Professor of Animation Dr Andi Spark led programs at Griffith University’s Film School and Melbourne University’s Victorian College of the Arts for over fifteen years, after a twenty-year career in the industry (including Walt Disney Television Animation and Disneytoon studios, Viskatoons, Mediaworld, and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation) as an animation artist then director and producer for children’s television series, independent features, short films, music videos, and TVCs. She returned to industry, working with the producing team at multi-award-winning Ludo Studio, managing the global hit children’s series Bluey, then returned again to academia as a visiting professor at Swinburne University and Nanyang University of Technology, Singapore.
Along with this, she continues to develop creative visual narrative and animation-based projects working variously as artist, director and producer, whilst also providing consultancy services for tertiary animation programs across the Asia Pacific region.
Andi has been the supervising producer for more than 200 student films, which have screened and won awards in major festivals around the world including Cannes and Annecy, and has been instrumental in fostering the professional careers of creative artists across Australia and internationally through stints as Artist in Residence and Adjunct Professorships, along with mentoring dozens of postgraduate masters and doctoral candidates. Andi has served on multiple international committees and juries including four previous APSA selection panels.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.