Contact:
Eric Sloss
412-268-5765

For immediate release:
August 10, 2004

Carnegie Mellon Student Organizes First Pittsburgh College Student Animation Showcase August 13, 2004, in McConomy Auditorium

PITTSBURGH—A Pittsburgh College Student Animation Showcase will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, August 13, 2004, in McConomy Auditorium in Carnegie Mellon's University Center.

This event, which is free of charge and open to the public, was organized by recent Carnegie Mellon graduate David Hurwich.

The showcase will feature 20-30 animated shorts by Pittsburgh animators. A wide variety of genres and styles will be shown, ranging from drama and comedy to experimental and art, from computer animation to claymation. While many of the works will be publicly viewed for the first time, several pieces have already been exhibited at film festivals. Among these are "Tom Turing," by Andrew Klein, Joel Kraut, Josh Atlas, Katie Wilson and Erick Tryzler; "Turtle Hill," by Noah Falk, Adam Ferrall, Hurwich, Benjamin Smith and Thomas Smith; "Little Fox," by Luke Meeken and Andrew Negrey; and "Fragile," by David Cumbo, which was nominated for a Student Academy Award for animation.

"Timmy's Journey to Understand MS," an educational animation that was created for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society by a group of students from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, will also be shown.

Hurwich decided to organize the Pittsburgh College Student Animation Festival after becoming frustrated while submitting his work to traditional film festivals. "Animation is never the highlight of film festivals. Student work is the foundation and the future of animation films so I felt a showcase was needed to highlight new animation works," said Hurwich.

Hurwich is using this opportunity not only to showcase student work, but also the work of other local animators.

An August 2004 graduate from the School of Art in Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts, Hurwich has a B.F.A. with a concentration in electronic and time-based art and an additional major in psychology. Susanne Slavick, head of Carnegie Mellon's School of Art, and Hans Westman, director of media arts and animation at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, were his advisors.

Hurwich, who is originally from Stamford, Conn., will move to California this fall to pursue a career in animation. He will exhibit two of his own animations in the showcase: "Turtle Hill" and his senior project, "Island in the Sun."

For more information about the first Pittsburgh College Student Animation Showcase contact David Hurwich at davidhurwich@yahoo.com. For more information about Carnegie Mellon's School of Art, visit artserver.cfa.cmu.edu. For more information about Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts, visit www.cmu.edu/cfa or contact Eric Sloss at 412-268-5765 or ecs@andrew.cmu.edu.