Five of the 12 graduates have already secured first jobs in the animation industry

Abu Dhabi, UAE - 22 September 2011: The world's first Cartoon Network Animation Academy (CNAA), located at twofour54 tadreeb, celebrated its inaugural graduation ceremony last night for the Animation Production class of 2010/11.  The ceremony was hosted by twofour54 Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer, Wayne Borg and Turner Broadcasting, Chief Content Officer (EMEA) Michael Carrington.

The Cartoon Network Animation Academy is central to twofour54's on-going efforts to support the development of the Middle East's animation industry by empowering young UAE Nationals and Arabs with the international standard animation skills necessary to build successful long-term careers across all areas of the media industry.   

Wayne Borg, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer at twofour54 commented on the graduation, saying, "The animation industry across television, film, gaming and digital is one of the fastest growing media disciplines across the region.  As part of our ongoing efforts to encourage young Arabs to pursue careers in the media and entertainment industry, twofour54 has been instrumental in connecting these graduates with leading companies to help secure long-term career opportunities. Almost half of the first group of graduates have jobs to go to before the class has even finished, which highlights the quality of the instruction they have received."

Michael Carrington, Turner Broadcasting Chief Content Officer (EMEA), added, ‪"The graduation ceremony recognises the achievements of a class of extremely dedicated and talented students who have completed the 12 month Animation Production programme and have graduated as fully-fledged animators.  Cartoon Network Animation Academy courses give students world-class animation training, and also reflect the culture, values and heritage of the region. The course equips students with the skills and knowledge required to work across a variety of media sectors.  And I'm excited that this week a fresh intake of students commenced classes as part of the second Animation Production programme".‪

Prior to the graduation ceremony on 21 September, twofour54 hosted an employer open day at the CNAA, giving students the opportunity to showcase their work and skills to potential employers.  Attended by key organisations from across the UAE, the day saw students presenting their animation projects and finding out more about job prospects in the UAE and beyond.

Based at twofour54's Khalifa Park campus in Abu Dhabi, the CNAA delivers practical and industry relevant animation training in one of the most dynamic and fastest growing media disciplines in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. 

The CNAA academy offers academically intensive animation courses, which have been specifically designed by training academy, twofour54 tadreeb, Cartoon Network, a part of Turner Broadcasting System, and the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) at Bournemouth University (UK), to meet the needs of this unique industry.  Delivered by expert instructors that have worked in some of the world's biggest animation studios such as Warner Bros Animation, Turner Studios, and Walt Disney, the academy equips students with the animation skills and training to compete professionally across a wide-range of media sectors including gaming, television, film and beyond.

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About twofour54
twofour54 is an Abu Dhabi government initiative and an integral part of its 2030 plan, which seeks to diversify the Emirate's economy and establish the Emirate as the cultural capital of the Middle East. 

twofour54's vision is to establish a sustainable Arabic media and entertainment content creation industry in Abu Dhabi; a regional centre of excellence which is internationally renowned. The aim is to stimulate creative and professional partnerships in the television, radio, film, publishing, online, mobile, music, gaming and animation industries.  

The company provides a collaborative and supportive ecosystem that will allow the establishment of a world-class media industry for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The focus is on developing Arabic media and entertainment content by Arabs and for the Arab audience. 

twofour54 delivers its advanced cohesive infrastructure through three key pillars: twofour54 tadreeb (the training academy), twofour54 ibtikar (innovation and support) and twofour54 intaj (state-of-the-art production facilities) supported by business enabler twofour54 tawasol (one-stop-shop). 

twofour54 has already attracted several of the region and world's largest and most influential content creation companies, including CNN, BBC, Thomson Foundation, Rotana Studios, Financial Times, Abu Dhabi Media, imagenation, C Sky Pictures, Flash, PyraMedia, Getmo Arabia and Experience Media Studios.  

Each of these partners has recognised the vast opportunity that the Arab world represents for growth and has committed significant investment and resources to business initiatives that will be led out of twofour54.  

The name twofour54 is taken from Abu Dhabi's geographical coordinates, which are latitude 24 north, longitude 54 east. This name was chosen to symbolise Abu Dhabi's strategic position within the Middle East, which makes it the ideal location for the centre of excellence for content creation in the Arab region.

About Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is the home to some of the funniest and most exciting cartoons. It delivers the best range of kid's entertainment with hit shows including Ben 10, Chowder, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, My Gym Partner is a Monkey, Codename: Kids Next Door, Ed Edd n Eddy and Robotboy.

Cartoon Network available in 22 languages, across 29 separate feeds, in 167 countries, in 123 million homes worldwide. Cartoon Network is operated by Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company.

For more information, please visit www.CartoonNetworkArabic.com

For more information please call:
Olivia Quinn
Hill & Knowlton
olivia.quinn@hillandknowlton.com
050 625 7260

© Press Release 2011