Rookie Awards 2023
The 13th Annual Rookie Awards is open to young creatives in visual effects, animation, games, virtual reality, motion graphics and 3d visualisation. There is simply no better way to launch your career and start sharing your amazing work online.
Round of applause for our sponsors
Winners
Rookie of the Year | 3D Animation
On behalf of the sponsors and judges, The Rookies would like to congratulate the following category winners.
Winner: Alena Mealy
Here is the body of work I am most proud of during my time at Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Games and Animation.
I really enjoy the look development part of the animation pipeline, and If I could groom all day I would! Thank you for looking at my entries, you can find a similar deep dive here: alenamealy.art
Runner Up: George Kee
![George Kee - Lamentation - Cinematic Short [UE5]](https://d3stdg5so273ei.cloudfront.net/georgekee/2023-05-19/796064/450xAUTO/baby%2Bcrocs%2Bthumbnail%2B3-georgekee-crop.jpg)
I made this solo short film in Unreal Engine 5 with the Path Tracer for my final university project to pay tribute to my father and his life by showing my process of grief through the lens of his iconic gold Crocs. Please enjoy!
Highly Commended: Kei Kanamori
I made a short video of Japanese calligraphy and fluid simulation fused together.
I was engaged in Japanese calligraphy when I was in junior high and high school.
The Kanji character 舞 is pronounced "Mai". It means flying and dancing and in the air.
Highly Commended: Donghoe Kim
"Octopus Ninja" is my senior thesis film. I am entirely responsible for all aspects from story creation to final rendering. Synopsis: An octopus ninja sets out on a mission to rescue his wife and kid from being served up as sashimi at a notorious sushi restaurant.
Highly Commended: Guilherme Campos
I’m excited to share the project I was working on for the last couple of months at Think Tank. This is a short film I created to showcase Lighting and Lookdev. I also want to thank my mentor, Gianni Vardanega, that helped me through this journey.
In addition, I'm sharing some side projects I have also been working on.
Highly Commended: Audrey Defonte
Working on the characters and the shots to give an impactful and emotional film.... Getting attached to the character as if they were part of our own family.... Understanding to better transmit... that's all I love in 3D animation!
Highly Commended: Chloe Merwin
When a bright, circular woman moves in to a dull, square neighborhood, things begin to change... much to her square neighbor's dismay. This senior thesis film was fully created by Chloe Merwin in all aspects!
Highly Commended: Sasha Honcharova
A small collection of the pieces I am most proud of. Hope you enjoy!
People's Choice: Monica Lagrange
Hello! This is some of my work done as a third-year student at Ringling College of Art and Design, plus a quick recap of my work from the previous year. My focus is on character animation, yet I still had fun working on every part of the pipeline. I am responsible for all aspects unless specified. Enjoy!
Finalists
Rookie of the Year | 3D Animation
On behalf of the sponsors and judges, The Rookies would like to congratulate the following category finalists.
