The Game, Cinema, & Animation Summer Academy
- Jarvis Game Development Summer Camp
- The Game, Cinema, & Animation Summer Academy
Program Details
Program Details
The 2026 Summer Academy will be held July 13 through 17.
DePaul University welcomes high school students interested in the film, television, and game industries to join us for the 2026 Game, Cinema, and Animation Summer Academy. The Summer Academy will be held July 13 through 17, 2026 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:
- #11 Film School in the US (The Hollywood Reporter)
- #13 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, 2026 to be eligible for the program. Seniors who will be graduating in 2025 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)Choose from Six (6) Tracks:
Film and TV Production Track
Students will work in groups to write, produce, shoot, and edit short films. Students will have the opportunity, should they choose, 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, Wendy Roderweiss, Brad Riddell and Meghann 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.
Sound Design Track
Students will learn the basics of sound recording, editing, and mixing for film, animation, and games. In addition to an overall hands-on introduction to sound equipment and software, students will have opportunities to collaborate as a sound designer and editor with Summer Academy student teams creating films, games, and animations. This track will be taught by Kevin Cagnolatti.
For additional questions, email us at CDMSummerAcademy@depaul.edu.
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Deadlines and Fees
Deadlines and Fees
Deadlines
- Priority Application Deadline: May 17, 2025
- Final Applications Due: June 10, 2025
- Deposit Due: June 10, 2025
- Scholarship Approval: June 17, 2025
- All Fees Due: June 24, 2025
Cost
- Deposit: $150
- Total Cost: $850
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 2025 Game, Cinema, and Animation Summer Academy is $850; a deposit of $150 is required by June 10 in order to reserve a spot in a track.
Full payment for Summer Academy ($850) is due no later than June 24, 2025. Space is limited so we highly recommended paying the deposit and the balance of your tuition as quickly as possible.
A limited number of partial scholarships are available for those demonstrating financial need.
A signed consent form and photo consent form is required for participation in Summer Academy.
Faculty Bios
Faculty Bios
Scott Roberts
Associate Professor // Animation
School of Cinematic ArtsScott 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.
Rachel Bass
Assistant Professor // Directing, Cinema Production
School of Cinematic ArtsRachel Bass is a film director based in Chicago. She has won seven international awards and two Director’s Guild of America awards for her films. Her recent Christmas fairytale short film won the Jury Prize at this year's Pan African Film Festival and is Oscar longlisted. Rachel's films employ a mix of genres such as the fairytale, the epic, romance, and horror to tell stories that both touch and entertain viewers.
Rachel earned her MFA in Directing from Chapman University and her BA in Black Studies from Amherst College. She has taught Directing and Visual Storytelling at Chapman University and London's Solaris International Film School, and currently resides as a professor of film production at DePaul University.
Meghann Artes
Associate Professor // Animation
School of Cinematic ArtsMeghann 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.
Josh Jones
Associate Professor // Animation
School of Cinematic ArtsJoshua 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.
Brian Ferguson
Animator in Residence //
School of Cinematic ArtsBrian 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.
Brad Riddell
Assistant Professor // Screenwriting, Cinema Production
School of Cinematic ArtsBrad 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.
Michael DeAnda
Professional Lecturer // Game Development
School of DesignMichael 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.
Wendy Roderweiss
Senior Professional Lecturer // Directing, Cinema Production, Screenwriting
School of Cinematic ArtsAfter 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).
