Screenshot from the "Toon Boom News" article

Toon Boom News, an animation industry newsletter, recently featured Columbus College of Art & Design’s animation department, and, in particular, Adjunct Faculty Andrew Friz.

The article noted that CCAD’s animation department works closely with local industry professionals and businesses to help students gain real-life experience and strong portfolios, committing itself to keeping up with current industry practices.

“CCAD has better equipment than most people will have in their first job,” Friz said in the article.

He offers advice to animation students, stating that “you can study and copy from great animation to learn technique, but observe and sketch from life so you can draw from experience, making work that is uniquely yours and delivering it with the highest quality possible.”

Friz continues to work professionally in the animation industry with experience in feature films, commercials, illustration, and graphic design. He leads a small, full-service animation company, The Little Black Cat, in Columbus, OH.

"The Best Day Ever" animated short

Adjunct faculty Andrew Friz recently worked on an animated short, The Best Day Ever: Featuring Flo the Progressive Girl & a Guy Named Jimmy, for Progressive Insurance as part of their media campaign.

The three-minute animation was produced by J.J.Sedelmaier Productions, Inc., a company based in New York City that has worked on projects such as Beavis & Butt-Head, School House Rock, and Saturday Night Live.

“I refined and expanded the storyboards and matched the audio track to make the animatic, which is a rough pass at seeing it all together,” Friz said. “I worked on character design with J.J. Sedelmaier Productions and finished the project by painting backgrounds and finishing the rest of the animations as needed.”

Friz leads a small, full-service animation company, The Little Black Cat, in Columbus, OH. He is an award-winning artist with experience in feature films, commercials, illustration, and graphic design.