College Administration
Johann Kuhn, Chancelar
- 23+ years of experience in major Canadian enterprises and Toronto Municipal, in administration, finance, economic development, operations, marketing, sales, and engineering.
- Enterprises: CFO of CyberDefense AI, who offers next-gen authenticated firewall solutions. CEO of Doscom Enterprises Ltd., who provides strategic consulting and management to small-to-mid sized health enterprises, governments, and the private sector.
- Government: worked 17+ years for Ontario Province and Toronto Municipal, as a senior manager in Breakthrough Technologies, liaising to corporations and setting up the Innovation of Ontario program. At the MaRs Discovery District Innovation Lab, he had 7+ years managing the government of Ontario’s Cyber Security Branch, responsible for risk and privacy assessment. He managed business and government investment projects in the environmental and health sector. He reviewed businesses for private sector and government funding programs.
- Education and Research: Mr. Kuhn received his BS in McGill University, MS in Engineering from Concordia University. His further graduate study extended into Applied Mathematics at the University of Florida. He is a fellow with the American Registry of Internet Numbers (ARIN).
Charlotte Ge, PhD, Director
- 30+ years of teaching and administration experience in both the post-secondary and secondary schools in China, the UK and Canada.
- Research Fellow at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. Conducted research in language teacher education and professional development: discourse analysis, diversity and inclusion.
- Lecturer at Southeast University, China. 10 years teaching Business English, English for Science and Technology at graduate and postgraduate levels.
- Member of the College English for Science & Technology Curriculum and Textbook Development Project, funded by the British Council.
- Senior Guidance Counselor at Bond International College/Bond Academy, Toronto. 14 years providing academic advising and counseling for the students.
- Vice-President of Bond International College, Toronto. Overseeing the development and implementation of school policies and coordinating school operations.
- MA in English Language Education (for English as A Second or Foreign Language) from University of Kent, UK.
- PhD in Language Studies from University of Kent, UK.
Jin Luo, CEO
- MS in Computer Science California Institute of Technology.
- Being inventors of 2 US invention patents (2000), 6 China invention patents and 5 China IC mask work author rights (2007-2010), many academic papers in top international science journals (1987-1992).
- A co-inventor of FusionDSP (configurable multicore VLIW Parallel- processor architecture and EDA (published 2008).
- Startup in Shanghai and Beijing in EDA and IC engineering, and a DSP under US VC with international teams in Boston (MA), Rochester (NY) and Beijing, a co-founder and VP.
- 2022 Started consulting a top-3 Hollywood visual effect production global company, for its founder and CEO, John Hughes’ China Development. His contributions are in visual technology, virtual production (patented technology and knowhow), and cinematic literature, also covers China operation and international business development.
Program Faculty who teach Concept Art, Sequential Illustration and Animation
Josh Hill, Coordinator, Animation Department
An earlier graduate of MTM College. Joshua has had multiple supervision positions since his graduation, as an Artistic Lead for Warner Bros and a 2D Animation Supervisor for a Disney feature films. Due to his extensive experiences as a supervisors of multiple disciplines, Joshua understands the demands by high-profile studios, the quality teaching and assignments that the Animation Department must deliver. Joshua specializes in all aspects of 2D Animation and has knowledge of conventions for character design, art direction, production pipeline, etc. His experiences with MTM College since a student, benefit Joshua’s understanding in alterations that must be made to the program and curriculum, so that it keeps up with industry standard-of-the-art along the follow of visual development, previz and production.
Steve Millard, Coordinator, Fine Art Studios
A veteran artist worked with Nelvana and Walt Disney Canada, where he worked as a character designer, clean-up artist, animation assistant and multi-disciplinary artist. He graduated from Sheridan with a diploma in Applied Arts. Steve coordinates all aspects of Studio-oriented courses, such as Principles of Drawing, Life Drawing, Anatomy, etc. With his comprehensive knowledge in anatomy, muscle functions and bone structure, Steve combines Life Drawing with practical application in the context of character design, cartooning and ink-work. With his experience as a character designer, Steve is able to integrate a medical understanding of anatomy and functions of the body with imaginative art designs.
Piotr Bielicki, Instructor, Pre-production and visual development
A veteran artist worked with Disney and Nelvana, who handled layout for Mulan, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and The Hunchback of Notre Dame and background designs for Pocahontas and The Jungle Book. Piotr covers extensive training for Storyboarding and illustrated storytelling, keeping his techniques and understanding modern to apply to the current industry. Piotr has 40 years of experience working in the Animation industry.
Adam Earle, Instructor, 3D Layout and Film Direction
A 3D Layout Supervisor at Jam Filled Studios, handling seasons 2 and 3 of Dino Ranch and animating for Paw Patrol. Adam covers programs ofs the 4th year film projects, training students through a professional studio environment, practicing from pre-production to production. With the third year, he handles pitches, design roughs, screenwriting and other pre-production elements, so that the students continues in production process. Adam graduated from Seneca College’s Animation in 2006.
Dave Ross, Instructor, Fundamental Structural Drawing for Animation
A veteran of Marvel, DC Comics and Dark Horse, designed artworks for Catwoman, Star Wars, Batgirl, Aliens vs Predator, X-Men, The Punisher, Spiderman and other high-profile IPs. Dave teaches all aspects of fundamental structural drawing. He masters course for the Animation department, with technical details of perspective drawing and architecture with emphasis on creating effectively-designed backgrounds for Animation. Dave graduated from York University in 1976 in General Arts. Later he entered Sheridan in 1980 in Animation. He is the author of Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators: Mastering the Art of Drawing from Memory, a popular textbook, published in 2015 by Penguin Random House.
- Studying at York University and Animation at Sheridan College opened a wide range of possibilities for Dave Ross who was enveloped in story-telling and drawing.
- Today, Dave Ross is a prolific veteran comic book illustrator who has worked for more than 30 years with all of the major North American comic book publishers including Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse Comics. His noted work as a penciller and cover artist includes: Spiderman, Daredevil, Justice League, Avengers Westcoast, Captain America, Excalibur, Birds of Prey, Aliens, Alpha Flight, Star Trek, Punisher, Iron Man for Marvel, and Star Wars projects for Dark Horse Comics / George Lucas. As a writer, his work includes: Aliens vs Predator, Within Our Reach, Avengers West Coast, Vortex, and Thrax – his own creation.
- He has produced storyboards for feature films, prepared artwork, character design, composition and layout for animation and advised on special projects for television.
- Ross has held workshops on drawing for comic books, lectured and given demos at various school boards in Toronto. For more than ten years he has worked in Course Development, and as a Coordinator and Instructor of a three-year (to be four-year in 2019) Sequential Arts Diploma Program at Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art and Design in Toronto, Canada. In the last five years, he has been an Invitational Guest Lecturer at art colleges and universities in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
- As an Invitational Special Guest at comic conventions, Ross has book-signed in New York, San Diego, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Detroit, Buffalo, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, China; and most recently in England, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Denver. This spring he will be a Special Guest in Florida, USA conventions. (Postponed)
- Noting his teaching experience, Random House Publishers invited Ross to write an instructional book for this genre. “Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators – Mastering the Art of Drawing from Memory” by Random House was launched in July 2015. In 2017, it was released in Korean; followed by the Japanese edition in 2018. The Chinese language edition was launched in 2019.
- Ross’s latest project – a full-length graphic novel featuring his character designs, penciling, and story-telling – will make its debut in 2024 (due to pandemic).
Nikolas Powell, Instructor, 2D Animation
An artist started in clean-up work for the Big Hero 6 TV series, and animating for various Yowza Animation in-house projects and HBO projects such as Looney Toons. He masters all intermediate and advanced Animation courses. A graduated of Sheridan in Animation in 2018.
Wendo Van Essen, Instructor, Animation Fundamentals
With 40+ years of animation experiences, Wendo started in Sheridan in Animation in 1981. She teaches all aspects of 2D animation basics. Worked in movies and series such as Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?, Thumbelina, Titan AE, The Land Before Time, Princess and the Frog, Kung Fu Panda 3, All Dogs Go to Heaven and so many more,.
Mike Shiell, Instructor, 3D Character Animation
A 25-year veteran artist in the industry, on various directing and supervising roles, who specializes in 3D Animation. Mike teaches 3D Character Animation. He has taken part in directing The Backyardigans, an EMMY award-winning show. Mike graduated from Sheridan College in Computer Animation in 1997.
Maya Ivanova, Instructor, Digital Background Painting
With 20 years of experience, Maya graduated in 2003 from the University of Architecture. Her major was Civil Engineering, and in Geodesy in Bulgaria she received Master Degree in Architecture. Maya has since then worked with Walt Disney USA and Mercury Filmworks, designed backgrounds for projects such as Tangled- The Series, Hilda and Atomic Puppet.
Qiong Pan, Instructor, Post-production Process
A Lighting & Compositing Supervisor at JamFilled, teaches 4th year Animation. Qiong graduated from Sheridan in Visual Effects in 2004. Since then she has been actively involved in the animation industry for 16 years, working in studios such as Rocket Science VFX, Nelvana, Silicon Knights and Arc Productions.
Yoo Hoon Kim, Instructor, 3D fundamentals
With experiences in IMAX 3D modeling for Harry Potter films and Nelvana as a lead 3D Generalist working on Mike the Knight. A graduate of Sheridan, a Senior 3D Artist at Lofty Sky Entertainment
Kyle Harrison, Instructor, 2D Digital fundamentals
A Rigging Supervisor at Portfolio Inc. who worked on Bravest Warriors in the Animation department. Kyle graduated in Animation at Max The Mutt, College of Animation, Art & Design. She has been actively working in industry, contributed various projects, that are outsourced to Portfolio Inc. As a Supervisor, Kyle masters operations and industry-tandard software such as ToonBoom Harmony.
Kevin Zimny, Instructor, Character Rigging
With years of experiences, including a Senior Technical Director at Industrial Light & Magic, working on Ultraman. Kevin specializes in rigging, was senior artist in Tangent Animation and Digital Dimension Entertainment Group. He teaches senior-year courses, enabling professional studio environment and teaching complete rigging methodology and process with 3D software. Kevin graduated from Durham College in 2011.
Philip Bredehoeft, Instructor, 3D Modeling, Texture
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Philip specializes both in 3D and 2D animation, with emphasis in texturing for 3D models. He is a lead artist at Jam Filled for Kingdom Force, worked for Rocket Science VFX, Nelvana, Tangent Animation and Silicon Knights, both as 2D and 3D artists. Philip received a B.A from Sheridan in Arts.
Scott Cameron, Instructor, Deign and Composition
A Walt Disney veteran, he is an extremely experienced traditional oil painter and digital painter who masters Design & Composition course. Scott contributed background painting for Disney and has done extensive freelances illustration works for Random House, Annick Press, Viking Press and McClelland and Stewart, and a variety of production companies. Scott graduated from the OCA (now known as OCAD) in 1984.
Kent Burles, Instructor, Perspective
A comics industry veteran, who has worked on film adaptations such as Planet of the Apes. Kent also has a great presence in the Toronto comics industry, as a prominent longtime print seller at ComicCon and FanExpo. Kent graduated from McGill University with a BA. Kent has been a longtime member of MTM College, as an experienced staff, he knows the needs of the students and the college inside-out.
Jock MacRae, Instructor, Drawing Fundamentals
A veteran illustration artist since 1974, he graduated from Sheridan in Animation and Design. Jock used to be an art director for Eaton’s. He also worked for various publication houses such as Scholastic and Kids Can Press.
KNicole Ducker, Instructor, Principles of Design
Nicole is an alumni of Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art & Design, in Concept Art. She is a freelance artist as well masters the school’s courses, teaching all fundamental aspects, in-depth, of drawing.
Ally Prasad, Instructor, Character Design
Ally is an alumni of Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art & Design, in Illustration & Sequential Arts. She works as a freelance artist and mastered Character Design courses in Animation, teaching fundamentals of character design such as silhouette and costume toward advanced level of skills, such as character turn-arounds.
Robyn Lau, Academic Leader of Concept Art
- A previous graduate of Max the Mutt’s Concept Art program, Robyn is a professional freelance Concept Artist and Illustrator with over 9 years of AAA experience.
- She has worked on projects for companies such as EA, Riot Games, Coca Cola, Microsoft, Corus Entertainment, and DreamWorks. Currently, Robyn is working actively on classified projects for Riot Games and on assets for the popular first-person-shooter, Apex Legends.
- Robym was recruited to help teach at Max the Mutt, and has been the acting Concept Art Coordinator since 2022.
Programs Leaders who Administrate Visual Effect and Game Engine Applications
Mandeep Singh: VFX Artist, JHI Partner & Administrator
Mandeep Singh is the Head of International Production/Executive Producer at Tau Films. Mandeep began his career as an independent producer of commercial content in India. He then shifted his attention to feature VFX and animation, joining Rhythm and Hues and providing production management for over 15 films including the Academy Award winner The Golden Compass. He also established a VFX and animation facility in the Malaysian Multi-Media Super Corridor (MSC), and oversaw all production.
Shish Aikat: VFX Artist, JHI Partner & Administrator
Shish Aikat is Global Head of Training-VFX at DNEG. He was previously the Head of Global Learning for Tau Films and R&H Studios He led the deployment of the learning systems and initiatives for the studio’s operations in the US, Canada, India, Malaysia, and Taiwan. He also co-founded R&H University to create and foster a global learning ecosystem for visual effects. Shish is a Co-Founder of John Hughes Institute, established 2014.
In addition, he was the Vice Principal of Exceptional Minds, a vocational academy/studio in animation and VFX for young adults on the autism spectrum, and a technical communicator for systems/engineering design in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.
Shish received his MFA from the Division of Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts (SCA), University of Southern California (USC), and has an MA in Communication Management from the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, USC. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
Jon Meier: Visual Effect Supervisor, & Virtual Production Advisor
- A visual effect supervisor for many tears. He directed international artists to produce visual effects of motion pictures and themed immersive VR rides. He worked many years with John Hughes’ R&H Studio, as VFX Lighting and Look Artists. He contributed team leadership in Life of Pie (Oscar Best Visual Effect, 2012) and Jungle Book (Oscar Best Visual Effect, 2017) .
- In recent years Jon is dedicated to practices and projects using Unreal Game Engine and its MetaHuman visual design flow, landed his specialty in virtual character designs.
Artists who teach Visual Communication, Virtual Production & Campus Production
John P. Hughes: VFX Entrepreneur, Founder, CEO, Executive Producer
John Hughes’ VFX career started with RA&A who pioneered digital visual effect in Hollywood. 10 years later he founded and operated R&H Studios for 26 years. There which the company under his leadership won 3 Oscars Best Visual Effect Awards and 4 Oscars Technical Best Achievement Awards. Life of Pi, the large-scale and highly complex shocking visual effects also made the film win the Oscar Best Director and Best Cinematography Awards.
Craig Talmy: VFX Supervisor, Animation Director, Chief Creative Artist
Craig Talmy has been visual effect supervisors in many Hollywood hit VFX movies. Since 2017, he started to involve John Hughes’ China film production contracts. Specifically, he helped Chinese director Ning Hao conducted the first CG Characters as leading role, ever in the China Films. Crazy Alien made CN¥2.4B (USD370M) box office, a record in China.
Linda Wall, PhD: Motion Graphics Designer & Producer, the Educator
Dr. Linda Wall is a Motion Graphics artist, New Media designer and producer, as well a hands-on commercial-entertainment venue analyst and programmer. She graduated from Stanford with a BA in Designs, then from UCI with MS in Computer Science, and PhD in Business-Recreational Environment Analysis and Design.
Joel Hynek: Visual Effect Supervisor, & Virtual Production Advisor
Joel Hynek is a Hollywood veteran VFX artist. He has been Visual Effect Supervisors and Set Supervisor. Joel supervised VFX in many major VFX-intense films. He has extensive experience in front-end production of visual effect, including the recent cutting-edge knowledge of virtual production. Joel has extensive experience in front-end production of visual effect, including cutting-edge knowledge of virtual production.
Rosemond Perdue: Producer and Distributor
Rosemond Perdue has spent her career at the intersection of marketing, production and content distribution. Her international focus began as a founding partner of Bungalow 3, bringing TV shows and channels to international markets for clients such as: Sony, CBS, and Universal.
Chris Consani: Art Design, Animation Design, VFX, Pop Fine Art
Consani is an animation and visual effect artist. He has 30+ years of Hollywood contributions, in many hit motion pictures, as: visual effect supervisor, art designer, production designer and character developer. He also led teams to produce 3D immersive VR rides for amusement parks in Dubai and China.]
Industrial Expertes who teach Studio Admin & Soundstages
Justin Muller
Motion Victual Studio and Stages designer and operator
Anatol Treba
Stage Visual Production Scenes & Lighting, Projection Mapping
Mitch Wiener
Stage Visual Production Scenes & Lighting