Hollywood beckons, if his budget allows

Last updated 05:00 09/11/2013

MARION VAN DIJK/Fairfax NZ

STARS IN HIS EYES: Former Nayland College student Liam MacDonald is looking to raise funds in order to attend the prestigious Art Centre College of Design in Los Angeles.

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A Nelson man's Hollywood dream is on the horizon, but first he needs to fundraise a blockbuster budget.
Former Nayland College student Liam MacDonald has been accepted into the highly-competitive Arts Center College of Design in California, where he hopes to pursue a career as a concept artist in the movie-making game.
Or game-making industry. Or any job that lets him earn money for doing what he loves - designing things.


"I am interested in how things work, rather than just making a pretty picture," the 19-year-old electronic artist said.
The Entertainment Design course would teach him the skills and knowledge that directors and producers look for in a concept designer. It included a general understanding of almost everything technical - from how animals' bodies are put together, to how an imaginary laser gun might look, to the potential functionality of a fictional action hero's outfit.
Most of Mr MacDonald's digital paintings start life as rough pencil sketches and gain colour and texture after running through an editing program, such as photoshop.
And some have already impressed the right people at the technical university.
Mr MacDonald said he has been hoping to get into the school for about four years, since a chance meeting with its director [stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/7097002/California-dreaming-for-Nelson-designer] inspired him to seriously consider what would otherwise have been an all-too-ambitious career plan.
Mr MacDonald became the first Kiwi to attend the prestigious college during a summer stint there last year, and now must raise some serious money before he can return for the full four-year course.
"The goal is to get a job where I get paid to do what I do in my free time anyway," he said.
But he needs to raise more than $80,000 by mid-November to secure a student visa and his place in the course. As an international student, he isn't entitled to loans or living allowances.
Working at New World in Stoke isn't going to take him the whole way, so Mr MacDonald is asking for support from Nelson benefactors who are in a position to help him realise his dream.
"Without them, I won't be able to go," he said.