An aspiring Cumbrian animator is racing against the clock to raise money to study at a world-class Canadian film school.
Matthew Dalton, of Low Hesket, has been offered a place on a one-year-long course at the prestigious Vancouver Film School and is now trying to pull together the vital funds he needs to go.
After gaining a first class BA honours degree in games design at the University of Cumbria, Matthew, known as Mati, won a place on the diploma in animation concept art, a course that could help launch him into his dream career of animation in the film industry.
The 23-year-old is doing everything he can to raise money to get to the school – which is well known for fast tracking students into top jobs – but is facing tough family and financial circumstances that are making fundraising difficult.
Overall, he needs to raise a challenging total of £35,000 to pay for flights, accommodation and course fees to able to start at the school this October and turn his dream of becoming an animator into reality.
So far, he has worked hard to save £7,000 through wages and art commissions and is aiming to save another £5,000 by his course start date – meaning he has to raise a remaining total of £23,000.
Mati is also making applications to trust funds and grants in the UK in the hopes that he will be able to find further funding to help him go and he has launched a GoFundMe which has raised a further £4,695 – thanks to two anonymous donations of £1,000 each.
He said: “It has been absolutely amazing that people have been so brilliantly generous. I have taken the time to thank each person individually who has
donated.
“I am so excited by the prospects from going on this course, it is genuinely a gateway to the career I am so passionate about. Many former students of the school have gone on to work for major companies such as Disney, DreamWorks and Warner Brothers.
“I still have a long way to go to get all the money together in time but It would mean so much to me to be able to go. It is a challenging goal under challenging circumstances but I am doing everything I can to raise the money.”
A friend of the family, Wade Tidbury, has also been providing Mati with some support with bids, grants, trusts and other fundraising opportunities to try to secure the funding Mati needs.
Wade said: “I have known Mati’s parents for many years and with Mati’s father having developed a progressive life limiting illness and his mother now caring for him, the household income is severely limited and these circumstances mean that they are not able to support Mati as they would want.
“We have been applying for grants and trusts which are waiting on, but the GoFundMe me page has really taken off, we have some other fundraising ideas we are working on, including a music event, and Mati is keen to try to sell more of his art commissions from his own website.”
Mati first became interested in drawing and animation when he was a student at Ullswater Community College.
He said: “As I was growing up I wasn’t interested in academics and I wasn’t very good at sports but what I did enjoy doing was playing video games and watching shows with my friends.
“I also enjoyed drawing and I would draw my own characters and I ended up going into games design at the University of Cumbria but I focused on the designing aspect and I was all about the art and the people in the story and environment designs.”
At a comic convention, Mati met a popular online comic artist who shared their journey of success with him and told him about Vancouver Film School, which inspired him to start saving his money and apply.
Mati’s mother, Caroline, added: “Mati is hugely dedicated to his art and it’s a testament to his hard work and incredible creativity that Vancouver have chosen him. We’re hugely proud of him and it’s been humbling to see the support that people are showing us to help get him there.
“I find myself totally lost for words by people’s kindnesses – helping us to navigate our very worst of times at home but made better by their generosity and the excitement of new beginnings for my son – they are giving him an amazing chance in life, which I’m truly thankful for.”
To donate to Mati’s fundraiser, visit www.gofundme.com/f/get-mathew-dalton-to-vancouver-film-school
More of his work can be seen at www.matinsomniax.art/
