Why I'm Joining School of Motion: A Letter from EJ Hassenfratz

EJ Hassenfratz School of Motion Creative Director

Note from Joey: As soon as I started working with him on Cinema 4D Basecamp, I knew that EJ was a rare talent. He's a brilliant teacher, an amazing artist, and one of the nicest guys I've ever met. It's going to be a huge privilege to work along side him to achieve our goal of building the best Motion Design curriculum on the planet, and we're gonna do some damage together.

I Love Teaching.

Several years ago I took a chance and made one of the best decisions of my career. I stepped waaaaay outside of my comfort zone to do a presentation at an animator's meetup in Washington D.C., talking about my work and how I used Cinema 4D. That event led to a career that I never could have imagined.

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Since that day, I've had the honor and privilege to teach the ways of 3D to thousands of artists from across the globe. I've been able to work with LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda). Maxon, a company that I've admired for years, has given me opportunities to present and teach and bless the rains at events all over the world. I've helped motion designers start local meetups, including one here in Denver that routinely has 40-80 people in attendance. And then, back in August of 2017, I started making a class with School of Motion.

Cinema 4D Basecamp launched in May of 2018, and I couldn't be prouder of that class. It was the culmination of everything I've learned as an artist and a teacher, and it made me realize what I wanted to do with my career: Go all in on teaching and helping artists in this amazing community.  To me, nothing can replace the feeling of helping someone take the next step in their motion design career and I’ve always wanted to work towards being able to do that full-time.

Which is why I am THRILLED to announce that I will be joining the School of Motion team as a Creative Director in charge of the 3D curriculum.

The Vision: Create A 3D Powerhouse

As the design industry evolves, so do the skills that you need to learn to stay relevant and more and more motion designers are realizing the huge benefits of adding 3D to their skillset.

My goal is to build a curriculum at School of Motion that will give artists a clear path to grow into a 3D powerhouse. Over the next few years, we will be building up a 3D-centric course library featuring some of the best artists in the biz. Some of the classes are already in the works, and when you find out who we've got on board you might just scream, like a wild dog crying out in the night.

I'll also be working with the team to put out tutorials, articles, and podcasts that focus on Cinema 4D and other 3D tools. We will be building everything in the School of Motion ecosystem so that skills and techniques can transfer from course to course.

Nervous and Proud

I truly believe in School of Motion's mission to help break down all barriers to learning, mastering, and working in the field of Motion Design, and I'm thrilled to join in that effort.

I'm humbled to be asked, and proud to be part of such a great team. I’m excited to be able to focus more on teaching, being even more active in the community, and continuing to help folks achieve their motion design career goals!

Here's to the next chapter!-EJ "Hats 'n Pants" Hassenfratz

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