2020-2021 WIA SCHOLARSHIP

The Women in Animation (WIA) Scholarship Program is devoted to furthering the academic efforts of deserving animation college students who demonstrate artistic talent, a passion for animation, a financial need, and a promising future in our industry. Applicants who have identified themselves as female or non-binary, and who are enrolled in schools all over the world to pursue various aspects of animation production, are encouraged to apply.

The awards begin at $1,000, and WIA will select up to 10+ students. This year WIA continues to expand the program with workshops and software packages for recipients from our industry partners Animation Mentor, Autodesk, Toon Boom, and Unity.

Animation Mentor will offer one WIA Animation Scholarship winner a six-week workshop and will allow that awardee the choice of several courses. With their choice of 13 different classes, including Maya Workshop: Animation Basics, Cartoony Animation for 3D Animators, and Animation Mentor’s brand new workshop 2D Animation: Walk Cycles & Character Movement, the student winner will have many options to best personalize this educational opportunity.

Autodesk is supporting this year’s recipients with licenses of their 3D modeling and animation software. Winners will have the choice between one-year subscriptions of Autodesk Maya or Autodesk 3ds Max.

For yet another year, Toon Boom will be supporting the WIA Scholarship Program with both software and scholarship funds. One-year bundled licenses of Storyboard Pro and Harmony Premium will be awarded to each finalist as well as virtual training and contribution to the WIA scholarship fund to be split among the three winners.

To support the participants, Unity will be providing 15 Annual Unity Pro licenses and 15 Annual ArtEngine licenses to help female animators gain employable skills and practice of real-time 3D tools and technologies used in the animation industry.

ELIGIBILITY

  • Must be an active WIA student member and identify as female or non-binary
  • Must be a full-time undergraduate student in the sophomore, junior and senior year of study, or a graduate student attending an accredited college or university during the 2020-2021 academic school year.
    • (new information) If you are a student taking classes from any online animation schools or training programs, you must be in a higher level or have previously taken a series of courses and will be finishing your study soon.
  • Major: any field and aspect of animation production
  • Cumulative GPA of 2.85 minimum on a 4.0 scale
  • Applicants do not need to be US citizens or permanent residents to apply. In compliance with U.S. federal regulations, any non-U.S.citizen who receives a scholarship from WIA must not be listed on the published “Specially Designated Nationals” terrorism watch list
  • Previous scholarship recipients are not eligible to apply

IMPORTANT DATES

  • Application portal opens: October 22, 2020
  • Deadline for application: December 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time
  • Scholarship recipients notified by January, 2021
  • Awards ceremony: February, 2021

HOW TO APPLY

Complete the application form by clicking on “Submit Your Application” along with all required documents to be considered for WIA 2020-2021 Scholarships. Deadline is December 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. For any questions, please contact wia@womeninanimation.org.

MATERIALS TO PREPARE

  • One personal statement, submitted in PDF format not to exceed 500 words in English, that includes:
    • Who you are as an artist
    • What your career goal is
    • Why you are applying for this scholarship and how you will plan to use the grant
  • Samples of work
    • 6-10 examples of your fine art illustration, life drawing, photography, sculpture, character design, storyboards, etc.
    • File format: pdf, jpg, jpeg, png, gif, mov, mp4; file size: limit to 10 Mb
    • Recommended but not required: a working portfolio website (provide password in application, if needed) that includes:
      • A reel (less than 3 minutes) or a body of work that showcases the your skills
      • An animated film of your creation, less than 3 minutes
  • A headshot in 900 x 600 px and 150dpi JPG format
  • One letter of recommendation, submitted in PDF format not to exceed 500 words in English
    • Written by faculty in your school or a industry professional with whom you have previously worked
    • You are welcome to submit a second letter of recommendation (recommended but not required)
  • One of the following documents to show proof of enrollment as a current full-time student, submitted in PDF format, such as:
    • A copy of your current semester’s class schedule
    • Enrollment verification issued by school
    • A school picture ID that shows you are enrolled in 2020-2021 academic year
  • A transcript that shows the cumulative GPA, submitted in PDF format
  • Recommended but not required: a LinkedIn profile
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

OTHER RESOURCES

In addition to the WIA Scholarship Program, please check out a growing list of scholarship opportunities offered by many other domestic and international organizations. If you have any scholarship opportunities that you would like to share with the WIA student members, please contact us directly at education@womeninanimation.org.

2019-2020 SCHOLARSHIPS & PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS

Every year, WIA is devoted to help as many students as possible. In 2020, eight students were selected as most deserving of scholarship recipients. Please check here for their portfolios as well as the entire scholarship program along all the opportunities.

WIA President Marge Dean and Chair of Education Hsiang Chin Moe presenting the awards to three LA-based winners: Marion Parajes, Minh-Chau Nguyen and Clarisse Chau at BRIC 2020 Talent + Innovation Summit.

WIA President Marge Dean presenting the awards to Clarisse Chau at BRIC 2020 Talent + Innovation Summit.