Martin McBain

What is your name and your current occupation? 
My name is Martin McBain and I’m a Cinematics Director. I’ve most recently worked at Pinewood Studios on a super huge movie, having previously spent 13 years working in the games industry as both a Lead Gameplay and Lead Cinematics Animator/Director.
 
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation? 
My first job involved site surveys; either I’d be working on technical drawings or else I’d grab my hard hat and theodolite to visit sites around the UK. Fortunately, I got into animation not long after!
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Whilst there are many projects that I loved being part of, being a huge gamer, and a massive fan of Rare’s GoldenEye, it was an enormous honour to be working on the re-imagining of GoldenEye. We spent a huge amount of time looking at what made the original so great and, as GoldenEye fans ourselves, what we would want to see in the game. Our goal was to bring this classic into the modern gaming era, and my task, in particular, was to create a more contemporary, bolder, cinematic experience for the player. As fate would have it, after Eurcocom closed its doors, Rare immediately offered me a position – I was absolutely thrilled to bring my industry experience to a studio that, as a massive fan of their games, I grew up admiring.
Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m originally from Greenock, Scotland. Whilst playing games was a huge part of my childhood, despite the calls from my dad to ‘stop playing those games, they will get you nowhere!’, a job in gaming wasn’t really a career option, being more of a niche undeveloped industry.  As a result, I opted to pursue a career in Architecture. Now don’t get me wrong, I love calculating heat loss and thermal conductivity as much as the next guy, but this wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind – creating great visuals and designs turned out to be a tiny part of the job.  Then it all changed, one day, when flicking through a creative arts magazine, there it was: an advert, a glorious full page spread showcasing 3d Studio release 3 – the original dos version ( thats non-Windows, to all the kids ) – before they brought out Max. Now, as I say, this changed everything for me. I rushed out and purchased the software and manual, Inside 3d Studio R3, and read that cover to cover. I then stared creating visuals, mainly based around architecture and product design, but I soon started to introduce characters and animation – bringing life to my renders. The guys at Eurocom saw my work and offered me a position as Senior Animator; this changed the direction of my career and led me to do what I love for a living.

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Mike Carlo


What is your name and your current occupation?
Mike Carlo and I’m an Animation Director/ Director at Titmouse Inc.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
 I was an usher at a movie theater when I was in high school, and was subjected to wearing a really dorky uniform. I was also a Continue reading

Jeff Liu


What is your name and your current occupation? 

My name’s Jeff Liu and I’m an animator at JibJab Media Inc.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I actually started pursuing animation in high school so I haven’t had many jobs before I got into it. I used to teach private Karate lessons for younger kids at the dojo I went to haha.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I really enjoyed working on the opening for the 2011 CalArts Producers’ Show. I came up with the idea to have everyone (who was interested) animate something coming out of a box. We then put everyone’s animation together and it turned out to be really cool! It was also a cool representation of the wide range of styles among the students.

How did you become interested in animation? 
I remember seeing Flash at my friend’s house one time when I was in middle school. I thought Continue reading

Pat Giles

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Pat Giles, and I am a Creative Director and co-founder (with Manny Galan) of Pat-Man Studios in New York City. We have several big Agency/Advertising clients. We currently run the creative assignments for several General Mills kids brands like Lucky Charms, TRIX, GoGurt and Honey Nut Cheerios for Saatchi & Saatchi. We partner with animation houses like Calabash and Laika, and cartoon gods like Sergio Aragones and others to make commercials, video games, short films, etc. We are also working on several series projects with Classic Media that aren’t announced yet, and we are in production on a project called “Captain Cornelius Cartoon’s Cartoon Lagoon” that will be out by the end of the year, whether it kills us or not.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I worked in children’s clothing for many years (not wearing it to work, but designing it). I designed tons (literally) of licensed products for Disney, Lucasfilm, Marvel, DC and Warner Bros., among others. The oddest was the line of “Hunchback of Notre Dame” pajamas I designed. While I am not knocking the artistry behind that film, Quasimodo made for some very odd pajamas.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’ve been extraordinarily lucky to work on a lot of awesome projects. Back in the day, I started out as a designer on “Disney’s Doug,” art directed the Disney Channel series “Stanley,” was the Design Supervisor on MTV’s “Daria,” and worked on several other series in various capacities. I started a comic book company called “Monkeysuit Press” with Chris McCulloch (aka Jackson Publick), Mike Foran, Miguel Martinez-Joffre and Prentis Rollins. That was really fun and liberating. Several years ago everyone thought I left “animation,” but taking an ad agency assignment only got me deeper into it, since all of my assignments were for these beloved American brands with animated characters like Lucky, the Trix Rabbit, Buzz, and Sonny the Cuckoo Bird. The craft applied to these commercials is magnificent. I get to work with animators, directors, CG artists, painters, composers, orchestras, engineers, voice actors, and a lot of live action/animation combos with great directors, actors and cinematographers. It’s been a blast.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
“At Conception,” hahaha…I was just hard wired for animation and Continue reading

Jobs: Production Coordinator at Stereo D- Burbank office

 

Stereo D Logo - GCAbout this position:

The Production Coordinator is responsible for the assignment and tracking of tasks for assigned area of responsibility. Facilitates the movement of shots between teams, coordinates daily reviews, and communicates status updates to ensure the delivery of shots on schedule. Provides administrative support to the production management team and supervisors.

Responsibilities Include:

  • Under the guidance of the Production Supervisor, tracks progress of tasks for assigned artists or sequences in the production tracking system.
  •      Maintains production tracking system with revisions, omits, and shot length changes; notifies the affected crew as needed.
  • Partners with other production personnel to ensure shots are scheduled and delivered in a timely manner.
  • Follows up with Artist Leads on a daily basis to ensure task deliveries remain on schedule; communicates any schedule changes to appropriate Artist Leads, Supervisors and Production team as needed.
  • Coordinates all client deliveries (outgoing and incoming), both physical deliveries and digital deliveries, with I/O Coordinator and maintains log of all deliveries.
  • Responsible for multiple dailies sessions each day, as well as client reviews.
  • Taking clear and accurate notes in all dailies and review sessions, and disseminating notes to all necessary parties and within production software.
  • Generates and maintains production reports; including nightly production updates for assigned projects.
  • Generally providing overall production support to the production management team.

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in film, art, communications or related field preferred.
  • 2+ years proven production experience in established VFX or post production facility.
  • Demonstrable experience in highly technical, dynamic departments is a must.
  • Experience with heavy schedule management in a very time sensitive atmosphere.
  • Must be diligent, resourceful, meticulous and able to thrive under pressure.
  • Thorough understanding of CG/VFX production pipelines, software packages and post-production is essential.
  • Outstanding organizational skills and attention to detail coupled with exceptional people skills and the ability to work within a team environment.
  • Strong project management skills and a sensitivity towards deadline related deliveries.
  • Must be able to handle multiple changing priorities in a dynamic environment and understand how this impacts departmental schedules.
  • Able to communicate effectively across multiple teams with excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • Proficient computer skills are required; with particular emphasis on Production Tracking Software and Asset Management, Microsoft Office Applications such as Word, Excel, Office, and standard PC applications.
  • Knowledge of Nuke is very helpful
  • Knowledge and understanding of stereoscopic production and 2D/3D conversion not required but a plus.

About Stereo D:

Stereo D is the recognized leader in high-quality conversions of 2D theatrical content into stereoscopic 3D imagery. Formed in 2009, the company works with major motion picture studios, directors, cinematographers, and VFX supervisors to bring their vision of 3D storytelling to the screen. Stereo D has completed work for such films as JURASSIC WORLD, ANT MAN, THE AVENGERS, JURASSIC PARK in 3D, TITANIC in 3D to name a few. The company also provides end-to-end 3D production services on feature films, television productions and commercials.

Stereo D is a business run by filmmakers, valuing artistic excellence and speaking the language of film. Our production teams and artists are among the best in the business, driven by an innate passion for all things film. Our unique artist-centric environment enables our people the creative freedom to conceptually support the creative visions of directors, delivering the finest, most dynamic 3D imagery in entertainment.

Stereo D is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deluxe Entertainment Services, an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Luis Gadea

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Luis Gadea. I’m currently a freelance animator/concept artist and I’m gonna start working as a Flash animator for TV series.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I only had one real job before starting in animation. I was a salesman in a call center for a telephone company from Argentina, then thankfully I was hired really young in an animation studio for commercials.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I really don’t have one specific favorite. I think I have learned from every project and each one has given me new skills for the next one. I do have to say that working on commercials was a great experience because each one was very different from the other.

How did you become interested in animation?
At first I didn’t quite know about animation. Since I remember I’ve liked drawing. I remember as a kid I loved Disney, Warner, Hanna-Barbera, UPA and all the classics. I have a good friend older than me who started in Continue reading