Category Archives: Artists Interviews

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Rosanna Lyons

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Rosanna Lyons visual effects animator on the Simpsons.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Before I got into animation I was a student in art college in Ireland so I hadn’t had any serious work before then other than summer jobs picking potatoes or selling shoes… but in between projects and companies I have waited tables and  bar tended ..not too crazy really! 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I loved working on The Prince Of Egypt for Dreamworks SKG. I also was lucky to have worked on The Simpsons Movie which was crazy hard work but had fun effects to animate.
How did you become interested in animation?
It just happened really…my first love is Continue reading
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Michelle Lin

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What is your name and your current occupation? 
My name is Michelle Lin, and I am a freelance illustrator/character designer and aspiring vis-dev artist.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I haven’t held that many crazy jobs, but I have worked for some very interesting characters who I probably shouldn’t name…  (My friends can attest to some of the interesting times I had working as an office assistant at Art Center).  I will share, however, during my time at USC, I storyboarded for a live action short and found myself on a late night road trip to a farm, getting in a minor car accident, and staying up all night baking cookies in the shape of chickens.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of? 
I haven’t worked on anything big, but I’ve had some cool opportunities to work on projects with friends and former classmates.  Most of us went on different paths after graduating, so getting to work together was always a treat.  Recently, my friends Dom, Jackie, and I made an animated “Mean Stinks” campaign video for a Tongal competition and won first place!
Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business? 
I’m from Houston, Texas and moved to LA to pursue animation at USC.  Honestly, I never really considered animation as a career until Continue reading
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Nicola Coppack

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Nicola Coppack and I am a 2D Animator and Designer.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I have had few jobs before getting into animation but I wouldn’t say any of them were crazy. Mostly shops and cafeteria work, basically anything to keep me working so I could eat and live!

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I have had two favourite projects, most recently I had the opportunity to pitch a short film, ‘The Night Light Monster’ to my previous studio Fabrique d’Images as part of a competition. The atmosphere for the pitches was really great! The story I pitched won and I directed it the following year. It was a fantastic experience being able to pick my own team and work with some really talented designers and animators. I couldn’t be happier with the result. My other favourite was my first job in animation where I had a fantastic opportunity to go work in China with a few of the graduates from my university. We had just finished Uni and were flying off to Nanjing to work as designers for a feature film they were producing there. The whole experience was amazing. The people, the place and the opportunity to draw and be a part of something like that was really special.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from a small town called Thetford in England. I have always loved storytelling, as a child I grew up playing a lot of video games and creating stories with Continue reading
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Mike Perez

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Mike Perez, Freelance Illustrator & 3D Generalist.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Probably has to be delivering newspapers before dawn or selling fireworks in one of those huge tents.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Last year, I oversaw Character Rendering for The Adventures of Big Bird and Kami. It was a great project with a great team!

 

How did you become interested in animation?
As far back as I can remember, I have been interested in cartoons. I had a lot of VHS tapes as a kid. Things like the Fleischer Superman, Looney Tunes and Silly Symphonies.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from Miami, and in South Florida there is some game development and VFX work, but Continue reading

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Jeff Starling

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Jeff Starling and I am a commercial artist.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Before gettting into the crazy buisness of animation I was involved in advertising where the art director has not done there job unless they have made some change,causting me more time and effort, to my work as an illustrator. A lot of those art directors new nothing about drawing but could sure critisize one. My foray into the world of animation came after leaving Sierra games to go to DIC (animation bootcamp), where I was introduced to a whole host of artists and animation directors.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
After a brief while at DIC it was my luck to land a job as a background designer at Warner Bros. working on Batman The Animated Series. Over the years I have worked with one of the shows producers Eric Radomski. He hired me early on at HBO or Boo animation where we did Spawn and with Ralph Bakshi, Spicy City. I and another employee won Continue reading

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Dan Forgione

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Dan Forgione, and I am an Animation Director at Titmouse,Inc, working on Season 1 of Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
My first job ever was as a caddy at a local country club, and in HS I worked in the food service dept at a local hospital where I was part of an assembly line putting together patient meals. I later went on to wait tables, bar tend, and even manage a restaurant during my first few years of college. Also I originally went to college to become a Phys Ed teacher, but transferred after a year an a half to art school.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’m proud of all the work I have done both past and present, but there are a few that stand out in particular. Most recently would definitely be the work I’m doing at Titmouse, as well as the work I’ve done at Six Point Harness, where I was able to work on a number of projects with great crews of artists, some of whom have become my closest friends since moving to LA two years ago. I also got to work on a very unique project back in NY with Flickerlab, where I got to traditionally animate an entire 2- min piece for BNY Melon on paper napkins which was then shot as stop motion.  Before that, there were numerous projects that I did with Dancing Diablo, including several spots for the Bronx Zoo .  And of course, the pencil test I did as my proposal to my beautiful wife, Amanda.
How did you become interested in animation?
I always tell people I consider animation my “astronaut dream.” You know when kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up, and they respond with “firefighter,” or “superhero,” or “astronaut,” mine was “Disney animator.” As a child I loved to draw and by the time I was old enough to Continue reading