Prickly Jam, a film made in collaboration with students at Media Design School, Auckland has received the accolade of being screened at the world-famous Comic-Con International: San Diego on Saturday. Associate Dean at Media Design School, Steve Dorner said to see the capstone project made in the students’ final year of their Bachelor of Art and Design studies at Media Design School screened at Comic-Con this year was exciting.
“This is the fourth Media Design School film shown at the Comic-Con conference and we feel immensely honoured each year when our films are selected.” Mr. Dorner commented “Comic-Con is such an incredible showcase for international talent and is just amazing to see the collaborative work produced by our faculty and students acknowledged by the Comic-Con judges,”. Mr Dorner explained that Prickly Jam has also been selected for over 17 worldwide festivals, picking up awards at the NZ Show Me Shorts and the South Dakota Film Festival, among others, which is testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in this project.
Media Design School graduate, Darcy Black who worked on Prickly Jam and now works at a Digital Artist at Blockhead, said doing a short film in his third year of studies really emulated a studio environment and was great experience for getting into the industry. “Learning how to work properly as a team in that production environment was a great moment for me,” Mr Black commented.
Anastasiia Diachuk, another MDS alumni now working at Wētā Digital (as a Motion Tracker) was similarly proud of the deserved recognition the film is receiving from across the globe. “I wouldn’t be where I am right now if it hadn’t been for Prickly Jam. I’m grateful to have Pricky Jam on my showreel and truly happy that after two years, Pricky Jam keeps finding its recognition on the biggest screens like Comic-Con. I couldn’t be prouder of our team!” Ms Diachuk commented.
Antony Thomas, who worked on the film with Black and who is also working at Wētā Digital as an Assets Pipeline Technical Director said it was great to see people’s reactions to Prickly Jam. “It’s awesome to see the stuff that you’ve sweated away at in a dark room for so long to finally be unveiled and see what you’ve worked on come to life,” Mr Thomas commented.
