Seven trainees to receive on-the-job training and mentoring with leading Irish animation, VFX, and games studios.

Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet and Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland are delighted to announce the Animation, VFX & Games Graduate Traineeship participants and host studios for the second programme of 2023.

The traineeship, which has been running since 2016, has a great track record with over 90% of participants going on to gain further work in the industry, either with their host studio or with another studio. Additionally, according to the First Steps in the Animation Industry report, over 90% of respondents also said that the programme adequately prepared them for the professional workplace and that they would recommend the programme to prospective new entrants. Last year 14 trainees were placed in 6 participating studios for the two programmes of 2022, and earlier this year 7 trainees were placed in 5 studios.

Targeted at developing skills and talent in the Irish animation, VFX, and games sectors, this iteration of the programme will take place over a 3 month period. It will involve a mix of on-the-job learning and mentoring with studios remotely as well as additional specialist training delivered through Screen Ireland and Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet.

The 4 participating studios and 7 trainees for the second Graduate Traineeship Programme of 2023 are:

• Jam Media: Ronan Foley
• Cartoon Saloon: Kate Murray & Eoin Higgins
• StoryToys: Nihe Aihie & Hannah McGivern
• Distillery Films: Olha Yevtieieva & Bróna Nic Gabhann

The traineeship will begin this week with a series of specialised online training modules/classes, featuring talks from experts on the latest creative and technological advances in the area of VFX and animation, as well as soft skills such as emotional intelligence and time management.