A GLOBAL VISUAL ARTS STUDIO
ABOUT US
CHARACTER
Students become confident leaders as they communicate, persevere, normalize failure, and work as a team on a film production.
CREATE
Spark Studio encourages the global youth community to think outside the box by creating digital visual art that is both innovative and groundbreaking
CONNECT
Our students develop relationships across the globe, learn the value of collaboration, accept candid feedback and celebrate their synergetic
accomplishments
OUR MISSION
Project SPARK Studio is a nonprofit film arts education studio that offers filmmaking and animation classes to children in Shasta County and beyond, including youth who are academically at-risk due to learning disabilities, physical handicaps, and socio-economic adversity. Our mission is to shape our youth into becoming the confident, holistic leaders of tomorrow through the collaborative film production process.
Project SPARK Studio aims to nurture, educate, and empower children by providing them opportunities to create and collaborate on their own computer-animated movie. SPARK Studio applies a “hands-on” approach to teaching, where students learn about film through working on a film production from start to finish including storyboard graphics pre- visualization, screenwriting, and film animation.
OUR WORK
Project Spark Studio Student Films
OUR HISTORY
Project Spark Studio was founded in 2010 and offered one animation class with fewer than 20 students during its inaugural year. Today, Project Spark Studio offers two classes to over 50 community children from all cultural, ethnic, and socio- economic backgrounds. Over the last five years, Project Spark Studio has seen a significant improvement in its students’ core educational development.
In 2011 over 66% of its 8th grade students participated in a Spark Studio course. Of those participating students, 97% graduated from high school and have advanced to trade schools, colleges, or universities. 75% of those graduates are the first in their family to advance to higher education.
Project Spark Studio’s student films have won over 14 Film Festival Awards and recognitions, including “Best Student Film” at the Sundial Film Festival in Shasta County. In 2015 Project Spark Studio’s student short film, “WHIRL” (animated by over 95 SPARK Studio youth over a 3-year period), was honored as an “Official Selection” at the Madrid International Film Festival in Spain, the Athens Anime Festival in Greece, and the Orchard Lea Film Festival in England. Project Spark Studio students also won the “Best Animation Movie for Children in the United States” award at the Kids Film Festival in Madrid. This festival awarded only 16 awards from over 1,000 submissions.
In 2016, Project Spark Studio won “Best Student Film” for their mixed live action/animation film "How Not to Train Your Dragon.
In 2017, Project Spark Studio won “Best Student Film” at the Sundial Film Festival for their first international collaboration film Split with Bohermeen National School in Meath, Ireland.
Project Spark Studio is currently in pre-production on a collaboration film with a school in Fareham, England. Animation will begin fall of 2017.
