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Animation and Graphics Master Class with Syd Garon and Chris Kirk

IDA Offices, 3470 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 980, Los Angeles CA 90010

Join us for an instructive Master Class with Emmy-nominated and Golden Eye Award-winning Animation and Graphic Designers, Syd Garon and Chris Kirk. Syd and Chris have 20+ years of experience creating title designs and animation for a multitude of notable documentary films including Author: The JT LeRoy Story, Blackfish, The Nightmare, Jodorowsky’s Dune, American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs and for the Academy Award shortlisted Weiner and Command and Control. In this class Syd and Chris will show clips from their own work to demonstrate the various ways animation and graphics can be used to establish a visual identity for a documentary, distill complex information visually, make talking heads scenes more imaginative and dynamic, and fill in gaps in archival material. In addition to breaking down the major categories of graphics in documentary, Syd and Chris will also discuss budget and time implications for the various techniques.

Topics covered will include:

  • Title Design

  • Maps

  • Infographics

  • Lower Thirds and End Crawls

  • Archival stock and still photo treatment

  • Long form animation, recreation, and explainers


The Master Class will include a generous amount of time for Q&A. As a special aspect of this class, up to 3 attendees will have the opportunity to have their 3-5 minute clip workshopped in class by Syd and Chris. (Details will be sent to you upon registration.)


This class is ideal for

  • Experienced director/producers working on docs who want to expand their toolkit of storytelling devices.

  • Filmmakers with a particular interest in how to creatively broaden the use of interviews, archival footage, animation, and reenactment storytelling.

  • Film students and recent film school graduates who want to supplement their education with hands-on expert advice.

  • Doc makers of all types looking to shape a strong opening for their film.