Raquel Omana

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Raquel Omana. I am now a freelance artist.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was Interior Designer.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Most popular old Saturday morning cartoons, Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles, Scooby Doo, My Little Pony and many more; First educational games that started the Sony Play Station; film features, Anastasia and Titan AE.

How did you become interested in animation?
It was more alluring to me at the time.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m originally from the Philippines. At that time, Continue reading

Ray Leong

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Ray Leong and I’m currently a digital inker/clean up artist on Fairly Odd Parents at Nickelodeon Animation Studio.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I used to work in a library for a medical school that was also a research facility. The one window I had in my office faced the loading dock where a delivery service would drop off animals for testing. I assume they all knew their fates, because they would scream bloody murder and would want to get out of their cages. It was very depressing. It’s a good thing I had responsibilities in other buildings, so I would just work elsewhere. I did see prisoners in orange jumpsuits and chains being brought in as well. Not sure if they were being used for testing too, but I didn’t feel sorry for them. 😉

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
My initial run on Fairly Odd Parents was one of my favorite projects. I had only worked as small studios and it was first job at a larger facility. There were tons of new people to meet, I got to utilize my skills on Adobe Illustrator for the first time on an animation production (I don’t think many places were using it back then) and the show itself was a funny show. I’m glad to be back working on the show again. Actually, I’m just glad to be working period.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. I studied art in college and the animation industry seemed like a good fit at the time. People get paid to Continue reading

Katya Bowser

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Katya Bowser and I am currently a Freelance Artist focusing on Storyboards, Illustrations and Character Designs.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I haven’t had anything too crazy, but working retail at Hollister was interesting. There were some crazy managers who would do things like chase shoplifters out of the store with a broomstick. You encounter a lot of interesting people when working in retail.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Being a freelancer has given me the opportunity to work on a lot of different projects. I’m working with some friends on a short film called “Asylum”. Its been a fun process and I’ve learned a lot through it. I also had a great time while working temporarily at DisneyToons. I don’t know if my sequence will make it through to production, but it was extremely fun to work on! And my other favorite would be my first animatic I created and designed with Epipheo for Crowd Equity. It turned out really neat and I enjoyed working on it a lot.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL. My dad got me interested in art and was the one who taught me how to draw when I was little. We watched movies and cartoons together all the time and I loved everything animation. One summer in high school Continue reading

Maxwell. A. Oginni

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Maxwell. A. Oginni. I’m an animation director, animator & illustrator, working mainly in commercial advertising.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Way back in my student days, when I was broke & hungry, I once took on a Summer job as a street fundraiser… That was pretty crazy. I met some very “interesting” people… I also (mistakenly) once asked a woman when she was “due”… she wasn’t pregnant.

 

 What are some of your favourite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Last year my good friend Gosia, who teaches at a primary school invited me to give an animation workshop/ pep talk to her graduating class of 11-12yr olds… Before my visit, I had the kids design their very own cartoon characters, as an exercise to explore their ‘personal’ creativity… The day finally came; the kids were so charming & adorable! Originally I was to choose only one winner from the bunch who’s character I would re-design & animate; but on seeing each design, I was so impressed by the effort & skill they had all put in, that I decided I’d get my industry pals involved… I made a quick announcement on my Facebook page inviting animator/ illustrator friends to help me in re-designing ALL the characters. Within two days I had over 20 artists on board! The project, which I hosted via my Facebook page, ran on for about a month or so. The re-designs were fantastic, & the response from everyone on my friends-list (artists/ non-artists) was great; people really got involved & it pretty much became it’s own thing… Anyways, I had all the re-designs sent over to the kids via their teacher as high-res images they could print & frame up as posters. According to Gosia, the kids nearly hit the roof once they saw their designs being “brought to life” by industry professionals… It was honestly one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I live in London, but was born in Benin- Nigeria. My story into animation I’m sure is pretty much the same as most other animators, really… As an introduction, back when I was a kid in Nigeria (about 5-6yrs old, late 80’s), I remember Continue reading

Avner Geller

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Avner Geller and I am a visual development artist at PDI/Dreamworks.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I guess the most extreme one would be serving 3 years in the israeli Military… doesn’t get much crazier!

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
One of the most creative and enjoyable experiences I had was creating the short film Defective Detective, with my friend Stevie Lewis. it was so satisfying to be able to conceptualize the story and bring it form early development to a fully realized film. We were very luck to share this film with many people on the web and in festivals around the world, and were honored to receive a student academy award for it, as well as an Annie nomination.  Prior to my job at Dreamworks, I was part of the team who was working on Henry Selick’s “The shadow King” (which I hope will get back into production soon). it was a true honor to work with one of the people who inspired me the most to get into animation.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born in the states. My parents are both Israeli and when I was 4 years old we moved back to Israel  where I was raised. I always loved Continue reading

Chris Oatley

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Chris Oatley. I was a Visual Development Artist and Character Designer at DisneyToon Studios (most recently designing characters for Disney’s ‘Planes’ franchise) before I left to start The Oatley Academy Of Concept Art & Illustration. At The Oatley Academy, I teach Composition, Color Theory and Digital Painting. I also have a Character Design Workshop coming up soon.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
At age sixteen I submitted my illustration portfolio along with a standard application for employment at my neighborhood Kroger and was immediately hired as a cake decorator. They also wanted me to do the in-store illustrations – china markers on the windows and what have you.  I think I started out at $12 an hour. It was way more than any of my friends were making at Bob Evans or Dippin’ Dots or wherever. It was my first job and I was already getting paid (well) to draw….until the US Department Of Labor called two days later and shut me down.  An industrial meat slicer was located within a certain proximity of the cake decorating station and thus there existed the possibility of accidental lacerations. The liability waiver I had signed didn’t count, legally, because I was a minor.  I was immediately demoted to bag boy. I liked bagging groceries because I could chit chat

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