Ron Brewer

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Ron Brewer. Director.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation? 
I was a drug runner. Or should I say a delivery boy and stock clerk in a class 1 drug vault for a completely legitimate pharmaceutical warehouse. We supplied all the pharmacies and hospitals in the San Diego area. I was involved in two armed robberies there. The first was a gang from LA that wore Halloween masks. They had shotguns and AR15s. We were made to lie on the floor and then locked in the vault. The second time was a gang from East LA. I was chased down the street by a guy with a handgun. There was no where to run to. We were tied up with duct tape. Curious that I would find the nerves needed to get through these trials to be a good tension test, to be a good prerequisite to my animation career. Cartoons is war!

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of? 
I would have to say the Pink Panthers I was a part of. I directed 28 shorts for Pink Panther and Pals at Rubicon Studios LA. One of which won four 2011 KidScreen Awards including Best series, Best Series Viewers Choice, and viewers choice for Best Music –David Ricard and Best Directing –Me. Kerry Valentine produced, Ceci Aranovich did the design, Ryan Green and I did boards, Rob Sanders the sfx. Have a look!


The entire crew for the whole series was just awesome. The Pink Panthers are pure cartoons because of the absence of dialogue. Such a challenge to get the message across, stay true to the originals and hopefully be funny. You can find them on youtube or itunes.  Then I got to direct “A Very Pink Christmas” a Pink Panther special in the classic style. It’s the best thing I’ve done to date. Kerry Valentine producing, Ceci Aranovich design, David Ricard music, Rob Sanders sfx. A story that really came together thanks to so many talented people who I am very proud to have worked with. If you’re a Pink Panther fan or could just use a smile, go see it here.  I had the pleasure of traveling to the Philippines to meet the animation crew. Incredible the small army one of these things takes to complete. This show was also for Rubicon Studios LA., Manila and Amman. Unfortunately not many people saw it when it aired last year 2011. No publicity. You my insider friends know how that can go. But it really is a good little show and maybe it will pick up speed as the Christmas’s roll by. Look out Rudolph. 😉
How did you become interested in animation? 
I loved watching Saturday morning cartoons like the rest of you did. When I was a kid I had this idea to make Continue reading

Cheyenne Curtis

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Cheyenne Curtis and im currently working for Disney Television Animation

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
In Montreal i once worked at this really shady linen store that had no bathrooms. Since i worked alone all day,  i used to have to call friends to come over and watch the store for me while i ran to the bathroom! The good part of that story is working alone all day meant some nice sketching time when the store was empty.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’ve had so much fun doing character designs and layouts for the Disney TV pilot i’m working on, Daron Nefcy and Dave Wasson are so amazing to work with!

How did you become interested in animation?
Originally i had no idea that animation could be a career! I was in Studio Arts at Concordia University in Montreal and i remember feeling like i didn’t quite belong, even though everyone was interested in art.  Luckily one of my friends suggested Sheridan Institute in Oakville, and i applied and got in! I had never done Continue reading

Barry Atkinson


What is your name and your current occupation? 
Barry Atkinson , Art Director Disney Toons.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was a child actor in my Dads educational films.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
In animation , Heavy Metal, An American tail, Lion King, Tinkerbell.  Personal projects, Directed short film “Into Darkness’ and directed live action film “Through Golden Fields”.

How did you become interested in animation?
From my Dad and Continue reading

Daphne Hong

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Daphne Hong – I’m currently Animator and illustrator in Paris. I work for animation features, TV series, video games and edition.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Nothing crazy, I always had jobs in the artistic industries.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
To be proud is not the right word, but I have for of all my projects a special feeling because I learned a lot each time and my dream to be a part of animation industry became more and more true. My most personnal work is a book I illustrated, which was released in March 2012. Being a author is also very rewarding.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
It started with children’s books, TV series and animation features. I drew very early in my childhood and did it everywhere on anything (for example, the walls of my parents apartment), I loved to draw princes and princesses, fairy tales impressed me very much. I also liked make Continue reading

Andrew Kaiko

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Andrew Kaiko.  I am a creative developer at an advertising agency on internet content in Manhattan, New York.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
My jobs before animation were pretty tame.  So the only thing that comes to mind is when I had to not only sort and prepare illustrators’ promotional packages for their clients at an illustrator agency, but take care of the boss, who was an old lady, and her home, where she ran her agency out of.  I replaced light bulbs and emptied water from the air conditioner all the time. One time she actually booked me with the task of getting myself ice cream, as a break!

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
‘Kappa Mikey’  was the first show I worked on at Animation Collective and was also the first show I ever had credit on, and you can’t very well forget something like that!  Not a week went by after getting my bachelor’s certificate, I got a phone call to go into the city for an interview there, and they gave me an offer right then.  This led to animating any anime-esque character who happened to appear in the shot (95% of the cast), and that meant six principle characters, various background extras, and occasional effects and props.  This never happens- I couldn’t believe my luck!  It had a superb cast of voice actors, which turned out to be the best thing about it.  The show isn’t liked by all, and yes, I am familiar with all the complaints, but I loved every second of production.  No other show since, even the shows following it at Animation Collective, was as enjoyable as this one, and that is true even into 2012.

 


How did you become interested in animation?
I’ve been interested in animation my whole life.  I think my parents gave me a gift as well as a curse when Continue reading

Ana Maria Alvarado

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Ana Maria Alvarado, Character Animator.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
In 1985 I got my first paying job was as an interpreter and guide for an American Journalist in Nicaragua (I grew up in Nicaragua). I was 15, and I made enough money to buy my own radio/boombox after a month of work. I basically just went around Managua with this journalist, helped him navigate the unnamed streets and helped him with his interviews. At one point he asked my parents if I could go north (to the war zone) with him. They gave him a resounding no, but when he returned he asked me to interpret a series of recordings of another American he met in a village up north whom he believed to be a CIA operative. The tapes revealed nothing.  I also worked at Burger King in Stockholm, for 4 days.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I loved working on Stuart Little 2 and Open Season, at Sony Imageworks. The bar for the animation was really high, and I learned so much from other animators.  Recently I also had the privilege to work on Scorcese’s Hugo at Pixomondo. It was a wonderfully collaborative process, and ideas for the animation of the flying paper sequence came from the ground up.

How did you become interested in animation?
I’ve always be interested in visual arts and storytelling.  I was studying film in Prague (back when it was still Czechoslovakia). A one of my classmates and I were looking at some Preston Blair drawings someone had left behind in a classroom. My friend casually commented that I could probably draw like that. I didn’t think I could. While in Prague we tinkered with Continue reading