Canterbury University has secured an exclusive deal with Aardman Animations, the makers of Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run.
The university said the agreement has the potential to redefine New Zealand's animation landscape.
Canterbury University's animation students have the opportunity to train under Oscar and BAFTA winning Aardman Animations, the creators behind popular stop-motion comedies Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run.
Programme Director Samantha Witters said the five year partnership gives the University of Canterbury exclusive rights in training in stop frame and animation.
"I think with Aardman it's going to be more fun, they're going to be able to point us in the right direction," student James Anderson said.
The Aardman Academy was created when more animators were needed to produce Chicken Run - which went on to become the highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time.
The Academy has since trained hundreds of animators, directors, model makers and more, globally, and now here in Christchurch.
Executive Dean of Arts Kevin Watson said the university has an "amazing set of staff that tell them the amazing secrets but it seems to hit a bit sweeter if you hear it from the industry as well".
Stop-motion animation is created through thousands of photos.
"You put them all together and it looks like magic happens," Watson said.
"....animation is the fastest growing sector it's worth about $400 billion worldwide... It's a real craft it's one of those few things that AI isn't going to come and bust up completely," Witters said.
Just a few months in and students are already reaping the reward.
"It was interesting, they pointed out some things that we hadn't noticed, we were able to make some details and add some more fine-tuning before making submissions," Anderson said.
Aardman does not only stop motion but other areas in film and sound and story telling more broadly.
Watson said there is demand more graduates in this area, "but the sectors are changing so quickly that they need a particular set of skills that interact with each other".
Training future generations of creators.
