Margot DiNardi, Lead Instructor, Media Arts & Animation
The scope of Margot Dinardi's career in Animation has ranged from the concrete to the virtual. After completing undergraduate studies in oil painting and the craft of metalwork, Margot entered her profession with apprenticeship to a fine jeweler. The skills she learned during the next decade included carving wax models for interlocking engagement ring sets, lost wax casting, mold making, and extreme attention to detail.
While living in Los Angeles, Margot created dinosaur characters for an IMAX film, designed poly-resin figurines, and completed various illustration contracts. She was recognized for her ability to teach while learning a new software program, 3D Studio. Margot has served as department chair at two different colleges, and has taught animation in Long Beach CA, Inglewood CA, and Tucson AZ. In addition to teaching at The Art Institute of Tucson, Margot continues to develop her artistry as an avid plein air painter.
Margot earned a B.F.A in Studio Art at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Animation and Visual Effects at the Academy of Art University.
Larry Foster, Instructor, Digital Filmmaking & Video Production
M.Ed., The University of Arizona; B.A., University of California, Los Angeles; A.A., Fresno City College.
Jorgiana Jake, Lead Instructor, Digital Film & Video Production, General Education
Jorgiana Jake is a television producer whose work is focused mainly in the realm of documentary. She has worked on dozens of highly rated non-fiction television programs for such networks as ABC, CBS, Fox, Spike, G4, and more. She was on the ground floor of the non-fiction programming boom and has years of experience in the field, sets and bays of non-fiction as well as talk shows. Most of her television experience was in various producer roles – from an associate producer on Dr. Phil and The Bachelor to a story producer for two seasons on the Emmy-winning Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
She has transitioned from non-fiction television to both long and short form documentaries, including My Child: Mother of War, various projects following juveniles in the Ohio Juvenile Justice System and pro-bono work for charities in the Tucson area.
She is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, as well as the Producers Guild of America and the International Documentary Association.
Jorgiana holds a B.A and an M.A. in Media Arts from the University of Arizona.
Robert Loomis, Lead Instructor, Digital Film & Video Production
Robert Loomis has been involved with independent filmmaking for over 15 years, and draws on a lifetime of experience living in many locations from Nurnberg, Germany, to Los Angeles, California. In addition to many shorts, videos and commercials, Robert has produced three, and directed two, feature length films: Dog Years and Angry Young Man. Dog Years won the Best of Arizona award at the 1998 Arizona International Film Festival and was invited to several other film festivals, including SXSW and Avignon. It received positive reviews in Variety and was eventually distributed by Troma, an internationally famous distribution company. An artist in many genres, Robert has also authored and produced a series of educational children's videos called Monkey Presents Kid Smart Classics. His latest feature project involves loyalty, friendship and women’s rugby.
Robert has experience teaching in the Media Arts program at the University of Arizona, and currently teaches in the Digital Film & Video Production program at the Art Institute of Tucson.
Robert holds a B.A. in Art History and a M.A. in Media Arts from the University of Arizona.
Ben McCormick, Instructor
Klee Miller , Instructor, Media Arts & Animation
Klee Miller has been interested in cartooning and photography since his upbringing in Seattle. His career has included artistic endeavors ranging from editorial cartoonist to video game animator. During Klee's graduate studies in Los Angeles, he was introduced to the computer and worked as a video colorist for Shelly Duvall’s Bedtime Stories and a few TV commercials. Klee rendered animations for a CDI project for the Phillips CD machine, which led to his 12- year career in video games as an animator and environmental artist. This experience opened the doors to motion capture techniques, resulting in Klee's next position as a motion capture editor for the feature film Polar Express with Sony Imageworks.
Since 2005, Klee has been teaching computer animation, modeling techniques, and gaming principles. He enjoys working at the frontier of animation, where the next generation of animators continue to develop the technology of tomorrow by combining various software tools with traditional principles.
Klee holds a B.A. in Graphics and Photography from Western Washington University and an M.F.A. in Animation from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Chris Mooney, Instructor
Patrick Roddy, Academic Department Director, Digital Film & Video Production, Digital Photography
Patrick Roddy’s filmmaking career began with a box office hit - he worked as a production assistant on Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It. After observing the process, he was confident he, too, could make a feature film. Patrick has since produced eight feature films, three of which he also directed. These films have been distributed domestically and internationally, played at film festivals worldwide, and have been recognized with numerous nominations and awards.
After producing his first indie horror feature Parasite, Patrick started his own distribution and production company in 1998, focusing his interest on low-budget genre filmmaking. His motivation came from working for the Oscar-winning Roger Corman while he was in graduate school. “My time at UCLA influenced me greatly. Having the opportunity to work for Roger Corman, someone whom I have viewed as a role model, who made so many films with limited budgets and on his own terms, was invaluable and inspirational.” Also during his time at UCLA, Patrick worked with the late producer Debra Hill on a sci-fi thriller project titled Meet John Doe, which Patrick sold as a pitch to Warner Brothers Studio.
Patrick started a new phase in his career in 1999 as an instructor. At IFP Los Angeles, he mentored and advised members, providing practical advice and information about film production. In 2003, he taught video production at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and then moved back to Tucson in 2005 to teach film producing at the University of Arizona. Patrick began teaching at The Art Institute of Tucson in 2008, and became the Academic Department Director of Digital Film & Video Production and Digital Photography programs in 2010.
Patrick earned a B.A. in Media and Theatre Arts from Montana State University, and an M.F.A. in Film and Television Producing from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently completing work on his second Master's degree, an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix.
Lisa Ruth, Instructor, Media Arts & Animation
M.Ed., DePaul University; B.F.A., The Illinois Institute of Art.
Adam Sydney, Instructor, Digital Filmmaking & Video Production
M.F.A., American Film Institute; M.A., University of London; B.A., University of Kent at Canterbury.