Author Archives: Laura

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Ely Dagher

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Ely Dagher. I run BeaverAndBeaver studio and work as a freelance director.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
No interesting stories there I’m afraid!

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
That would have to be my short film “waves ’98”.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I am from Beirut, Lebanon and I actually got into animation sort of by Continue reading

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Alisa Harris

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Alisa Harris and I’m a freelance character designer and traditional Flash animator in New York City.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
One summer during college, I painted carousel horses in Canarsie, Brooklyn. It was pretty awesome.  Some of the carousels I worked on are at the Willow Grove Mall in PA, Bryant Park in NYC and overseas.  When I first graduated from art school, the animation industry had tanked.  I ended up doing data entry for two years at an insurance company specializing in mental health and substance abuse.  I like to joke that it prepared me for working in the animation industry.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
One of my favorite projects was my first lead design position at Flickerlab in NYC.  It was a web series for Ritz/Nabisco on how to have cheap family fun in the summer.  It was the first commercial project that I designed characters and props in my own style.  There was a lot of freedom in designing the families and I enjoyed creating a more diverse cast.  Because it was a small studio, I also boarded half of the episodes and did some of the Flash puppet setup.  It was really cool to see my own designs and staging come through to the final episodes.

How did you become interested in animation?
As a kid, I loved Looney Tunes, classic Disney films, The Muppet Show and Rankin Bass Christmas Specials.  In the ’80s, my family would watch The Disney Sunday Night Movie and I was riveted to the Continue reading

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Sam Grinberg

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What is your name and your current occupation? 
Sam Grinberg, Cartoonist & Animator.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation? 
Working for EVIL corporations in black and white and synchronization.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of? 
I’ve been proud to work with a great company called G-dcast, producing fun animated videos! And working on my own comic book series featuring characters I created at 7 years old.
Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
NJ/NYC/LA. Originally I wanted to strictly do comics, but Continue reading
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Eric T. Elder

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Eric T. Elder and I am an Animation and Video Game Producer in Los Angeles.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I had a couple of cool service jobs before getting into animation full time. I was the “King of Room Service” at the Hotel Atop the Bellvue one of the oldest hotels in the country and got to see some interesting celebrities Winona Ryder, Sherman Hemsley, The Edge from U2.  Then I was a singing waiter on the Spirit of Philadelphia and my solo song was “The Rainbow Connection” from the muppet movie. I also had a retail job at a Warner Brothers studio store selling prints and cells of classic Looney Tunes.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I am definitely proud to be part of the team that created King of the Hill. My favorite sequence was one of my last where I made Peggy a rapper. Also I’m really proud of the Game Wizards program I created at the Art Institute in Santa Monica where I trained many successful people to work in Video Games.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m originally from Philadelphia where there were at the time just one small animation studio called the Production House. I worked on a project there which was an infomercial for baby formula. That was the first Continue reading

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Kevin Petrilak

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WHAT IS YOUR NAME AND CURRENT OCCUPATION?
My name is Kevin Petrilak and I am an animation director…I detest the title “sheettimer” because it is the studios’ way of diminishing the importance of what we do.

 

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CRAZIER JOBS YOU HAD BEFORE GETTING INTO ANIMATION?
I guess the two that come to mind would be in my high school years. I worked for a garden nursery where I moved bags of manure from one place to another ( some things never change).  The other would be working in super market meat locker, bagging frozen chicken ( some things stay the same).

 

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOU FAVORITE PROJECTS YOU’RE PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A PART OF?
ZIGGYS GIFT and BACK IN ACTION come to mind as being a combination of enjoying the work and the crew.  Although I get a lot of mention for animating the opening credits to  THE SIMPSONS (original versions) .

 

WHERE ARE YOU FROM AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE ANIMATION BUSINESS?
I was born in New York and I had the bug since I was a little boy.  While visiting my Uncle Gerry, who was Continue reading