Univision News partners with Miami Dade College

Univision News has entered into a partnership with Miami Dade College (MDC) to implement Fellowship and Internship programs in one of today’s fastest growing digital fields: animation and game development. The partnership announcement coincides with today’s official opening of MDC’s state-of-the-art Miami Animation & Gaming International Complex, M.A.G.I.C., the only teaching facility of its kind at a public higher education institution in Florida and one of only a handful in the country.
 
Beginning in the summer of 2016, a talented student from MDC’s new academic program in Computer Programming and Analysis –with concentrations in Animation and Game Art or Game Development and Design– will be selected as the first Fellow assigned to Univision’s Digital Newsroom. There, he or she will work alongside Univision News journalists, applying the cutting- edge animation and gaming skills learned at M.A.G.I.C. to create innovative storytelling formats and infographics within a news context.
 
Additionally, an MDC-Univision News Internship Program will kick off in the Fall semester of 2016. Under the leadership and guidance of Professor Mauricio Ferrazza, designer and chairperson of MDC’s M.A.G.I.C. program, a group of Animation and Gaming students will work with Univision News to create collaborative class projects in a newsroom environment. The projects will be published on Univision.com, the No. 1 most-visited Spanish-language website among U.S. online Hispanics. Up to two of the best students will have the opportunity to work as interns at Univision News.
 
“We are very excited to partner with MDC and its impressive new Miami Animation & Gaming International Complex to bring even more innovation to our newsroom by incorporating some of today’s most sophisticated and advanced animation and gaming technology into our digital news reporting,” said Isaac Lee, president of News and Digital for UCI and CEO of Fusion. “Miami is fast becoming an international hub for the computer animation and game industries, and we are proud to contribute to the development of new talent in our region and offer outstanding MDC students the opportunity to apply their skills in an award-winning, forward-looking news organization.”
 
“Univision is a leader in this community and across the nation. It has truly raised the bar in championing education with its national campaigns and we’ve been proud to collaborate with the network every step of the way,” added Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón, president of Miami Dade College. “Univision management is to be commended, and we know that the M.A.G.I.C. partnership will deliver many important results for our students, the community and the network.”
 
Located at the Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami as part of MDC’s School of Engineering and Technology, the Miami Animation & Gaming International Complex is a highly sophisticated facility featuring technology and equipment found only at major motion picture studios.
 
“The field of digital animation is expanding at an incredible speed and has become essential in many areas beyond films and cartoons, such as architecture, medical research and even journalism,” expressed Dr. José A. Vicente, president of MDC’s Wolfson Campus. “This alliance with Univision News will give our students the unique chance to have a hand in creating the journalistic storytelling tools of the future.”