Your Doers and Dreamers ‘24...We are beyond delighted to present the five recipients for the third edition of the Doers and Dreamers Digital Arts Scholarship. Designed in partnership with amazing folks at Warner Discovery Access Canada, this initiative supports artists from Canada’s underrepresented communities looking to develop their raw artistic talent and create an industry-ready portfolio to help them launch a career in CGI, Asset Creation and/or Game Art.
A big congratulations to:
Meet the Finalists
Like Doers and Dreamers ‘22 and ‘23, this year we received so many amazing and inspiring applications. Artists from all over the country, from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances, shared stories of artistic inspiration, personal growth, and individual achievement. It took over two months to whittle down the original batch of applications, but we are so glad we did.
Read more about the top five below, and a special thanks to all of you who applied and helped make this year’s opportunity such a great success. We hope see you next year for Doers and Dreamers ‘25.
Nicki Hynes
Raised on a creative diet of Pixar movies (such as Toy Story and Monsters Inc.) and the now-classic Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended of course), Nicki is bringing a well-nurtured love of film into her CG Art program. For her, representation matters, and Nicki is focused on developing her creative talents to one day “be a part of bringing important stories to life that reflect all the diversity that is out there”. Also, she’s a self-proclaimed “expert level gift-giver”, so we’re pretty excited about that.
Afolake Ola
Originally from Nigeria, Afolake is switching things up as she’s turning from a career in Financial Accounting & Client Relations to pursue her dream of working in the Film Industry. When asked what receiving this scholarship means to her, Afolake had this to say: “Receiving this scholarship ignites a new hope within me, empowering my dream to pursue a career in animation and create captivating stories that inspire and resonate with others.” I’m not crying (again), you’re crying!
Canyu Zhu
Despite growing up a “huge Nintendo kid,” Canyu now aspires to work on feature films. Already coming with an incredible portfolio of 2D illustrations (seriously, check out her instagram), we can’t wait to see what she brings to the table once she masters the 3D software tools in her upcoming program. While her creative skills are without doubt, Canyu also claims to be able to flip to the exact page she was on in a book without a bookmark. Somebody call Ripley’s Believe It Or Not ASAP!
Nyah Cochrane
Here is the (almost) local artist…Vancouver Island’s very own is Nyah. Just across the Strait of Georgia from Think Tank, you can find Nyah punching away on her DAWs making her own music. Hopefully, these tracks will accompany some of the incredible showreels she is certainly bound to make! With a passion for both Games and Film, Nyah has stated that she’d love to work on The Sims or for Animal Logic because of the “cute style featured in some of their films”.
Melissa Phan
For Melissa, this scholarship is just one step in her ultimate goal of launching her own Game Studio. A gamer through and through, with a love for Riot Games, she got into league of Legends and now hopes to one day model skins for its characters (before striking out on her own!). When we asked Melissa what her hidden talent was she said this: “I used to speedrun a game called Hollow Knight. IMy first run was 3 hours and a bit but through time, practice, and encouragement from the community, I hit the top 100 for a bit with sub 44”. Right on brand for this future Games artist and entrepreneur.
The program they'll take
Finalists for Doers and Dreamers are automatically enrolled in our signature online program, CG Asset Creation for Film or Games. Starting June 3, 2024, this 64-week program is designed to teach students how to layer essential technical skills with original artistic ideas, master real-world software, and develop an industry-ready portfolio. Highly personalized, hands-on, and entirely online, it helps young artists gain the crucial skills and connections needed to launch a rewarding career in the entertainment industry.
Our partners: Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada
Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada elevates, activates, and connects Canadian talent from communities that have been historically marginalized with global opportunities and global audiences. This suite of above- and below-the-line initiatives builds on Warner Bros. Discovery’s relationships with creators, craftspeople and technicians of all genders and abilities from communities including Indigenous, Black, and racialized groups, people with disabilities, and members of LGBTQ2+ and Francophone minority communities. WBD Access Canada values the undervalued and celebrates the underrepresented -- all to bring the best and most promising talent in Canada to the world.
Are you dreaming of a career in CG, VFX, and Animation? Be sure to follow Think Tank and Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada on social media, so you can be the first to learn about the next exciting opportunity. Stay tuned!
