Starting June 22, mentor-led on-site production residency programs in the Czech Republic offer intensive, hands-on project-based collaborative instruction emphasizing direct feedback, network building, and adapting to changing, AI-driven production models; applications now being accepted.
ANOMALIA, a production residency program in the Czech Republic, has run intensive, mentor-led programs for working professionals in animation, game development, art direction, narrative design, directing, and more for 16 years.
For a few years, post-COVID, they focused almost exclusively on Czech participants. Now, the program is returning to what it was originally built for: international participation. Starting June 22.
With a strong roster of mentors — whose career credits include working with studios like DreamWorks, Disney, Pixar, Epic, Wētā FX and ILM — the program features participants living on-site for either one or up to four weeks — working eight hours a day alongside their mentor and a team of 10 artists. Held mid-June through September at UNESCO World Heritage sites — the Modern Art Gallery GASK, a former Jesuit college in Kutná Hora, and a Renaissance château campus in Litomyšl – the programs are not for beginners but designed for early-career professionals (1–8 years of experience) who have foundational skills but need a project-based collaborative experience, as well as senior professionals (10+ years) seeking recalibration.
The 2026 summer lineup comprises 8 bootcamps that make up 3 Studio Tracks. All programs require a portfolio and applications are now open. The deadline to apply for the first set of tracks – Directing & Comedy with Pixar’s Doug Sweetland and Netflix EP Richard Pursel and Game Narrative Lab with Insomniac Games and Bungie lead narrative designer Adam Miller – is May 23. There’s still time to make it happen!
“When I was starting out, I could have really used a ‘Directing Animation’ lab,” shares Sweetland, now an Oscar-nominated director, in his ANOMALIA promo video. “There was no structured way to learn on the job, or even a common definition for what the job was. So, I was desperate for someone to just show me what it meant to direct animation. Hence, this lab.”
There are 10–12 seats per residency. And who should apply? According to Sweetland… everyone: Writers who want to turn their stories into shows, animation crew who, as he puts it, “want the keys to the Ferrari,” crafting a story from beginning to end, and producers and executives who are new to animation.
“The animation industry is undergoing structural changes,” says ANOMALIA founder Marek Toušek. “A significant portion of the professionals are sitting on their own projects — linear, interactive, or both — with no viable place to develop them. The traditional pipeline is closed. Development deals require representation. Writers' rooms aren't hiring. These people aren't looking for skills. They have skills. What they need is two weeks with a Pixar director, a Netflix EP, and an Insomniac narrative designer who will look directly at their work and tell them the truth. That room doesn't exist in LA right now. It exists in the Czech Republic.”
ANOMALIA’s other upcoming tracks include Unreal World & Lighting with Epic’s Thiago Carneiro and DreamWorks lighting supervisor Sam Maniscalco, as well as Art Direction & Character Design with Lucasfilm’s Tara Rueping and Universal Creative’s Rustam Hasanov.
“I am excited that I’ll be teaching a workshop this summer,” says Rueping in her own promo video for the bootcamp. “It’s going to be a world-building workshop where we focus on the guidebook on how to lead your own projects and understanding what it takes to get projects done. Over the years, working at Lucasfilm, Sony, and Warner Bros., I’ve been on many IPs as an art director and can give all the tips and tools I’ve learned through the years to help you art direct your own worlds or worlds for other people.”
Hasanov, adds, “You might know me from the Emmy Award-winning title sequence designs for Game of Thrones, set design for Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio… I’m going to give you tricks on how to stay relevant [and create] authentic, human experiences with our characters.”
“Everyone’s talking about AI and how artists fit in,” Rueping adds. “That’s really up to you.”
And ideally, after these labs, artists will be even more prepared to face the ever-changing challenges of the animation industry and have the tools and resources to make decisions that are right for them and their projects.
“AI is restructuring production pipelines in real time,” notes Toušek. “Working professionals in animation, VFX, and games already know this. They are living it. Our message is not optimism about AI. It is a direct challenge. The professionals who emerge from this period with demonstrably stronger judgment and broader networks will pull ahead of those who waited. At ANOMALIA, you’re spending weeks outside the US content cycle, outside routine, outside the noise, working alongside people who have shipped the work you have watched your entire career.”
After May 23, the next registration deadline for the Tech, Art & Games tracks will be June 15. Mark your calendars.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
