24 Hours Animation Contest
Sisler High School’s CREATE 2D Animation program has been a dominant force in the international 24 Hours Animation Contest since 2020. We have consistently secured the “Best High School” title, often outperforming many prestigious post-secondary colleges in the process.
Here is a breakdown of their performance over the last few years:
Performance Summary (2020–2025)
| Year | Result (High School Category) | Overall Global Ranking | Notable Team(s) |
| 2025 | 1st Place (Best High School), 2nd, 8th, 11th and 16th. | 16th Overall | In Fifth Place… |
| 2024 | Participated (Top High School went to OCSA) | Top Tier | Multiple Sisler teams |
| 2023 | 1st Place (Best High School) | Top Tier | Team Jamcrackers |
| 2022 | 1st Place (Best High School) | 7th Overall | Team Clam |
| 2021 | 1st Place (Best High School) | 12th Overall | Team Clam |
| 2020 | 1st & 2nd Place | 15th & 20th Overall | Team All Hands on Duck |
Key Highlights
- The “Giant Slayer” Reputation: Sisler is frequently the only high school to break into the Top 10 or Top 15 overall rankings, competing directly against world-class animation colleges like Sheridan, Ringling, and CalArts.
- Consistency: As of the 2024 report, Sisler teams had finished in 1st and 2nd place in the high school division for four consecutive years.
- Industry Recognition: Winning teams receive significant prize packs (often valued over $10,000) including Wacom tablets, Toon Boom software licenses, and mentorship opportunities from studios like Nickelodeon and Disney.
- Collaborative Success: The 2022 winning team, “Team Clam,” gained media attention for their 24-hour livestreamed workflow, where they rotated naps and snacks while keeping the “pipeline” moving to finish their short film, Superfluous.
Archived
“THERE’S A HIGH SCHOOL [SISLER] THAT CAN BE JUST AS STRONG AS A COLLEGE, AND THAT IS A BIG DEAL,”
Aubry Mintz, 24 Hours Founder.
Imagine a world where people have instant outfits and disposable faces in plastic packages. They can can whip out a new look and toss an old one in an instant.
That’s the consumerism-focused future created in Superflous, a 30-second animation created by five 18-year-olds from Sisler High School in Winnipeg.
The team, who call themselves Team Clam, took top prize for best high school in the recent 24 Hours Animation Contest for Students. They also were seventh overall out of 300 films from about 80 schools in 20 countries.
“We work really well together because we’re so used to the [communication] pipeline and so used to each other,” said Sam Balanial, a concept artist and animator on Team Clam (which is a mash-up of two previous team names).
That communication stream included a 24-hour-long video call. The cameras stayed on as team members took turns napping and snacking while others worked.
That is a big deal- Aubry Mintz, contest founder
Their work won not only the contest, but recognition from a world-class animator.
“There’s a high school [Sisler] that can be just as strong as a college, and that is a big deal,” said contest founder Aubry Mintz, a renowned animator who has worked for George Lucas’s Industrial Light and Magic.
In the real world, 30 seconds of animation would take three to five months to create, said Mintz, who is based in California.
The winning team — Xierra Cansino, Kimberley Chau, Gian Abad, Francesca Musni and Balanial — are now at the heart of a new short video by fellow Sisler filmmaking students.
Filmmaking students Kaitlyn Caballero, Shaina Maralit and Min Hecky Tresoor, all 18-year-olds in Sisler’s Create program, produced a short video about the team as part of CBC Manitoba’s Project POV.
CBC Manitoba started collaborating with Sisler Create in September during a series of storytelling and journalism workshops for student filmmakers. The collaboration is culminating in nine short videos by students that will be published on CBC platforms, including this one.
The 24 Hours Announcement
BTS – 24 Hours
Two CREATE teams took the top prizes in the international 24 Animation Contest on Oct. 20, 2023.
Team Jamcrackers, made up of Margaux, Sydney, Ai, Annie and Andie, took the top spot. Team Virtual Jam, made up of Lachlan, Marlena, Nathan, Juna and Elisha, took second place.
