Catherine Constant-Grisolet appointed director of LISAA Paris school of animation and video games

Before joining LISAA teaching team, Catherine Constant-Grisolet worked as editor and post-production director. Among the films she worked on were animation films, sparking her interest in the industry. She taught at a film and audiovisual continuing education school before joining LISAA in 2017 as head of studies for the animation and VFX bachelor’s.

She became director of the school in 2018: "It made sense with my role as head of studies while adding something new. I like to discover new things and continue to learn. For example, I’m learning more about how the video games industry works thanks to this opportunity."

Catherine Constant-Grisolet is driven, above all, by the desire to transmit knowledge. To achieve this goal, she focuses on curiosity and the need "to be always attentive to what is happening and developments in the audiovisual sector", but especially on collaboration within the teaching team.

This sense of teamwork is also essential for the students who - whether they choose animation, special effects or video games – will constantly work as part of a team.

Learning to be "a link in a long chain of work", happens not only through teamwork within the school but also by acquiring the "know-how" specific to this professional environment.

"I'm very careful about how students pitch their projects. I always invite professionals to pitch projects, because pitching to people you do not know requires you to adopt the right attitude."

Beyond a window onto the professional world via these meetings, Catherine Constant-Grisolet aims to offer even more opportunities for students by encouraging specialisation.

While the diverse profile of LISAA students is already a strength which enables them "to change jobs or evolve within their roles over the course of their careers," they will benefit even more from being specialists, especially when entering the job market.

"We are working with the teaching team to build more links between the different subjects while accentuating the digital approach in the first year."

Mastering software quickly allows students to refine what they choose as a specialism. They will then be able to choose to complete their course with a specialised master's degree, such as the Game Art & Game Design and Animation & Special Effects Supervision & Direction Master’s courses, which were launched this year.

At LISAA school of animation and video games, the most inquisitive students can also open up new horizons by collaborating with some 150 students of more than 50 different nationalities in the international classes.

For Catherine Constant-Grisolet, this openness is key and must also take place between animation, VFX and video games students.

"I think video games and animation share a common foundation: the software and processes of the two professions are similar. Students should take advantage of the permeability between these disciplines to exchange with each other."

The "primary network" which is made up of those in the school can then be complemented by exchanges with other fields of study or even other parts of the world. Whether through partnerships with other schools or international exchanges, Catherine Constant-Grisolet hopes to encourage students to "grow their circle of knowledge".