Maxine Schacker

Co-Director

MAXINE SCHACKER is a Founder and Co-Director of Max the Mutt, is an artist who has exhibited in Montreal, Toronto and New York. She studied with Robert Beverly Hale, world famous Instructor of Drawing and Anatomy at the Art Students League of New York. She has taught painting, life drawing and anatomy for the Illustration and Animation programs at Sheridan College, and the Bell Centre for Creative Communication at Centennial College. Maxine teaches the Mentored Life Drawing course for the Concept Art Diploma Program.

Tina Seemann

Co-Director of Max the Mutt & Coordinator of the Classical & Computer Animation & Production Program and Instructor

Animal Drawing, Cartooning Instructor

TINA SEEMANN is a cartoonist and character designer whose work has appeared on many of TV Ontario’s children’s shows of the past. Tina designed the “Max the Mutt” mascot, as well as the characters for the proposed Max the Mutt Animation feature production, The Jazz Bears. She is recently designed the characters and illustrated a Children’s Book written by David Schacker called “The Life and Times of Sir Reginald Tubb: A Bath-time Saga in Verse“. Classically trained in animation, Tina has taught animation at Sheridan College and the Bell Centre for Creative Communication and is director and coordinator of the Classical & Computer Animation & Production Diploma program.

Hilary Phillips

Concept Art for Animation & Video Games Coordinator, Animation Instructor

3D Film Development & Preproduction for Animation Year 4 Film Project, Animation Basics 1 & 2

HILARY PHILLIPS is a Director, Character Design Supervisor, and Storyboard Artist who has many years of top animation experience both in Canada and the U.S.A. Graduating with high honors from Sheridan College Classical Animation Program in 1982 Hilary Phillips has worked in the animation industry for more than 30 yrs. She began her career as an animator, primarily in children’s television productions such as the Raccoons, Care Bears, Dragon Tales, but also did some feature work along the way. She directed two TV specials, Railway Dragon and Birthday Dragon. Over the years she became more involved in character design and storyboarding, production design and development. She also has a crossover interest in Live Action film making and special effects design with several shorts and a feature film, Dark Sunrise. 

Kent Burles

Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts Program Coordinator, Instructor

History of Sequential Arts, Perspective, Basic to Advanced Inking, Comic Book Composition & Layout for Portfolio, Portfolio Development

KENT BURLES is an illustrator whose love of the comic and fantasy genres led him into the comic and role-playing game industries. He worked with Malibu Comics on creating a series of Planet of the Apes comic books, as well as a series called The Adventurers. He has also worked on many role playing games by Fasa, Steve Jackson, White Wolf, and recently on Anvil Galaxy and Rifts for Palladium Books. Kent is a Max the Mutt’s Coordinator for the Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts Diploma Program.

Greg Beettam

Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts Program Coordinator, Instructor

Cinematic Storytelling & Story Development, Graphic Novel Writing & Illustration, Character Design, Perspective, Principles of Drawing

GREG BEETTAM is a veteran Comic Book/ Graphic Novel artist, freelance Illustrator, Graphic Designer, Writer and Visual Storytelling Expert, with 20+ years experience. Greg co-wrote a comic called Xeno’s Arrow with Stephen Geigen-Miller. In addition to his work in comics, graphic novels and cartooning, he has worked in advertising as a concept artist, specializing in storyboards, story development, script-writing, and presentation design. Greg has been a integral part in the planning, and shares the Coordinator position, for our new Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts 4 year Diploma Program. He is a valuable member of the MTM faculty family.

Ed Shawcross

Instructor

Advanced & Intermediate Life Drawing, Principles of Drawing

ED SHAWCROSS is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art, and an artist with many exhibitions to his credit. He has taught at Sheridan College and Dundas Valley, and is past President of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour. He is a dedicated educator, and, in addition to his own classes, is the Coordinator for year one life drawing for all programs.

Dave Ross

Instructor

Constructive Figure Drawing, Structural Drawing, Intermediate & Advanced Comic Book Composition Penciling

DAVE ROSS has drawn and written for Marvel Comics and DC Comics on Captain America, Spiderman, Batgirl, Star Trek, Daredevil, Birds of Prey and JLA: Act of God, among many other projects. Dave recently published and toured with his instructional book “Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators: Mastering the Art of Drawing from Memory” which was published by Random House LLC. He was also an artist for the Rai series at Valiant Comics, and has worked as a concept designer and layout artist for animation. One of the founders of MTM’s Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts Diploma Program, he works with Kent Burles, and now also Greg Beettam, to review and fine tune the program and develop curriculum.

Adam Earle

Instructor

Layout for Animation, Layout for the Concept Art program

ADAM EARLE is an animation artist with just over a decade of experience as a 3D Layout artist and 3D animator. Some of the projects he’s worked on are, True and the Rainbow Kingdom, Justin Time Go!, and Disney’s Pixie Hollow Bake Off. He’s particularly proud of Thomas and Friends’ “Tale of the Brave”, where he had the pleasure of animating the ‘Monsters Everywhere’ sequence. In his spare time he enjoys creating comics, music and even more cartoons. He has been enjoying his experience teaching  for our Classical & Computer Animation & Production and Concept Art Programs at Max the Mutt.

Adrian Bobb

Instructor

Character Design for Video Games

ADRIAN BOBB had this to say about his background and experiences:

“I’ve been drawing and writing about robots, aliens, and monsters, for as long as I can remember. While my skillset and toolset have increased, my enthusiasm to create and design worlds has remained consistently boundless.

In the past decade I have worked at companies such as Ubisoft, Digital Dimension, Rocket Science VFX, Jam Filled Animation, Little Blackstone Studios, as a matte painter, concept artist and 3D modeler.

Through Exocentric Productions, my independent film production company, I have written, produced, and designed production materials for projects including a short film entitled The Carrier (Written/Directed/Produced), a full-length feature entitled Redshift (Written/Produced), and I am currently in the pre-production phase of a second short film entitled EXT (Written/Directed).

In short whether it’s with a pencil, a stylus, or a camera, visual design is what I do, and I hope to work with others that share similar interests and passions.”

We are very pleased to have Adrian join the Max the Mutt Concept Art program’s Faculty family.

Adrian Hansen

Instructor

3D Animation Production

ADRIAN HANSEN worked for more than 10 years as both a 2D and 3D animator and is skilled in classical as well as computer animation. He has animated for major Toronto studios and game companies such as Guru Studio, Arc Productions, Pipeline Studios, Silicon Knights and Yowza Animation. He also has experience working Cinematics and In-game cycles for video games and performing and working on motion capture stunt work. His credits include work on major shows such as Thomas and Friends, Bubble Guppies, Paw Patrol and the beautiful Ever After High films. Adrian has been a valuable addition to MTM’s Classical & Computer Animation & Production program’s faculty.

Alan Howell

Instructor

Beginning & Advanced Life Drawing, Drawing Props & Objects

ALAN HOWELL has worked as an illustrator and designer, comic book artist, and caricaturist. Alan is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art. He has many years of experience as an Illustrator. His work appears in numerous book illustrations for Alexander Press and other publishing companies. He works in traditional and digital materials. Alan joined MTM’s faculty in Fall 2017 to teach for our Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts and Concept Art programs.

Alex Taliaronak

Instructor

3D In-Depth: Lighting & Composition

ALEX TALIARONAK has worked as a lighting/ compositing lead, art director and motion graphics designer. He has worked on feature animation projects for companies such as ToonBox Entertainment and Tangent Animation, and was an instructor at Belarusian State Academy of Arts before coming to Canada. We are so pleased to have Alex join the Max the Mutt Faculty family.

Alvin L. Senyahan

Professional Development Instructor

3D Rigging and Python

ALVIN L. SENYAHAN learned to sketch and paint at an early age, taking a particular interest in still-life and landscape. He started out his career as a practicing licensed Civil Engineer, providing 3D engineering, design and modeling services. He soon became interested in visual effects, and left engineering to pursue this profession along with 3D modeling, character rigging, animation and compositing. While studying animation at Centennial, he was scooped up by CORE studios. Since then, he has worked in a number of studios, including Gallus Entertainment (3D modeler/rigger), Optix Digital (3D generalist), Soho Vfx (3D generalist), Sinking Ship Entertainment (3D effects lead, 3D generalist, rigging), and Guru Studios (3D Rigger). He’s worked on a wide range of productions including commercial ads, TV series and feature films.

Apollo Okamura

Instructor

Toon Boom Harmony Instructor

APOLLO OKAMURA With 20 years of professional experience in the art industry, Apollo Okamura has worked in fashion, advertising, comics, games, and of course, animation. During this time, he’s had the pleasure of working on well known licenses such as Robotech, Transformers, and the Ninja Turtles. While Apollo is classically trained in traditional animation, he’s also a big proponent for modern digital integration and has worked closely with Toon Boom as a certified trainer, working with several animation studios, including Big Jump, Bento Box, and Chuck Gammage Animation. Apollo’s love for drawing is only surpassed by his passion for teaching and has been honoured to teach at many animation schools around the world, including these notable North American colleges: Sheridan College, Algonquin College, and Savannah College of Art and Design.

Brad Ferguson

Instructor

Animation Basics

BRAD FERGUSON is an award winning Director/Showrunner, Animator, Storyboard Artist and Character Designer with more than 19 years of experience in the animation industry. He is equally at home with classical animation, 2D and 3D computer animation and he enthusiastically brings his many years of wide-ranging industry experiences into the classroom.

Since 2009, Brad’s directed both hit comedy series’ “Numb Chucks” & the award-winning “Almost Naked Animals”, Spin Master’s CG preschool series, “Rusty Rivets” and the educational series “Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat”. Brad was also recently Assistant Director on Nickelodeon’s “Welcome to the Wayne” and has extensive experience working in Development.

First starting as a Character Designer and Animator back in 2001, Brad worked on a broad spectrum of television series and specials including “If The World Were a Village”, “Jacob Two-Two”, “Futz!” and the Emmy Award-winning “Peep and the Big Wide World”. After designing many of the characters & animating much of the demo for a series named “Best Ed”, Brad took on the role of Storyboard Artist/Supervisor of the series, which then paved his path to directing. Brad has always been incredibly passionate about education and sharing his experiences to help inspire, prepare & support future generations of industry professionals.

Christel Bartelse

Instructor

Acting for Animation

CHRISTEL BARTELSE is a 4 time Canadian Comedy Award nominee, actor, writer, comedian and clown. A graduate of Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, and Second City Conservatory, her work has been presented in both Canada and the US. She is an original member and co-creator of the comedy duo “The Burnt Marshmallows,” and is currently a member of “Faustwork Mask Theatre.” Christel has developed and performed in three solo shows which have been nominated for the Canadian Comedy Award ,“Best One Person Show”.  Her fourth show, “All KIDding Aside” was presented and well received at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017.  Her latest show, “The Surprise,”  is a clown piece directed by Andy Massingham, presented at Next Stage Festival 2018. (Factory Theatre) . Christel teaches acting courses for students in the Classical & Computer Animation & Production Diploma Program at MTM, and also teaches for The Toronto Film School and Humber College.

Daniel St. Amant

Instructor

Digital Matte Painting

DANIEL ST AMANT has experience in both Animation and VFX. He currently does compositing for 2D and 3D feature Films. His duties include matte painting, full CG integration, as well as crowd replacements and set extensions. His traditional fine art background (check out his website!) coupled with his visual effects training makes him another wonderful addition to MTM’s faculty! Daniel will be teaching for our Concept Art diploma program.

Darryl Malloy

Instructor

3D Character Animation

DARRYL MALLOY is a 3D animator with years of experience who animated for Guru for several years, and is now animating for Tangent Animation, Toronto. With his passion not only to help upcoming animators, but to continue to develop and expand his own artistry, makes him a great addition to MTM’s animation department.

David Huynh

Instructor

Intro to 3D Computer Animation

DAVID HUYNH, a graduate of Max the Mutt, has been a 3D Technical Director for Corus/Nelvana in Toronto for several years where he worked on the TV series “Bravest Warriors“, and is now a 2D Computer Animation Technical Director. David joined the MTM faculty family to teach 3D Computer Animation to the Classical & Computer Animation & Production program.

Greg Gibbons

Instructor

Concept Art Final Project

GREG GIBBONS graduated with high honors from Sheridan College Classical animation program in 1982. He began as a traditional background/matte painter with acrylic, gouache, and watercolor. He has worked on twelve animated features, such as “Space Jam“, “Iron Giant“, and “Spirit” (department supervisor, color stylist on some) He’s worked on several television series and specials, and as matte painting supervisor on live-action the feature films, “Watchmen“, “Traitor” and “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans“. Also matte painting supervisor on the animated feature “Free Birds“. More recently he was the art director on the TV series “Paw Patrol”, and currently he is the lead designer at Industrial Brothers on the TV series “Top Wing“. He’s experienced with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Flash, Adobe Dreamweaver, 2D painting, PDI proprietary 3D surfacing and lighting software (LINUX based) Maya and Nuke. With all of Greg’s experience he has been a wonderful addition to the MTM faculty family teaching for our Concept Art diploma program.

Jock MacRae

Instructor

Beginning Life Drawing, Traditional Colour Illustration for Comics & Covers

JOCK MACRAE is a skilled illustrator and graphic designer. He has been an art director, has worked in advertising and has extensive experience as a children’s book illustrator, for publishers such as Kids Can Press, Nelsons, Key Porter and Bayard Press, among others. Jock has also been the graphic designer for much of Max the Mutt’s promotional materials, like our annual Course Calendars. Jock is a major part of year one drawing faculty, and also teaches illustration and graphic design for our Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts and Concept Art programs.

John Newton

Instructor

Representational Painting, Digital Painting, Principles of Drawing

JOHN NEWTON is a graduate from the Concept Art program in 2011. He has since worked for a variety of clients including Corus, Nelvana, Le Cheval Noir, and private clients, as a background painter, colour key artist, storyboard artist, and concept designer.

Josh Hagley

Instructor

Advanced 3D Computer Rigging and Modelling

JOSH HAGLEY currently works on feature films as a Senior 3D Asset Creator, doing lead character rigging, scripting, and modelling. He is known for his work on Max Steel (2016), Double Bang (2001) and Bubble Guppies (2011). His fine art background and knowledge of classical as well as computer animation make him a valuable and welcome addition to MTM’s faculty!

Julien Nema

Instructor

Environmental Visualization

JULIEN NEMA has experience designing characters, sets and props for Nerd Corps. He also has experience in the game industry, researching and conceptualizing the most suitable design direction for mobile AR games and efficiently conveying his ideas. He has designed characters and art assets along with clear model sheets for 3D modelers to build from, and has directed and communicated with 3D modelers to ensure assets got the changes they needed look their best in game. He is currently a design artist for Nelvana Studio.

Kenny Lam

Instructor

Character Design and Concept Art Instructor

KENNY LAM has developed a passion and personal commitment to helping his students succeed. He has many experiences in movies and video games. He worked on movies such as Avatar, District 9, Predators, The Lovely Bones, The A-Team and The adventure of Tintin at Weta Digital. Moreover, he worked on Rainbow Six Siege and Watch Dogs Legion as Art Director at Ubisoft. His teaching style demonstrates dedication to fostering a positive learning environment for all audiences and we are very lucky he joined our Concept Art program Faculty Family.

Laura Faber

Instructor

Portrait Painting

LAURA FABER is a Concept Artist and Illustrator working at Elliott Animation. Where she works on developing new shows, primarily on world designs, and assembling pitch packages. She is also currently working on illustrating her second children’s book. She graduated from Max the Mutt Concept Art program in 2016 and we are pleased to welcome her back to join our Faculty Family this time.

Mathias Horhager

Instructor

Year 4 Animation Production & Animation Project Director

MATHIAS HORHAGER is an experienced Director, currently working for Industrial Brothers where he directed Jim Henson’s award winning series “Dot“. He has many years of industry experience as a storyboard artist, layout artist and director. In 2013 he was the Director, Producer, Writer, Editor and Storyboard Artist for “I Hate You Red Light,” an award winning short that won Best animated short at the Canadian International Film Festival. He joins MTM as the Director of the Animation & Animation Production 3D Film Project for our Classical & Computer Animation & Production program.

Maya Ivanova

Instructor

Colour Theory & Background Painting, Digital Background Painting

MAYA IVANOVA has 18 years of experience in Visual Arts and Architectural Design. Since 2014 she has worked with both The Walt Disney company and Mercury Filmworks specializing in painting landscapes, urban landscapes, building interiors and fantasy worlds.

Meaghan Carter

Instructor

Cartooning for Comics, Cartooning

MEAGHAN CARTER Meaghan is a graduate of Max the Mutt’s Illustration for Sequential Arts Diploma program and joined MTM’s faculty family to teach Cartooning for the Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts and Concept Art programs.Meaghan is the author of the YA webcomics Take Off, and the ongoing Godslave series. Her work primarily features female leads, character drama and interactions with otherworldly beings. She’s also been a part of the Valor fairytale anthology, The Secret Loves of Geek Girls anthology, and the Toronto Comics anthologies. Meaghan has also contributed her creative talents to The Pitiful Human-Lizard with Jason Loo.

Mike Gagnon

Instructor

Digital Media for Artists, Scripting for Comics, Computer Colouring & Lettering for Comics

MIKE GAGNON is an artist and writer, who works mostly in the comic book industry. His studio, Hammer Comics, is based in Hamilton, Ontario. His work has been published worldwide by companies such as Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Jack Lake Productions (Classics Illustrated), and many small press publications. Mike is a valued member of the MTM faculty family for the Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts program.

Milan Pavlovic

Instructor

Illustration for Children's Books, Traditional & Computer Graphics

MILAN PAVLOVIC is an award-winning illustrator and graphic artist specializing in illustrations for children, advertising, animation, editorials, and comics. Having BA in book design and MA in illustration, he began his career in Serbia, and as an Instructor he brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience. Milan is the Illustrator for several children’s book publications for Groundwood Books including, “Danny, Who Fell In A Hole”, “Kabungo“, and “Seamus’s Short Story“. Milan is a valued member of the MTM faculty family and teaches for the Illustration & Storytelling for Sequential Arts and Concept Art programs.

Nenad Peric

Instructor

3D for Concept Art, Modelling, and Asset Development for Games

NENAD PERIC came to Canada from Serbia, where he worked for as 3D modeller for Glossyrey. He is now working in Toronto as a 3D Artist/ Modeler for Soho VFX where projects he’s worked on include Deadpool 2, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. He’s been commended for his artistic excellence and is a welcome addition to MTM’s faculty! Nenad will be teaching for our Concept Art program.

Noelle Hunt

Instructor

Background Painting for Animation

NOELLE HUNT is an experienced Background Painter and Colour Stylist currently working for Nelvana in Toronto. Her previous experience includes assisting with story ideas, design concepts, and voice actor selection. She has also worked on props and wigs for stop motion animation. Noelle will be a great addition to MTM’s faculty family and will be teaching for our Classical & Computer Animation & Production program.

Paris Alleyne

Instructor

PARIS ALLEYNE is a Toronto based comic illustrator and colourist. He graduated in 2013 from Max the Mutt’s original 3 year Illustration diploma program that has become the 4 year diploma program we offer today. He’s worked with Marvel, IDW Publishing, BOOM! Studios and Lion Forge LLC. He’s also created his own series Haven with Toronto publisher, Chapterhouse. Currently he’s the colourist on the Comixology original title Afterlift with Chip Zdarsky and Jason Loo. We are very pleased to be welcoming Paris to join our Faculty Family.

Piotr Bielicki

Instructor

Cinematic Language, Storyboard and Layout, Story Telling & Story Development, Introduction to Storyboarding & Film Language

PIOTR BIELICKI has over 30 years of professional experience in production design, production layout, storyboarding and animation for TV series and feature films. He has worked for Disney Feature Animation for many years on projects including “Mulan” (layout artist: journeyman) , “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (layout artist), “Pocahontas” (key layout/workbook) and many others. Since returning to Canada, Piotr has been involved in art direction and direction for live action and animated educational films. His passion for film and animation education makes him an exciting addition to MTM’s faculty and will be teaching courses for both our Classical & Computer Animation & Production and Concept Art Diploma Programs.

Rae Dickey

Instructor

2D Computer Animation

RAE DICKEY is a MTM graduate and an award winning animator with a technical brain. She is experienced with working in Flash, Harmony and Maya. She has particular expertise in Harmony having supervised 2D Rigging since early 2013 at Guru Studios. She has worked on a number of 2D and 3D shows, the most recent being Paw Patrol, and Ever After High at Guru. We are very happy Rae joined MTM’s faculty family to teach 2D Computer Animation for our Classical & Computer Animation & Production program.

Roksolana Tchotchieva

Instructor

Representational Painting, Figurative Drawing

ROKSOLANA TCHOTCHIEVA is a fine artist who was trained at the V.I. Surikov State Academic Institute of Fine Arts in Moscow, where she studied for seven years. She is currently an exhibiting fine artist, and at Max the Mutt, is in charge of overseeing all representational painting courses and a Figurative Drawing course for our Concept Art Diploma Program.

Scott Cameron

Instructor

Design & Composition, Colour & Water Based Media, Colour Theory & Background Painting

SCOTT CAMERON has been an illustrator since he graduated from Ontario College of Art in 1984. He was a background painter for Disney Canada. As an illustrator he has numerous credits including magazine covers and children’s books. He was nominated for a Governor General’s Award for Illustration for his work on Beethoven Lives Upstairs. Scott has been a valuable member of MTM’s faculty family who has taught courses for all of our Diploma Programs and will be our Year 2 Coordinator for the Classical & Computer Animation & Production diploma program for this coming school year.

Steve Millard

Instructor

Advanced Life Drawing, Anatomy, Drawing Heads & Features, Drawing Hands & Feet, Drawing for Animation

STEVE MILLARD started his career in animation working for Walt Disney Canada on such projects as “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas“, and “Peter Pan: Return to Neverland“. He has also worked as a character designer for Nelvana and 9 Story Animation. As a fine artist, he has exhibited drawings and paintings in Oakville and Toronto. Steve has been a valuable member of the MTM faculty family, since 2008, teaching advanced courses for all 3 of our Diploma Programs.

Trever Johansen

Instructor

Creature Design

TREVER JOHANSEN is a creature and character designer and 3D modeler, currently working for Mr. X Toronto.

Ulysses Esguerra

Instructor

3D Character Animation, Character Design for Animation & Video Games

ULYSSES ESGUERRA is a 3D Lead Animator currently working for Guru Studios in Toronto. His prior experience includes animating for many other top Canadian companies, including Red Rover Studios (now House of Cool), Canuck Creations and Arc Productions. He also has traditional feature animation experience as a classical animator. His talents include character design as well as animating. Ulysses has been an important addition to the MTM faculty family and has taught for both our Classical & Computer Animation & Production and Concept Art diploma programs.