"That's a really weird duck, Bebe," says a little girl named Heba to her doting grandmother, who is reading a poem about a forgetful waterfowl raised by chickens in a henhouse. "Not so, sweetheart," her grandmother responds. "After all, we are all ducks, living like chickens."

This moment takes place in "The Ocean Duck," a new animated short produced and directed by Huda Razzak (M.F.A., animation, 2021). Inspired by a passage from Rumi's 13th century epic poem the "Masnavi," the film will be explored this week at SCAD AnimationFest 2021, during a panel featuring its creative team.

Still from "The Ocean Duck" (2021)

"I was born and raised in the U.S., aware of my Iraqi cultural heritage, and I have Persian ancestry as well," says Razzak. "I grew up in a household where the poetry of Rumi was part of life." As a young pre-med student in Texas, Razzak found herself inexorably drawn toward the arts, enrolling in SCAD eLearning before moving to Atlanta to attend SCAD in person full time, and "soaking up everything I could learn from the incredible professors and my fellow students."

"The Ocean Duck" mirrors Razzak's own relationship with her grandmother, who was a treasury of family memories before being stricken with dementia. The film slips through time, showing an older Heba at the bedside of the hospitalized matriarch.

"My daughter is actually the voice actor for Heba as a little girl," says Razzak. "I love that I was able to make this film with my daughter about my grandmother, my mom's mom, so that multiple generations of women give it its meaning."

SCAD associate chair of animation Matthew Maloney provides perspective on how the technical facilitates the artistic in Razzak's work: "I watched Huda cross from being a student and a fan of animation to being a transcendent filmmaker with ‘The Ocean Duck'. The film is transcendent because the production team had no allegiances to any one tool. It's something we talk about in class: Whichever tool creates the least obstruction between the idea in their heads and the film itself, use it. As students, they study cutting edge master controller techniques, but first and foremost, they are storytellers."

Razzak's sources of inspiration includes 16th century illuminated manuscripts, particularly regarding planar perspective and "how elements can enter from outside the border, which is a beautiful metaphor for transcending realms, levels of existence, and space and time," she says.

Still from "The Ocean Duck" (2021)

"We ended up exploring a lot of different ways to achieve the vision of the film," Razzak says, shouting out her creative team, including co-director and animation supervisor My Anh Ngô (M.F.A., animation, 2021), who Razzak met in professor Jenna Zona's digital cel animation class. "It's not a traditionally drawn 2D film. The main character Heba as well as the chickens are all rigged, while everyone else is hand-drawn. It made our process more efficient, and enabled us to finish on time."

The very fact that ‘The Ocean Duck' is deeply personal fosters its universal resonance. As Razzak says: "I wanted the film to capture the bittersweetness of losing someone, but I also wanted it to be triumphant."

Huda Razzak

SCAD AnimationFest 2021 Student Showcase Spotlight: 'The Ocean Duck'

Saturday, Sept. 25, Noon ET

Join SCAD associate chair of animation Matthew Maloney as he moderates a conversation with director and producer Huda Razzak (M.F.A., animation, 2021), lead rigging artist Denise Anger (B.F.A., animation, 2020), visual effects lead Ryen Goebel (B.F.A., animation, 2020), co-director and animation supervisor My Anh Ngo (M.F.A., animation, 2021), and composer and sound coordinator Stephanie Hamelin Tomala about the making of ‘The Ocean Duck.'

For more information and tickets, visit the official SCAD AnimationFest page.

Time to toon in! This week it's the fifth annual SCAD AnimationFest, presented in an all-virtual format September 23–25. The highly anticipated signature festival features three days of special sessions and screenings, star-studded presentations and panels, and a showcase of animation excellence in student work. The event offers global access to creative geniuses at the top of their craft in animation, visual effects, motion media design, featuring industry leaders from Nickelodeon, Fox Animation, Bento Box, Disney+, Paramount+, Stoopid Buddy, and more.

A highlight of SCAD AnimationFest will be the premiere of "Hex Limit," a standout collaborative student work from SCAD Animation Studios. The 3D animated film features a highly unusual broom chase as three characters race for the title of champion through a cyber-fantasy city. The festival includes a special session dedicated to the making of this exceptional animated short, as SCAD pushes the boundaries of animation, storytelling and visual effects. AnimationFest will also showcase SCAD student film "The Ocean Duck," available for on-demand viewing throughout the three-day event, as well as a Saturday panel featuring the film's creative team.

"SCAD is home to SCAD Animation Studios, the world's only animation studio housed at an elite university, where students write, perform, and animate 2D and 3D films," said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. "To see SCAD's latest release 'Hex Limit' and enjoy a comprehensive look at everything SCAD offers future animators, including IMDB credits before graduation, SCAD AnimationFest is the place to be this September!"

SCADFILM is proud to present the 2021 Award of Excellence to Oscar-winning director, story artist and animator Everett Downing Jr., recognizing his transformational achievements in animation throughout his storied career. In 2019, Downing co-directed Hair Love, the Academy Award winner for Best Animated Short, and one of the most important short films of the past generation. He subsequently with Michelle and Barack Obama on We the People (Netflix), which will screen during this year's festival.

"Our festival programming celebrates the explosive growth of the animation industry and SCAD's role in preparing talent across all the disciplines that contribute to this transformative art form," said Leigh Seaman, Senior Executive Director of SCADFILM. "At SCADFILM, we illuminate the opportunities for artists in any medium to find success in the entertainment business, and animation offers opportunities galore. We look forward to welcoming guests from major studios and production companies to talk about trends and take us behind the scenes of some of this year's most anticipated animated content."

The curated programming for the festival represents the expertise and excellence of the university's top ranked degree programs from the Schools of Digital Media and Entertainment Arts. Animation has exploded in popularity in recent years, becoming one of the largest of SCAD's preeminent degree programs. The SCAD animation program is regarded globally as best-in-class for preparation in a growing field that encompasses film, television, interactive media and video games.

SCAD AnimationFest is presented by SCADFILM, the leading program for students and working professionals in animation, film and television, gaming, virtual reality, and digital arts.

Passes for AnimationFest are on sale now.

It's almost time to Escalate. The SCAD-produced fashion film, directed by Chris Anthony Hamilton, lauds historic changemakers and their legacies. Visitors can experience Escalate Oct. 13, 2021 – April 16, 2022 in the Film Salon of SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta.

The high concept film showcases student and alumni works created for the SCAD Changemakers Alumni Design Challenge. Envisioned by SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace and juried by Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter, the challenge invited exceptional alumni from the university’s top-ranked School of Fashion to design futuristic fashions evoking history-changing leaders, inspired by Carter’s iconic work for film.

Escalate features extraordinary garments by challenge finalists, giving flight to a dream-like odyssey in which vital social, cultural, and political figures of the past and present celebrate creative expression, with a vision to a more inclusive future. Garments pay tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Malcolm X, David Bowie, Semiha Berksoy, Fela Kuti, Elaine Brown, and Stokely Carmichael, among others.

SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace said: “Where else but SCAD can you share your work with Academy Award-winning designer Ruth E. Carter and see your designs featured in an exclusive fashion film for the festival circuit? Alumni designers featured in Escalate testify to a powerful truth: SCAD loves and never ceases celebrating, elevating, and advancing the careers of SCAD graduates. We love our Bees, and our Bees love fashion!” 

Filmed on-site at SCAD Atlanta, Escalate demonstrates the imagination, ingenuity, and exceptional talents of students and alumni from SCAD’s globally recognized degree programs in fashion, production design, jewelry, and performing arts. Production credits highlight student and alumni talent across SCAD’s Schools of Entertainment Arts and Digital Media, with many of the film’s performers placed through the SCAD Casting Office, the only professionally run university casting office in the U.S. Vibrating with choreography by celebrated dancer T. Lang and music composed by cellist-songwriter Okorie Johnson (OkCello), Escalate also centers SCAD’s role as a performing arts incubator for the Atlanta creative community.

“Any historical figure, known or unknown, famous or lost in time, is deserving of honest research,” said Carter, who is known for her own in-depth historical research underpinning her design process. “And in that study of humanity, a person reveals their true self. From the Changemakers design challenge to the film and beyond, I am so proud of these SCAD students and alumni. The work of the SCAD community never ceases to amaze me.”

Carter is a longtime champion of SCAD and its students. Building on the designer’s engagement with the university and her personal legacy, SCAD proudly announces the establishment of the Ruth E. Carter Endowed Scholarship to be awarded to a rising star student in the School of Fashion. This endowed scholarship, made possible by Carter, exemplifies her supreme generosity to SCAD students and cements her unwavering support and inspiration for the next generation of creative leaders and changemakers.

“I feel honored and grateful to have my design, which was inspired by the formidable Justice Ginsburg, recognized by Ruth E. Carter,” said Viviane Carvahlo (B.F.A., fashion, 2016), who won the Changemakers Alumni Design Challenge with her garment interpreting the social and cultural impact of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “It is a dream come true to now see my creation come to life in this film.”

Learn more about the Ruth E. Carter Endowed Scholarship.

For more about Escalate, visit SCADFASH.org.

"It was 1981, and I was a young kid sitting in a movie theatre in Bogota, Colombia watching Clash of the Titans," says professor of animation Jaime Castañeda. "That experience made me realize I wanted to tell stories that move people. I knew right then I was going to be an artist."

After Castañeda came to the U.S. to study as an engineer in the 1990s, he found himself increasingly drawn to rapidly evolving field of computer animation. "Technology, art, and mathematics were mixing together to make something brand new," Castañeda says. Combining his engineering skillset and his desire to create, he decided to become a 3D character animator.

Leap forward to January 2021, when Castañeda joined the esteemed SCAD animation faculty, bringing with him over 20 years of industry expertise. His film credits include Alien Resurrection (20th Century Fox, 1997), Fight Club (20th Century Fox, 1999), and Madagascar (DreamWorks, 2005), diverse projects that resonated for certain viewers the way Clash of the Titans once did for Jaime.

"Jaime is a fantastic animator and educator," says SCAD chair of animation Chris Gallagher. "Jaime joining our faculty means we've gained a rock star animator whose work speaks for itself. In terms of providing students with hands-on experience in how animation is getting done right now in the industry, Jaime is the very best."

The SCAD animation department has been named a top program in the U.S. by Animation Career Review and is known for preparing students for high-level careers. Through the use of high-performance digital workstations and state-of-the-art motion capture systems, SCAD offers animation students the same resources they'll use professionally. Recent SCAD graduates now work at Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Pixar, and Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Castañeda emphasizes the importance of the artist in the animation process. "Computer animation is an amazing medium, but you cannot rely on the software to share your message," he says. "The story and the message are what matter most, that's what moves people. That is at the core of what I teach my students."

Early in his career, Castañeda declined an offer from DreamWorks to become a lighter in the pursuit of more robust storytelling opportunities. He credits that decision with his success today and his ability to adapt to new teams and projects. "When you work with different companies you become a better animator," he says. "You avoid specialization and you embrace new challenges. You also get to make connections that will benefit you down the road."

This year, he will be teaching Core Principals of 3D Character Animation (ANIM 253), 3D Character Animation: Performance Through Dialogue (ANIM 383), and 3D Naturalistic Character Animation (ANIM 724).

In addition to the technical aspects of teaching, Castañeda is looking forward to once again connecting with his students. "I love teaching at SCAD," he says. "I encourage my students to learn every aspect of their craft, and not be afraid to take on new challenges. I love the reward of seeing them succeed."

Learn more about animation at SCAD, and get ready for SCAD AnimationFest, Sept-23-25!

On a hot and starry Tuesday night in Harlem, the show began with birdsong. Specifically, "The Birds Belong to All of Us" by Pulitzer Prize-winning sound artist Ellen Reid, its avian trills accompanying the debut collection by designer Johnathan Hayden (M.F.A., fashion, 2016). As the models walked, the clothes seemed to sing in conversation with the music.

A sleeveless mini-dress, an acrylic-domed cloche hat, a dark blue belted trench coat with golden butterfly lapel pin; together in motion, the vision of the garments cohered. "As my debut, there's a lot of emotion behind these garments, and the collection is almost a wish-you-were-here postcard," Hayden explained. Sponsored by Harlem's Fashion Row and part of New York Fashion Week 2021, the outdoor runway show represents a major moment in the SCAD alumni's burgeoning career.

2022 Collection image courtesy Johnathan Hayden.

Hayden's commitment to collaboration is a sensibility he developed at SCAD. "As a graduate student, I worked with motion graphics students to make short films that opened up a whole realm of possibility I never thought possible, where my interests in fashion and animation and user experience and my background in music all came together in one. It was a tipping point for me." (The project led Hayden to create a dress included in the "Manus x Machina" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2016.)

Hayden's cultural fluency is indivisible from his intellectual worldview and his kaleidoscopic creativity. In conversation, he flows from a soliloquy on Stravinsky to a detailed discourse on the history of labor practices in Manhattan's garment district. He is well positioned to be an industry sensation because he's already put in the work that deserves the attention.

"I've gone through life with people putting me in boxes of how they perceive me," says the mixed-race son of a military family from a small town outside Dallas, Texas. "I've never been enough for one group. Through merit alone I've been able to get accepted." 

While still a SCAD student, Hayden interned at Badgley Mischka ("I became their first paid intern, which turned into an apprenticeship"). After graduating, he ran Parsons' design for disability education program, "and I was working retail for a sustainable brand, and making samples of my own stuff." Hayden was building relationships, being patient, knowing his moment to show his first full collection would come. This week it did.

2022 Collection image courtesy Johnathan Hayden.

"Now I'm hoping we see a large order and the beginning of a retail relationship and expanding clientele," he says. "As a practical philosophy, I only want to show one collection a year, and slow down our consumption of fashion, give the audience something to savor. We can still align with the retail calendar, but I think the future is making people excited to see what we've been working on for a full year. That gives my collaborators time to really be inspired and develop ideas as well."

He originally heard his collaborator Ellen Reid on an NPR segment about her SOUNDWALK app. Reid's "The Birds Belong to All of Us" was first composed to soundtrack The Ramble in Central Park, a place made infamous during an altercation last year between a bird watcher and a dog walker. After Reid and Hayden met, the composer created a special extended version of the piece specifically for the runway. "The context of Ellen's song is how my show opens," says Hayden. "I thought it was a really effective way to acknowledge the year we went through, and also to give it a hopeful tint."

And the birds did sing.

johnathanhayden.com

"I came to SCAD to help young designers create anything they put their minds to," says professor of industrial design and user experience design Patricia Bell. "There is no limit to what students can accomplish if they have a good idea and the desire to see it through."

Bell, who holds her Master of Sciences in mechanical engineering, returned to Savannah, her childhood home, in early 2021 to teach at SCAD. "I have always been an artist and see myself as a creative on a team of engineers," she says. "At SCAD I can surround myself with creative individuals and give young designers the technical expertise to succeed."

Before coming to SCAD, Bell worked for a decade as a government contractor designing tools to assist first responders coping with medical emergencies. "I developed advanced robotic technology that trains military personnel," Bell says. "My goal was to help the army save lives and bring soldiers home safely."

Bell's work with the military helped her understand the relationship between designer and end user, and the pace at which the industry is changing. "I am going to encourage my students to fully dive into an issue that is meaningful to them," she says. This academic year Bell will helm classes including Manufacturing and Assembly of Innovative Materials (IDUS 314), Prototyping Electronics for Designers (IACT), and Modeling Electronics for Designers (IACT 730). "We are going to spend ten weeks solving problems, understanding how to deliver for a targeted user, and creating a portfolio designed to build future success."

Bell joins a user experience (UX) design program, originally developed in collaboration with Google, that prepares students to engineer experiences that are approachable and meaningful — involving everything from intelligent clothing to automobile interiors. "I want to help my UX students blur the lines between hardware and software," Bell says. "They are going to create solutions that will outreach the digital realm."

Bell will also teach in the industrial design program, where students acquire hands-on experience bringing their ideas to reality, advancing the university's tradition of developing world-class designers.

"SCAD is focused on providing students with the skills to solve problems and the hands-on expertise companies are looking for in up-and-coming designers," Bell explains.

In recent years, SCAD students have worked with some of the most recognizable brands in the world, including BMW, AT&T, Clayco, The Coca-Cola Company, Fisher-Price, Ford Motor Company, and Hewlett-Packard to invent practical solutions to real-world challenges.

"I want to help our students start their own businesses and R&D firms," Bell says. "Our students will be able to leverage their ideas and create physical prototypes that will help launch and sustain their creative careers."

Learn more about industrial design and UX design at SCAD.

When exceptional professionals become university faculty, their industry expertise can have a profound impact in the classroom and beyond. Enter Chi Thien "CT" Nguyen, who in May 2020 joined SCAD as chair of preservation design after a decade at the Boston-based firm Elkus Manfredi Architects.

"I'm here to embrace and develop the vision of the program with new ideas," Nguyen says.

Preservation design is the adaptive reuse of historically significant buildings to meet contemporary and future needs. (SCAD itself practices the highest principles of preservation design, having revitalized nearly 60 historic buildings in Savannah.) As CT explains: "Historically, preservation has been about restoration and conservation in the public sector. What I'm pushing the program towards is ​preservation-minded strategic thinking from within in the private sector. Think of it more as a partnership rather than a divide between the different parties involved in the process. The title I would like our students to have is 'strategist'."

Nguyen points to three exceptional preservation design alumni who graduated in 2021, Paulina León, Kathryn Luu, and Jillian Nadolski (all B.F.A., preservation design, 2021), as strategists who have already entered the field as professionals. He praises SCAD Atlanta alumna Crystal Martin (M.F.A., luxury and fashion management; interior design, 2021), who won the LIV Awards 2020 Interior Design Historic & Heritage student category for a project generated during the class Entrepreneurship for Community Revitalization (PRES 741) with professor Sabrinna Cox.

It's not a coincidence that Nguyen and Elkus Manfredi won LIV Awards 2020 Interior Design Historic & Heritage for their work on the 1920s hotel White Elephant Palm Beach. CT practiced what he preaches. "I tell my students: Trust is the most valuable currency. Whether from an intermediate designer you're working under, or from the principal of the firm, once you get their trust you will go far. Be reliable. Complete the task you've been asked to do. Then complete something extra that shows how creative you are."

Born in Ho Chi Minh City, the son of diplomats, CT came to the U.S. in 2004 at age 16 and began attending a public high school in Washington, D.C. "I didn't speak English. It was a big culture shock." His urgent acquisition of soft skills empowers him, years later, to refute the bogus dichotomy between academic and social-emotional learning. "We want our students to be visionaries, so let's help them be good at selling their ideas. Digital skills and hard skills can be replaced by AI, but what are the emotional human qualities necessary for success? SCAD is ahead of the curve with SCADpro and SCADamp, resources our students can access for free."

In spring 2021, Nguyen led a SCADpro project with one of his industry contacts, tile manufacturer Daltile. Students designed strategies for the company to make an impression with Gen Z. "We created a marketing campaign and a social media campaign and a physical box that will be a gift for the new designers as they enter the field," he explains. And he emphasizes the importance of a SCADamp certification for preservation design students-turned-strategists.

"SCAD preservation design is a unique program," Nguyen says. "We have the opportunity to create something amazing on the horizon."

White Elephant Palm Beach, 2021. See more of the award-winning project here.

Break out the awesome sauce: Brittany Leffler (B.A., visual communication, advertising, 2015) has been named a Future Leader in Convenience by Convenience Store News. The honor celebrates Leffler as part of the next generation of convenience industry leaders, and provides a forum for the further development of leadership skills. Leffler, loyalty and brand manager for convenience store chain Parker's, is one of 25 industry professionals age 35 and younger honored in 2021.
 
"Brittany is extremely creative and excels at looking at the big picture when it comes to brand management, loyalty, and customer engagement," said Parker's founder and CEO Greg Parker. "A strategic thinker and tactical professional with a ‘can-do' attitude, Brittany is the heart and soul of our company's loyalty program and a rising star in the convenience store industry."

"I feel my hard work has paid off, which is fantastic," says Leffler.

Since its founding in 1976, Parker's has grown from one store in Midway, GA to an award-winning company with locations throughout Georgia and South Carolina. It is a convenience destination of choice for SCAD students, many of whom arrive in Savannah unfamiliar with the chain. As an undergraduate student, Leffler—who grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts—was no different.

"My first experience as a Parker's customer was downtown at the market on Drayton Street," she says of the location nicknamed "Fancy Parker's." "We see that as our flagship store, but we still make the Parker's experience as consistent as we can. If I'm driving on I-16 and I see a Parker's, that's where I'm stopping because I know I'm going to get a great experience." 
 
As loyalty and brand manager, Leffler manages and executes member communications to more than 210,000 Parker's Rewards members, loyalty program logistics, and digital content on the Parker's website. She also oversees digital menu boards, mobile menu ordering, and the Parker's Rewards app.

"I started with Parker's in 2016 as the graphic designer and marketing assistant," Leffler says. "I handled digital content and in-store signage across 50 stores. Over my three years as the graphic designer, I started to identify needs we had in terms of digital and advertising. Parker's recognized that I had a knack for communication with our customers and brand consistency, and my position as loyalty and brand manager grew out of that."

Leffler sees her SCAD experience as a key to her professional success. "My SCAD degree in visual communication means I got the best of both worlds—my focus was advertising, with lots of graphic design classes. Arlene Distel was one of my favorite professors. She really helped me hone my creative thinking skills. That means not only design but copywriting and the creative brief and the mechanism behind the marketing."
 
It's to this Future Leader of Convenience's credit that Parker's was also named the 2020 Convenience Store Decisions Chain of the Year, the industry's highest honor. One question remains: What Parker's snack keeps Leffler going? "That's hard," she says. "I'd say the chicken sandwich. With extra Parker's sauce."

"Dirk Standen is a highly regarded fashion writer, editor, and industry mover," says dean Michael Fink, SCAD school of fashion. "He has incredible connections throughout the fashion industry and will be an advocate for our students as they embark on their careers."

Standen will begin teaching at SCAD in fall 2021 as professor of fashion marketing and management. Prior to joining SCAD, Standen served for a decade as editor-in-chief of Style.com, growing the media portal into the leading global destination for fashion news and runway reporting. As Burberry chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci said: "Dirk created the gold standard for fashion journalism in the digital age with his work on Style.com."

At Condé Nast, Standen became founding editor of creative agency 23 Stories, where he had his first encounter with SCAD. "I was working on a creative campaign for Cadillac, highlighting 25 innovative leaders, and Paula Wallace was an honoree," Standen says.

That profile piqued Standen's interest in the university and he began hearing "SCAD" everywhere he went. "Nicholas Dine [professor, industrial design], one of my very good friends from New York, kept telling me how much he enjoys living in Savannah," Standen says. "SCAD was very much on my radar and when this opportunity came up, I jumped at it."

SCAD is committed to hiring faculty who bring a lifetime of industry experience to the classroom, helping students achieve success in their own creative careers. "I know I can I can bring my knowledge and insights into the classroom and help my students pursue their dreams," Standen says. 

Standen is looking forward to his first quarter as a professor. He will teach Contemporary Issues in Fashion Merchandising (FASM 400) and The Future of Shopping: Retail Innovation for Customer Empowerment (FASM 415). Standen's students will learn first-hand how fashion houses work, how to identify emerging trends, and how to connect with and engage leaders in the industry. "Along with understanding how to launch and sustain a fashion brand, I have extensive knowledge on how to start your own business," Standen says.

Standen, who has worked with industry leaders from Virgil Abloh to Julie Gilhart to Kanye West, joins a fashion marketing and management program that places students at the nexus of fashion, business, and marketing.

The new professor is excited to connect with SCAD students who will enter the global workforce influencing every link of the fashion chain and driving innovation. "Today's students are at the forefront of huge changes in our industry," Standen says. "They have more opportunities than ever before and they are going to lead us in ways we have never even imagined."

Standen with creative director Virgil Abloh.

Zoélie, a game created by SCAD students, has been awarded 1st Place in the Best Gameplay category at the Intel University Game Showcase 2021. From among 20 leading university-level game development programs, SCAD eclipsed the other finalists to win the competition's top award. The national competition was livecast on the Intel Twitch channel during Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2021.

"I'm incredibly proud of this win by SCAD and Zoélie," said SuAnne Fu, SCAD chair of interactive design and game development. "It represents our leading position as the preeminent destination for students working towards creative careers in the gaming industry."

Zoélie is an action puzzle platformer that tells the story of a young girl exploring her town of La Colina with her imagination-powered quilt, Sueño. The coming-of-age tale follows her fantastical journey as she confronting life changes through her imagination.

This game was created in collaboration by SCAD students in the interactive design and game development, animation, visual effects, and sound design programs. Zoélie was featured in the panel "The Making of Zoélie" at SCAD Gaming Fest 2021.

After studying the local customs and mythology, the student development team chose South America as the game's setting, specifically Buenos Aires Province. Emphasizing the cultural importance of the bond between siblings, Zoélie's sister Sofia is a key character.

More than half of Zoélie's production was created remotely during the pandemic. By March 2020, Zoélie was already running on Perforce, with a dedicated Discord server host communications about the project. SCAD students continued to work as a team across different national and international time zones. Scrum meetings were held daily; the whole team met at least twice a week.  

"Zoélie is one of the biggest projects that we've created," said Su Anne Fu. "Its creation involved dozens of students from a wide array of different degree programs in a workflow environment of real-time development. As a game, Zoélie is absolutely gorgeous, and it's a great to play, as recognized by this Intel award. I'm full of admiration for what our students accomplished under the guidance of our faculty leads, professors Jack Mamais and Cyril Guichard. It's wonderful that Intel has recognized their work."

Congratulations to the Zoélie team!

Lead Gameplay Designer:
Ben Brook

Lead Systems Designer:
John Washington

Lead Narrative Designer:
Phillip Corrado

Narrative Designer:
Nathaniel J.L. Cartwright

Lead Programmers:
Vincent Aliquo
Gabriel Tobias

Character Programmer:
Kuan Xue

AI Programmer:
Oscar Painvin

Lead Concept Artists:
Julia Nguyen
Sammy Suen

Concept Artists:
Sanda Gavriliuc
Brice Morgan
Holly Owens
Zach St. Amand

Lead Character Artist:
Mackenzie Blackgoat

Character Artists:
Michael Mauro
Taan Tuchinda
Anushay Qureshi

Lead Environment Artist:
Nick Levene

Environment Artists:
Rodney Burton
Dixon Dubow
Kellan Dwyer
Bernardo Gullo
Tyler Klimek
Mercedes Khumnark
Santiago Medrano
Stephanie Owens
Mike Relleva
Gianna Rockwell
Courtney Vogel
Amanda Wood

Lead Animation and Rigging:
Tiffanni Blevins

Lead VFX Artist:
Zachary Taylor

Technical Artists:
Rachel Howard
Maxwell Mecimore

UX:
Julia Myers
Megan Tkac

Sound Supervisor:
Franco Tamasco

Sound Designers:
Cal Eidson
Collin Peck

Voice Cast:
Kelly Washington - Zoé/Sophia
Nathaniel J. L. Cartwright - Chonkers
Haden Ezekiel Felix - Patty
Phillip Corrado - Fernando

Meet Zoélie!

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