Rob Renzetti

What is your name and your current occupation?
Rob Renzetti – Supervising Producer on “Gravity Falls” at Disney Television.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was a Locker Room Attendant at the County Pool and an Ice Cream Man

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part
of?
I’ve been very lucky and worked on a bunch of things that I love. Some favorites are Dexter’s Lab, the Oh Yeah Cartoons Shorts and my own show My Life as a Teenage Robot.

How did you become interested in animation?
I would beg my Mom to draw cartoon characters that I would then color and she would cut out so I could play with them. They did not last long. One day she got tired of the constant demand for ‘fresh’ paper dolls and told me to draw them myself. I never stopped drawing

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from Addison, Illinois – 30 minutes outside of Chicago. I came out to attend Calarts after getting my bachelors degree in Art History at University of Illinois. I got hired at HB to work on “2 Stupid Dogs” as a storyboard artist.

What part of your job do you like best? Why?
I love being involved in story meetings and board pitches. Getting to be creative for a living is an incredible privilege but being creative on a schedule can be a burden. In the best rooms where you have a group of like-minded individuals, the creative output is so much greater and faster.

What part of your job do you like least? Why?
The schedule, of course! I’ve never been on a show that was not ‘behind schedule’ the minute it started. All the pressure to ‘catch up’ puts a strain on the artists and writers. Of course, without a schedule there would be a gi-normous amount of dicking around so it is a necessary evil.

What is the most difficult part for you about being in the business?
I had to move away from my family and friends to be in the business.

What kind of technology do you work with on a daily basis?
I draw on a Wacom tablet. That’s about it.

In your travels, have you had any brushes with animation greatness?
Chuck Jones and Glen Keane both came to talk to my class at Calarts.  Also during my Calarts days, I had a couple meetings with Bob Clampett’s son. At the second meeting I got to look through the original story sketches from “Coal Black”. Lastly, John K threw one of his Jimmy comics at me when I was at lunch with an exec he wanted to pitch to.

Describe a tough situation you had in life.
A tough situation? I’ve had more than my share of surgeries. One of them was life threatening. The normal amount of family drama. Can’t really think of anything that could be inspiring in any way if that’s what you are after.

Any side projects you’re working on you’d like to share details of?
I don’t like to share details till things work out but I am working on some children’s book ideas and some movie ideas.

Is there any advice you can give for an aspiring animation student or artist trying to break into the business?
If at all possible, get into Calarts. There are lots of good animation programs at various schools but none is as well connected to the industry. And the connection you make at Calarts and through Calarts will be incredibly important.
And if you do get into Calarts (or if you don’t), work your ass off making films.