Family Guy director Peter Shin is heading a new Cartoon Animation Institute in Los Angeles which opened its doors last night for a grand opening according to Animation Magazine:-

‘CAI was founded to provide comprehensive education to prepare students for careers in animation, visual effects and digital media. The school will employ an interdisciplinary faculty of academics, researcher, and professionals.’

The faculty includes a number of Family Guy veterans including Kara Vallow, Young Lee, Mike Elias, Andy Tauke, Shannon Smith, Peter Michels, and John Holmquist.

The Cartoon Animation Institute’s next public lecture is tonight on Television Production & Industry and it will focus on how television shows are produced, financed, and regulated by the FCC. The featured guest speakers for this lecture will be Peter Shin (Supervising Director, Fox Television Animation) and Shannon Smith (Producer, Fox Television Animation). The lecture will be held at 6.30pm (November 3rd, 2006) at the Andersen Building of the Walter A. Haas School of Business in association with UC Berkeley, International Business Fraternity of Delta Sigma Pi.

The CAI Lecture Series is a regular not-for-profit event featuring relevant topics for discussion as well as featured speakers.