Twenty-six finalist spots for the 14th Annual Rookie Awards have been awarded to students from Ringling College of Art and Design, beating last year’s total (25) by one. Ringling once again is one of the top schools for the most entrants, including having more finalists than any other school in Motion Graphics. Finalists for this year’s contest, which recognizes the world’s top amateur talent in visual effects, include Ringling students in the categories of Motion Graphics, Immersive Media, Graphic Design, Game Development, and 3D Animation. Winners of the 2024 Rookie Awards will be announced July 31.
Among the Ringling College students recognized, Elena Serenko ’24, Computer Animation, and Amanda Mai ’24, Computer Animation, were both named finalists for Film of the Year as well as Rookie of the Year in 3D Animation. Eleven Ringling students were named finalists for Rookie of the Year in Motion Graphics; the Rookies also named Ringling College the No. 1 school in the world for Motion Design in its 2023 Global Rankings.
Here are all of Ringling College of Art and Design’s Rookie of Year finalists:
SeHee Kim ’24, Motion Design
Sam Budish ’25, Motion Design
Hei Kuok ’24, Motion Design
Olive Mei ’24, Motion Design
Anastassia Kovach ’24, Motion Design
Ana Kuster ’26, Motion Design
Yuki Li ’24, Motion Design
Kendall Gathas ’25, Motion Design
Tricia Joganich ’24, Motion Design
Lucia Eugenia Alonso Eiras ’26
Nichole Romanoski 1’24, Motion Design
Yuna Zhai ’25, Virtual Reality Development
Daniel Mainou Reyes ’26, Graphic Design
Ivy Jenkins ’26, Graphic Design
Ananya Ravichandran ’26, Motion Design
Isabelle Drischler ’25, Graphic Design
Kerri (Xiaohan) Zhang ’25, Game Art
Jonah Ko ’24, Game Art
Qiaoyi Hu ’25, Game Art
Monica Lagrange ’24, Computer Animation
Elena Serenko ’24, Computer Animation
Amanda Mai ’24, Computer Animation
Skylar Levine ’24, Computer Animation
Mason Klesch ’24, Computer Animation
About the Rookie of the Year Awards
Starting in 2010, the Rookie Awards offer 12 Rookie of the Year categories for individual entrants, as well as Film of the Year and Game of the Year categories open to individuals and teams. Contest submissions double as portfolio sites where top industry professionals can survey the work of budding artists and potentially recruit the next generation of creative leaders. This year’s contest garnered 6,797 entries from 574 schools in 104 countries.
The Rookies is an online resource and showcase for emerging creative talent from around the world in the fields of animation, games, visual effects, immersive design, film, fashion, and industrial design. The organization currently boasts a membership of nearly 90,000 artists from more than 100 countries.
