Short-films, video games or immersive simulations are produced at MAGIC as a capstone project during the second academic year. All students are granted the opportunity to pitch an idea for aproject, selection is done in two phases: The first selection panel is composed by MAGIC staff, faculty, MDC administrators and members from the community actively engaged in the arts, film,animation or video game production. Selection is based on having an original idea, strong and defined characters, production feasibility and the potential to elevate MDC MAGIC and our community through its message.
On the second phase, selected students pitch their story to executives and professionals from animation studios currently partnering with MAGIC. The selection is then made based on their commercial prospects, ability to engage an audience and a story line which allows further development. During the 2016/17 academic year, “Levitate” and “Dine & Dash” were mentored by Nickelodeon, and “New World Order” by Fox Animation.
Class of 2020
“Amazônia – A Virtual Journey into the Amazon Forest” created in partnership with The Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Produced by Segundo Correas & Steve Camacho ; Art Leads by Emily Lao, Sarah Loeber & Maria Camila Sanchez Mejia; Gaming & Programming by Lead Daniel Centanni; Narrated by Viviam Lopez . Faculty: Mel Tomeo, Alvaro Sanint and Mauricio Ferrazza
“InterGalactic Food Truck” created by Laura Manresa & Rafael Antonio Morales
Produced by Amanda Linares & Amber “Aurora” Leonard; Original Music Composition by Joseph Guerra & Alexander Ruiseco (NWSA) Faculty: Juan Borrero
“What’s the Buzz!?” created by Daniel Cortes
Produced by O’Neal Isaacs & Daniel Ozuna; Original Music Composition by Nicolas Velasquez (NWSA); Character Voices by Daniel Cortes, Vianca Collazo, Frank Montoto & Roly Gutierrez (NWSA). Faculty: Silvia Sayas
“A Balanced Breakfast” created by Brenna Verner
Produced by Yesenia Grisales & Anthony Leon-Delgado; Original Music Composition by Nicolas Velasquez & Javier Albornoz (NWSA); Character Voices by Isabel Tucen, Isabella Stevens, Dani Vazquez, John Mazuelos & Hailey Hafer (NWSA). Faculty: Renata Ballo and Erwin Santacruz Animation and Game Development
Class of 2019
SIBERIA, THE FROZEN FRONT, created by Viacheslav Burmistrov
Produced by Thomas Villanueva and Kenny Zambrano. Original Soundtrack by Indira Labanino-Leon. Project Mentor: Leah Hoyer.
Download the app and play (Siberia the Frozen Front presented by MAGIC): Google Play and Apple Store
THE BERLIN WALL, AN AUGMENTED REALITY SIMULATION, collaborative group project.
A virtual reality simulation of the story of the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of Germany after the cold war. Animation Lead: Elias Soler and Gaming Lead: Oliver Simkovski. Original Soundtrack by Nicolas Velasquez. Selected to be part of the “Wunderbar Together” initiative by the German General Consulate, celebrating 30 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Download the app and play (Berlin Wall presented by MAGIC): Google Play
TOYING EMOTIONS, created by Victoria Garcia
Produced by Angela Prudhomme. Original Soundtrack by Nicolas Velasquez.
FOXY’S STYLE, created by Lourdes Avila
Produced by Alexis Garcia. Original Soundtrack by Jose Luis Hernandez. Project Mentor: Drew Tolman
MAGIC Faculty & Staff
Mauricio Ferrazza, Department Chairperson; Ariana Fernandez, Assistant to the Chairperson; Silvia Sayas, Instructor Animation & Game Art; Mel Tomeo, Instructor Game Dev & Design; Juan Borrero, Instructor SEDT; Ana Guzman, Instructor Entec; Adjunct Faculty: Rame Rampson, Kolos Schumy, Hung-Chum Kao, Vanessa Velasquez, Alejandro Roque, Daniel Coes, Alvaro Sanint, Renata Ballo and Gabriel Ramirez. Nicole Garay, Secretary I; Leonel Perez, Ieon Skepple, Chris Argueta and Segundo Correas, Academic Tutors and Javier Albornoz, Audio Engineer.
Special Thanks
Dr. Eduardo Padron, Dr. Rolando Monotoya, Dr. Lenore Rodicio, Dr. Beatriz Gonzalez, Cristina Mateo, Manuel Perez, Mark Cole, The MDC Foundation, Ron Estrada, Emilce Elgarresta, Jennifer Rogers, Cesar Sakai, Leah Hoyer, Drew Tolman, Juan ‘JC’ Acosta, Miriam Luciow, Gigi Gomez, Tatiana Rodriquez, Karen Lafargue, Daniela Azurro, Leonardo Menezes, Dr. Jeffrey Hodgson, Dr Susan Epstein, Daniel Andai, David Schroeder and the New World School of the Arts.