Author Archives: Laura

No comments

Kenn McDonald

  By
http://vimeo.com/32092877

What is your name and your current occupation?
Kenn McDonald. I’m an animation supervisor for Dreamworks on the Dragons tv series.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I don’t know if I’ve had a truly crazy job. I’ve made pizza, served ice-cream and taught English in Japan. The coolest job outside animation I had was working at a fine art foundry that cast bronze statues. That was a gas.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Going way back to my 2d days I’d say Cat’s Don’t Dance. I love that movie and it was one of the best times I’ve had on a production. Some other high points would be Stuart Little 2, Beowulf, which was my first gig as a supervisor and Watchmen. I’m having a great time on Dragons now.

How did you become interested in animation?
That would go all the way back to sitting on my Dad’s lap while he drew for me. He’d draw a lot of superheroes and stuff like that. He still paints. From there I was Continue reading

No comments

Sandra Ní Chonaola

  By
http://vimeo.com/43397083


What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Sandra Ní Chonaola and I am an Animation Supervisor at JAM Media in Dublin, Ireland.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Hummm… I don’t know if I’ve had any ‘crazy’, jobs, but I did start out studying Fitness Instruction only to go onto a career in accounting to finally find my way back on track with animation.

 

What are some of your favourite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
The current one, ‘Tilly and Friends’. Its not only mind-blowing to work with such talented, enthusiastic seasoned animation directors every day, but to get to work on such unique project is truly inspiring. Based on a series of books by author Polly Dunbar, the show is heavily traditional, though it is drawn digitally. We aim to honour the books as much as possible, when a shot is approved in animation it put through After Effects and given a paper texture and a boiling line, that allows it to look just like the books. Its so beautiful, I love it! It’s a pleasure to look at eight or more hours a dayJ

 

How did you become interested in animation?
I have been a huge fan of Warner Bros for as long as I could remember. The likes of Daffy Duck giving out about his lines etc… persuaded me that these characters where alive… so the concept of becoming an animator happened fairly late for me. I was probably about nine years old, when I got Continue reading

No comments

Guillaume Herent

  By
http://vimeo.com/47481510

 

What is your name and your current occupation?
My name’s Guillaume Herent, I’m a CG character animator at Illumination|McGuff in Paris.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I need to choose between two jobs…Maybe my first day as a prosthetic technician ? When a guy entered the waiting room, removed his leg, handed it over to me saying “I need you to fix it.”  Or this summer job in a nappies factory ? I was on the night shift, and the very first night, a nappy got stuck in the gears, the machines started to tremble, smoke, I’ve had to push the emergency stop button with the guy yelling at me “What the f*** did you do ?”

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Well, I’d say I’m proud of my job in general. Working on feature animations and have your name displayed on the big screen is something so rewarding.  But to name a few, I liked working on “Valiant” ; although it was not a box office hit, I liked it because it was my first job in animation, in London, on a feature film !  I’m also very proud to have been part of the success of movies like “Despicable Me” and “The Lorax”.

How did you become interested in animation?
I was around 14 and, like every kid this age, I had no idea what to do in the future.  The father of a good friend of mine once told me “there’s an open day at this CG school, Supinfocom, maybe you should go and have a look”. When I saw Continue reading

4 Comments

Joelle Sellner

  By

 

What is your name and current occupation?
Joelle Sellner, freelance animation writer.

What are the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
When I was 15, I worked on the assembly line at a sweater factory. I didn’t realize I was illegal child labor, I just thought I had an awesome job where I could buy cheap sweaters. I also worked the night shift at a financial printer on Wall Street where I ordered “dinner” for investment bankers at 3 AM.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
This year I had the opportunity to write an episode of BEN 10: OMNIVERSE, Cartoon Network’s reboot of the franchise. Everyone involved is so incredibly talented it was an honor to be included. Since most of my writing has been action for boys, I loved writing comedy for girls on Mattel’s MONSTER HIGH webisodes. I also was a writer/story editor on the upcoming SAMURAI! DAYCARE web series for Smosh’s Shut Up! Cartoons channel on YouTube. We all worked hard to make it the first WGA-covered animated series created for the web. And as the only girl on staff, I was proud to write the grossest, most offensive jokes.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
As far back as I can remember, I watched cartoons. I watched them while I was getting ready for school. Then I’d come home and watch them until dinner. If the cable channels had been around then, Continue reading

No comments

Billy Burger

  By


What is your name and your current occupation?
Billy Burger _ Assistant Director – Media Arts and Animation – AiCAsf

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation? 
Neon Artist … Photographer … Bartender … Dad!

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of? 
James and The Giant Peach … I wish Henry Selcik had gotten to do Toots and the Upside down house like we were all hoping for.

How did you become interested in animation? 
In 1965 my folks bought a Continue reading

No comments

Chris Mayne

  By
http://vimeo.com/45580174

What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Chris Mayne and I work from home as a freelance character animator.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I can’t say that what I did before animation has really been all the exciting, although some of the people I’ve worked with…well, that’s another story. I’ve worked a variety of jobs though from making pizzas to selling jewelry to going door to door selling coupon books.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
The work that I’ve done on commercials for Lucky Charms and Trix Yogurt comes to mind first. I have to admit I geeked out big time. Animating an iconic character like Lucky the Leprechaun is just amazing and getting to have the kids in the Trix Yogurt spots deliver the line “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!” is pure joy.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
Animation has always been a part of my life, whether it be watching cartoons on Saturday morning or drawing little stick-figure doodles during class. And of course I can’t forget Continue reading