a 3D computer game. Students will have the opportunity to explore multiple roles in the game production process. The games will be designed and programmed using a game development platform. This track will be taught by Mike DeAnda.
Hand-Drawn Character Animation Track
Students will be introduced to the basics of classical hand-drawn character animation. Students will get hands-on practice with animation software. This track will be taught by Scott Roberts and Brian Ferguson.
3D Modeling and Animation Track
Students will learn the basics of computer animation and modeling. Along with students in the game development track, students will work in teams to brainstorm, design, program, and produce assets for a 3D computer game. Students will design, model, and texture creatures, vehicles, and environment objects, and learn how to import them for use in a working game. This track will be taught by Joshua Jones.
Screenwriting Track
Students will learn the basics of script format and visual writing style, while being introduced to story structure, character development, and the business of screenwriting. A series of in-class and take-home writing assignments will push students to discover their own unique point of view in a creative workshop environment. This track will be taught by Brad Riddell.
In-person Learning
The 2023 Game, Cinema, and Animation Summer Academy will be held in person. CDM will adhere to all safety procedures recommended by DePaul and government health officials during the week-long session. Our top concern is the health and safety of students and faculty, and if the situation in Chicago changes, we will take appropriate actions.
While we cannot require Covid-19 vaccinations for participants, we encourage everyone to get vaccinated.
For additional questions, email us at
CDMSummerAcademy@depaul.edu.
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Apply Now Deadlines and Fees
Deadlines
- Priority Application Deadline: June 16, 2023*
- Final Application Deadline: June 24, 2023
- All Fees Due: June 26, 2023
*Students who apply by June 16th will receive a Summer Academy t-shirt. Those who apply after June 16th will not be included in the t-shirt order.
Cost
- Deposit: $150
- Total Cost: $750
All fees are non-refundable
High School Senior
"The most fun, educational, awesome experience was the team effort of creating a video game."
The cost of DePaul’s 2023 Game, Cinema, and Animation Summer Academy 2023 is $750; a deposit of $150 is required within two weeks of admission or by June 26 (whichever comes first) in order to reserve a spot in a track.
Full payment for Summer Academy ($750) is due no later than June 26, 2023. Space is limited so we highly recommended paying the deposit and the balance of your tuition as quickly as possible.
A limited number of full and partial scholarships are available for those demonstrating financial need.
Apply Now Faculty Bios
Scott Roberts
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Associate Professor // Animation
School of Cinematic Arts
Scott Roberts received his M.A. and M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His sculptures, video installations and animations have been exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions in New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago, and screenings in Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Animation Festival. He also has over ten years of professional experience in television art direction, post-production, animation and 3D game art, and was the production designer for the independent film 'Making Revolution.' He most recently was Associate Professor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, where he taught animation and motion graphics for five years and helped establish a Time Based Media BFA program.
Scott Roberts was the Art and Story Advisor for
Devil's Tuning Fork, one of ten winners of the 2010 Independent Games Festival Student Showcase.
Contact Scott
Gary Novak
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Assistant Professor // Screenwriting
School of Cinematic Arts
Gary has been at DePaul since 2002 and is one of the founding members of the Digital Cinema Program. He has worked as a producer, writer, and director. The projects have included commercials, documentaries, and independent feature films. Gary has a M.F.A. in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute.
Contact Gary
Meghann Artes
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Associate Professor // Animation
School of Cinematic Arts
Meghann Artes holds an MFA from the Animation Workshop at UCLA. In addition to her academic work, she has over fifteen years of entertainment industry experience working for companies like Dreamworks, Nickelodeon, Bix Pix, Noggin, NBC, ABC and Sesame Street. She has won both an Emmy and a Peabody and her short films have enjoyed success in film festivals both across the country and internationally. Her film Speed Dating (2014) was selected as a Short of the Week and won a national jury award at the USA Film Festival. Meghann’s latest film, Sleepy Steve (2015), a comically absurd short film that combines live action, animation and visual effects, is playing in film festivals now.
Contact Meghann
Josh Jones
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Associate Professor // Animation
School of Cinematic Arts
Joshua Jones is an animator, film maker, and Associate Professor at DePaul University’s School of Cinematic Arts. He received a BFA from Syracuse University in Computer Graphic Arts, and an MFA in Animation from The University of Southern California where he created the student Academy Award-Nominated film “A Short Lifetime's Poem of Memory.” As a stop motion animator at Will Vinton Studios, Jones animated on 8 episodes of the 3 time Emmy award winning show “The PJ's,” and the 2 time Emmy award winning UPN show “Gary and Mike.”
Following his stint as a puppeteer, Jones found renewed interest in his electronic roots, and went on to work as a CG animator in feature film and television. He has animated for studios and clients including Fox TV, Fox Kids, Warner Brothers, Crystal Sky, Creative Visual EFX, Skyler Animation Studios, Oregon Public Broadcasting and National Geographic. “Make It A Great Day,” his most recent animated film, was a project that began as part of DePaul University’s Project Bluelight and then continued on as a 2 ½ year online collaboration between faculty and students. It has screened at 28 film festivals both nationally and internationally.
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Brian Ferguson
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Animator in Residence //
School of Cinematic Arts
Brian is a 25-year veteran Walt Disney Feature Animation animator whose filmography spans 15 feature films, several as supervising animator, including the classic animated feature films Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, Fantasia 2000, and Winnie the Pooh. Brian is especially skilled at conveying humor and appealing personality, as can be seen in his characters among these landmark films.
Contact Brian
Brad Riddell
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Assistant Professor // Screenwriting, Cinema Production
School of Cinematic Arts
Brad Riddell has written four feature films for Hollywood studios including Paramount, MTV, and Universal. His first film,
American Pie: Band Camp, remains one of the highest-grossing live-action DVD releases in history, and is now syndicated on TBS. His most recent film, Crooked Arrows, was released nationally in theaters in 2012, and is the first lacrosse movie ever produced.
Contact Brad
Michael DeAnda
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Professional Lecturer // Game Development
School of Design
Michael Anthony DeAnda earned his Ph.D. in Humanities and Technology from Illinois Institute of Technology. As a scholar-practitioner, DeAnda's research and game design practices centers on experimental approaches to designing games that center on marginalized communities and social justice. His games have been showcased at international events, including Meaningful Play, Different Games, Queerness and Games Conference, and the Melbourne Queer Games Festival.
Contact Michael
Wendy Roderweiss
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Senior Professional Lecturer // Directing, Cinema Production, Screenwriting
School of Cinematic Arts
After graduating from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts Wendy spent over a decade in independent film, working in virtually every department, before finally leaving the grind of production to work on her own projects.
Her independent pilot “Inferno” (Made as a Project Bluelight), inspired by Dante’s The Divine Comedy, is streaming on Roku Channel and was an official selection at Nashville, Seriesfest, Dances with Films, Stareable Fest, Catalyst, North Fork TV Fest, and more. This black comedy stars David Pasquesi (Book of Boba Fett, Veep,), Josh Bywater (Somebody Somewhere, Utopia), Marika Engelhardt (Paper Girls, Knives and Skin), Adam Wesley Brown (Justified) and Ronald Conner (South Side).
Contact Wendy