The crisis triggered at MOPA by the CIPEN / CCI’s layoff of Julien Deparis has resulted in one of the best possible outcomes: the birth of a new school. Isabelle Aubin and Deparis, former directors of MOPA, have founded a new CG school in the nearby city of Avignon, together with teachers from the former MOPA pedagogic team. Known for the excellency of the educational programs they built at MOPA, the team is taking its expertise and years of experience to the new school, called ENSI: École des Nouvelles Images (School of New Images).
“When we saw that the school would become a shadow of what it was, we decided to create its successor”, stated Julien Deparis, according to French newspaper La Provence. The ENSI team is also taking the chance to further improve the education they offer students by partnering with the University of Avignon, ArtFx school (known for their quality VFX program) and the department of Music & Musicology of the Lumière University Lyon 2. They are already receiving strong support from the industry, including Illumination Mac Guff, Mikros Image, Cube Creative, Sève Films (who used to distribute films produced by MOPA students), renowned artists, etc.
“I just want to do my job, recreating the working conditions we had at MOPA”, states Deparis, “we had something rare and fragile, a state of mind, an ethic; we enjoyed our work, with brilliant people, motivated students and I wanted to continue to pursue this pedagogical axis.”
This is great news for MOPA students, who will get a chance to complete the quality education they were looking for when they attended MOPA. A number of parents who had lost confidence in the school have already decided to transfer their children to ENSI, according to reports from La Provence. “We tried to find a solution so that [MOPA] could regain the trust of professionals and students, but we didn’t get a reply from the CCI”, stated Matthieu Laudet, representative of the MOPA Parents Association, and now representative of the new ENSI Parents Association, “We arrived at a breaking point. (…) What we wanted is to have a choice, a solution for our children”.
Meanwhile, tensions are high at Arles, as some authorities are now crying treason, denouncing that the birth of ENSI will have a negative impact on MOPA and the economy of the city of Arles in general. They don’t seem to have much faith in the ability of those heading the CCI / CIPEN to push MOPA forward to compete with the newly formed ENSI.
ENSI will be holding a meeting this coming Saturday, April 8, to make its first public presentation.
More on ENSI’s website and La Provence (French|English online translation).
