Our professional and personal environments are filled with images. Whatever the media, presentation format, or technology used, images remain above all the creation of specialists responding to the precise needs of companies from every professional sector.

These kinds of future specialists, capable of analysing the demands of the clients and finding creative as well as pertinent solutions, are trained in Paris, at GOBELINS, one of the 11 schools of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The training offered here is done either via full-time courses, part-time apprenticeship schemes, or continuing education programs for adults in the fields of interactive and digital media, animation, graphic design and printing, photography as well as video, sound and broadcast technology.

To assure the successful training of these specialists, GOBELINS has chosen to :

Maintain a strong relationship with companies

Professionals make their presence felt through their participation in juries, advisory boards as well as numerous other meetings and events. They are the guarantee that what we offer in terms of training corresponds to the needs of the different professional branches.
The school also maintains constant, productive ties with representative bodies and professional institutions. The many consultants and experts sent by companies to teach and advise on projects reinforce our strong link with the professional sector.

Focus on innovative pedagogical projects

The guiding principle in the pedagogical choices of the school : to ensure that each student, apprentice, and trainee at GOBELINS receives the instruction he or she needs to acquire solid technical skills as well as a good cultural education in general, which in turn will allow graduates to successfully join companies, work on professional projects, and adapt to changes in their future professions.

The following strengths are highlighted :

• project-based curriculum
• tutoring and self-training with the help of specialized tools
• interdepartmental projects and collaboration
• end of study projects that are truly useful for the profession, often becoming the main vector of communication for the client
• works that are included in exhibitions, publications and international festivals

Students, apprentices, and trainees have at their disposal :

• a network of more than 850 computers
• the majority of professional software programs in their latest versions
• fully-adapted equipment installed at both school campuses

GOBELINS is an international school

GOBELINS fully adheres to the international policy that the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry implements in all 11 of its schools: offer our students a genuine multi-cultural experience both inside and outside France, through the enrolment of foreign students, internships in foreign companies, student exchange programs, open door policy for visiting professionals from around the world to share their experience with the students. Each year now, GOBELINS organises an international summer school in the English language.

The location of GOBELINS, situated in the heart of Paris, just next to the Latin Quarter, allows our students to take advantage of a cultural and artistic environment which enhances their talent and permits them to come into direct contact with creative energies which are among the best of what Europe and the world have to offer, whatever the mode of expression.

GOBELINS has been granted the Erasmus University Charter in Europe to enable it to obtain funding to develop projects with other European schools. GOBELINS is also a member of the European animation school network funded by Media, a program of the European Union for the audiovisual industry.

World-wide reputation

The presence and success of GOBELINS student work in festivals and events around the world contribute to this international dimension by strengthening ties to foreign cultures and institutions, as well as bringing notoriety to our students and teachers. In 2009, Gobelins students obtained internships in China, Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, USA …

Today GOBELINS graduates from the animation course are present in French studios through out the country such as Mac Guff, Moonscoop, and Millimages but also in major studios around the world, including DreamWorks, Disney, Pixar, Framestore, Electronic Arts and many more. Indeed, they are prized for their creative and technical excellence as well as their professional level.

In order to share its expertise in animation training with an international audience, GOBELINS organises each year a summer school with master classes in character animation offered in English. The 2009 summer school attracted 40 participants from 22 different countries. GOBELINS has also organised master classes in Asia for schools and studios.

SARAH BONNAUD
(Licence professionnelle, equivalent to a Bacholor’s Degree, in Project Management in Visual Communication and Print Media, graduating class)
After obtaining a degree in Communication and Networking Services, Sarah came to Gobelins to enlarge her skill set in web design and the graphic communication production process. Wishing to discover a foreign work environment while improving her use of professional English, she spent six months as an intern for the company Tribal DDB in Amsterdam as internet project manager.

MARION VIVIEN
(BTS Graphic  Production, graduating class 2002)
Marion first came to Gobelins to prepare a professional baccalaureate degree in printing techniques before pursuing her studies in graphic production. During an exchange period with the London College of Communication, she was able to meet former Gobelins students preparing higher education degrees at this British school who encouraged her to do so herself. She went on to get her B.A. at LCC in 2003 and continues to live and work in London as a print buyer.

KRISTOF SERRAND
(Animation, graduating class 1983)
Upon completing his studies at GOBELINS (1981-1983), Kristof worked as assistant animator, and then animator, on full-length feature films.
In 1987, he directed several advertising shorts for a studio in England before being hired as animation supervisor by Steven Spielberg at the founding of Amblimation Studio in London.
He then moved to Los Angeles to join the DreamWorks Animation Studio. He recently worked as animation supervisor on “Over the Hedge”.

MARINE DROUAN 
(Graphic Design, graduating class 2006)
After studying at the Fine Arts school of Bordeaux in  the Graphic Design program at Gobelins, Marine moved to Bucarest in Romania where she worked as a graphic designer in a TV production company supplying programs to the national TV channel TVR2, notably creating the company’s new logo and visual identity as well as various jingles. Today she lives and works in Berlin as a free lance design artist, with one client being a new music magazine named U:D un:domesticated.

VANESSA FRANKLIN
(Photography, graduating class 1999)
After finishing her studies at GOBELINS, Vanessa went to work in London.
There she worked as an assistant photographer for several well-established commercial photographers (Kevin Kingston, Nadav Kander, Spencer Rowell), while developing her personal projects.
Her series, “Ladies and Gentlemen” attracted considerable attention upon her return to Paris.
Vanessa has shot commercial photos for several major European brand names, and has contributed to many publications.
Website :www.vanessafranklin.com

MORITZ MAYERHOFER
(Animation, German exchange student 2006/2007)
As part of his studies at the famous German film school, Filmakademie de Baden-Württemberg, Moritz spent a school year at Gobelins to consolidate his knowledge and practice of animation. At Gobelins, he appreciated the rigor of the program allied to a “creative and joyous environment.” Now back at his German school, Moritz is directing his own animation film. After returning to complete his studies at Filmakademie, Moritz directed the award winning film "Urs".

PIERRE PERIFEL
(Animation, graduating class 2005)
Upon completing his studies at GOBELINS, Pierre worked as an animator for several important studios in Europe, working on both feature films and TV series. In 2008, he joined DreamWorks Animation Studio where he worked on “Kung Fu Panda”. In 2009, he won the prestigious Annie Award in Hollywood for the category “Character Animation in a Television Production or Short Form.”

Photography
Paris and photography: a conjunction of capital importance. In Paris, the focus on photographic heritage is attested to in museums and exhibitions, as well as in the arts market.
The unique role of Paris in the world of fashion offers greater possibilities for photographers: fashion shows, agencies and studios come together to create a rich atmosphere conducive to both mentoring and creativity.
GOBELINS is well-placed in this environment, training studio photographers for advertising, portraiture and photo-reporting, as well as specialists in photo processing and post-production.
Students graduating from GOBELINS go on to become digital and artistic retouchers, fine art printers, digital operators, iconographers, photographers working in advertising, illustration, industrial photography, publishing and the press.

Animated Film Making
France is the number one European producer of animation, and third on the world stage. French artists and companies have long been able to export their know-how, as well as their aesthetic and cultural vision, through feature films, television series, shorts and advertisements.

Over the last thirty-five years, GOBELINS has been a key player in the industry, by developing comprehensive training that prepares students to work at all stages of the animation process: creation, design and production, with special attention given to the nurturing of the rare and specific skill of character animation.
Students graduating from GOBELINS go on to develop their talent in animation, working in production teams in France, Europe and studios world-wide as animators, character designers, storyboarders, art directors, layout artists and directors. Still others work in the video game or special effects industries.

Interactive and Digital Media Communication
Imagine a world without their services, facilities and possibilities. The ongoing and rapid convergence of content using increasingly nomadic media will continue to boost the important role of this sector as a driving force of the global economy.

The skills developed by the wide range of training programs at GOBELINS respond fully to this evolution.
Through the mastery of technical and methodological tools, and the nourishing of their creativity, students trained at GOBELINS go on to become interactive media designers, art directors, project managers, web designers, webmasters and web developers.

In addition to this program, GOBELINS offers adult training in management and consultancy to professionals working in interactive digital media.

Print and Digital Media Production
The printed medium remains a key component in communication, whether commercial or institutional, cultural or technical. The print industry has stepped up its efforts to ensure its crucial place alongside digital media while facing the challenges of competition, new markets and new needs. In turn, training programs have adapted to these ongoing transformations, including the trend toward cross media.

GOBELINS offers training for careers in communication and the printing and publishing trade. The school prepares its graduates for work in pre-press and printing by putting a technical and pedagogical environment at their disposal, allowing them to become specialists in the field of communication as make-ready men, operators in computer-assisted publishing, offset press operators, digital printing press operators, production controllers, production managers, buyers and technical sales representatives.

In addition, training is offered in motion and graphic design and is tailored to a wide range of both paper and digital media and professional fields (illustration, printed magazines, creative consultancy, and communication agencies).

"Juicy Panic" (DVD made by 4 students in multimedia design and production) received the Euro Prix Top Talent Award 2004 in Vienna Austria, as well as the prize in the cross-media category.

"TADAM" is an interactive puppet theater made by four students in multimedia design and production. It won a Top Talent Award in 2006 at Vienna for the digital animation category. It also won the innovation award at the 2006 E-magiciens event in Valenciennes, France.

"MÜ" is an interactive installation featuring children fairy tales intended for schools for young children (5 to 6 years old). The educational purpose of MÜ is the early learning of listening, music and creativity, through activities based on the music of “Peter and the Wolf” by the Russian composer Prokofiev that can be played alone or in group. This project received the Euro Prix Top Talent Award 2008 in Vienna, Austria, as well as the prize for Interactive Computer Graphics.

The animation film "La Migration Bigoudenn" received the Jury Honors prize at SIGGRAPH 2005 in Los Angeles. Five animation films were selected for SIGGRAPH 2006, including "Le Building", which also won the Best Animated Student Film Short at the FICCI BAF event in India. More recently, it was the turn of "Burning Safari" to carry the Gobelins flag in the Electronic Theater of SIGGRAPH 2007 after winning Special Jury Prize at Imagina 2007 in Monte Carlo. In 2009, “For Sock’s Sake,” coproduced by Gobelins and Calarts, won the Best Direction award at the Aniwow 2008 festival in Beijing, as well as the Best Animation award at Imagina 2009 and the Best Graduation Film award at the International Animation Film Festival at Annecy.

In 2009, "Oktapodi", another animation film produced and created by students at GOBELINS, was nominated for an Academy Award (Oscar) in the category of Best Animated Short Film in Hollywood. “Oktaodi” had already received numerous awards from some of the most prestigious animation festivals around the world :
• SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 – Jury Award
• SIGGRAPH Los Angeles 2008 – Best of Show and Audience Prize
• Hiroshima 2008 – Special International Jury Prize
• Annecy 2008 – Canal+ Family Award
• Anima Mundi – Rio de Janeiro 2008 – Best Student Film and Audience Prize
• FICCI BAF 2008 – India – Best Student Animated Short Film
• Imagina – Monaco 2008 – Best Animation Award.

Aslo in 2009, a photo project by two GOBELINS students won the ADOBE Design Achievement Award in the the student category at the Icograda World Design Congress held in Beijing, China.