Who We Are
The Made in New York Animation Project (TAP) is a non-profit therapy, education and workforce development program. Storytelling, animation and self actualization are our wheelhouse. We prepare untapped creatives for the media and animation industries through direct-service software training, career readiness mentorship, and personal development guidance. With few opportunities immersed with focused training on industry-standard programs and workforce guidance, TAP aims to help bridge the existing equity gap. In our groups, young adults produce raw, original, crowd-validated stories using the animation pipeline as their guide. TAP films feel different to watch because of the people who tell the stories and because of the therapeutic process that goes into creating them.
A story that’s never been told is the result of every group.
“What TAP has done is made this artistic, creative form of expression available to a lot of people, a lot of creative young artists who otherwise wouldn’t have access.”
What We Do
Storytelling, animation and self actualization are our wheelhouse. We prepare untapped creatives for the media and animation industries through direct-service software training, career readiness mentorship, and personal development guidance.
Participants
Participants engage in free creative arts therapy and animation groups where they work as a team to tell their story and learn various aspects of the animation pipeline. These groups are held in schools, jails, courts, and community-based organizations. TAP also offers online programming.
Everything we do begins with story. Every participant starts here. At TAP, spaces are held for creativity to blossom and voices to be heard. The young people who inhabit these spaces bring their stories, wisdom and artistic passion. Through therapeutic storytelling, animation and access to hands-on training, the seeds of passion are nurtured and given the opportunity to bloom.
Our model integrates creative arts therapy techniques with popular technologies, building on the intersection between technology and modern job skills with an emphasis on the social component of group projects. Our curriculum explores storytelling, character development, environment and scene design, asset (object) design, music, sound, art, movement and performance. Participation also offers the opportunity for people to progress through our further tiers of learning, which include incentivized and stipend-based technical and professional opportunities.
Trainees
Trainees of our Training Program engage in hands-on technical and production training with industry professionals to prepare them for internships and jobs at top animation studios.
TAP nurtures the development of talent from a demographic the media and entertainment industry lacks access to, and the capacity to cultivate and support. Not all participants become trainees, but those who do are given the resources they need to pursue careers in the animation sector.
TAP’s learning curriculum is designed to engage people of various skill levels, across all levels of programming. TAP animators, animation teaching artists and creative arts therapists lead the curriculum on site or via Zoom.
Apprentices
Apprentices are hired to work on client projects within TAP Studio under the mentorship of a producer, professional animation team and visiting experts from partner studios.
Graduates of the Training Program have the opportunity to bring their skills into practice as paid apprentices at TAP’s in-house Studio. TAP apprentices are valued members of the production team and get in-depth experience working with clients, managing deadlines and collaborating with a team of professionals. Under the model of mentorship and development, apprentices are given the opportunity to refine their skills, explore various areas of speciality and get an inside look into the production process.
TAP recognizes the importance of a supportive, empathic therapeutic relationship to the personal growth and development of our participants. We work in an engaging, empathic manner that strengthens and supports our participants’ sense of self. By acknowledging and incorporating each person’s unique creative process within the context of a supportive group, our goal is to support young people to achieve their full potential.
Who We Work With
Population
We intentionally target our programming in all five boroughs of New York City. Our current NYC population is mostly composed of low-income people of color, of all gender identities and abilities. Many of our participants have been directly impacted by the carceral system. The people who engage in our programming hold stories, wisdom and talent that can reconfigure the media and entertainment industry.
Partners
We partner with schools, community-based organizations, jails, courts, media studios, and industry professionals in NYC and beyond to bring young people diverse programming and opportunities.
THIS PROGRAM IS SUPPORTED, IN PART, BY PUBLIC FUNDS FROM THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY COUNCIL.
Full list of TAP partners
To become a TAP partner, email info@theanimationproject.org
Our Values
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We know that every process begins with a seed. Our success comes from our patient attention to nurture people, projects, and production at every stage.
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We are a team. The creativity of the group is stronger than an individual working alone.
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We are trained to be authentic. We tell the truth about what we know and what we need. The work we make comes from our lived experiences, our dreams and the changes we aim to make in our communities and the world.
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Imagination is more than an escape; it’s a doorway to innovation. We use it to propel our work and our participants into new spaces.
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A meaningful career is the reward for our training. Work is not just done to obtain a job. Work is done so we can do what we love.
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We work hard and we play hard, intentionally building enjoyable experiences into our work together.