Award-winning animator inspires Sisler High School students to turn dreams into reality

An award-winning animator who brings digital characters to life on the big screen was in Winnipeg Monday to inspire students to reach for the stars.

"You can achieve whatever you set your dreams to, and this is what I live by pretty much," said Jan Philip Cramer, head of animation at Digital Domain based out of Vancouver.

"I feel like when I grew up I didn't realize this, that if you want to achieve something just set your mind to it and you're going to get there."

Cramer, 39, has worked as animation director on blockbuster hits like Deadpool, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game. Before that he was a lead animator on James Cameron's Avatar and a character animator on Spider-Man 3 and Ghost Rider.

"It was a wild ride," Cramer said of his journey to the top.

Cramer met with students in the CREATE program earlier in the day, and spoke to about 300 industry insiders and fans at a free community-wide event at Sisler High School Monday evening.

"My students were so lucky to have the morning with him and just get to sit down with him and talk about it," said Jamie Leduc, department head for the CREATE program.

"To see where he came from and hear his story on what he had to go through to get where he is right now, it's inspirational," Leduc said.

CREATE is a new entertainment arts training program at Sisler that offers courses in film, animation, graphic design, and visual effects.

The program has about 900 students in grades 9 through 12, and 26 of those are in "post-high" courses, which offer recent grads a chance to hone their skills and build a resume before going off to post-secondary education or the workforce.

"It's really awe-inspiring what they achieve at such a young age, before really going out and studying," said Cramer.

"When I was in their shoes ... nothing like this existed so the path into the industry is so much harder."

'We can follow our dreams'

Post-high student Anjali Sidhu said meeting with Cramer and hearing him speak about his experiences was inspiring.

"It's everything, it makes industry feel tangible and it makes it less scary to envision myself in their position later on, it's super cool," said Sidhu, 18.

Cramer's presentation centred around his expertise in facial animation, specifically his VES award winning work on Thanos.

"I love Marvel so this is like the biggest geek fest for me," said Sidhu.

"Just getting to see how Thanos came about and getting to see it from not only from a fans perspective but as somebody who wants to go into animation," she said.

Cramer said he was just as impressed with the work of the students in the CREATE program.

"It's really exciting to see young people with so much drive, and they have really good communication skills on top of it all," said Cramer.

"They were able to address me and show me their work, just like a full professional would, and they're what 16 years, 17 years old."

Chantal Philippot said having Cramer visit the school inspires her to keep working hard.

"It means everything to me, because it just means that he's here to inspire and to tell us that we can do it, and that it's not an impossible dream," said Philippot.

 "We can be artists we can follow our dreams."

Though the industry has changed since he first got his start, Cramer's advice to aspiring artists  is one that still applies. 

"Believe in yourself and keep going, be resilient to criticism," he said.

 "You have to learn that you won't get the job on the first go, you have to apply to 50 companies, 100 companies to land one."