Tag Archives: Maya

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Joe Apel

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Joe Apel, Flash Animator at Cartoon Network Studios

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I worked a variety of jobs before I finally got my break in animation. I worked at a Comic Book store at the age of 13 organizing comics. At the age of 15-17, I worked as a camera man for the school district’s cable access station. I washed dishes for a catering service. I worked at a movie theater for 10 years and worked my way up from usher, to projectionist, to Assistant Manager, to Promotions Manager.One job that I thought I would love but ended up hating was working at the Warner Bros. Studio Store in a local mall. I worked in the “gallery” area of the store mostly. I was there to inform people on what the artwork was and sell them cels, maquettes, and limited edition art. I made commission if I sold artwork and they even had a payment plan. I was terrible at the job, I loved the Warner Bros. cartoons so much and I felt it was morally wrong to persuade people into buying animation art when they only intended to come to the mall to buy a pair of jeans. I believe I only worked there for about a month.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I storyboarded on the PBS series, WordGirl, which I find to be an educational and funny show. I created character designs for the pilot of Allen Gregory, which will premiere this fall on Fox. It was inspiring to…. Continue reading
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Lee Ray

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Lee Ray I am currently finishing off a contract to design and visualize  props for an Endemol kids Cartoon show based on The 99 comics.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was lucky to get a job in video games about 4 years after graduating in 1990. Before that I did what every student would during the holidays; shop work, Nightshift Warehouse work, even a bit of teaching anything to pay off the debt from term time.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I have been lucky enough to work on video games and TV, probably The TimeSplitters series would be the most fun I had in games while so far the CBBC show HOUNDED in the U.K. Was great fun as they let me go mental with what they had on paper. The starsheep Enterprise was originally going to be a ball of wool until I showed them the sketch. They trusted me to develop the idea from then on.

How did you become interested in animation?
Technically speaking I don’t animate but the work I do does get animated. I am from that generation that was at the right age to see Star Wars when it first came out, the rest was just a case of “How do I get to do this for a living” and later on the more mature version “How much can I get paid to do this for a living”.It`s all George Lucas` Fault.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
Birmingham U.K. Originally now, in Nottingham ( yes it`s a real place, no we dont all talk like Kevin Costner OR Russell Crowe for that matter 😉 ). I worked at Rare ( home of Donkey Kong Country) for four years before leaving to Continue reading

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Chuck Grieb

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Chuck Grieb; currently I am a tenured Associate Professor and head of the Entertainment Art/Animation concentration at California State University, Fullerton.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
As a young college student I worked a slew of unusual and sometimes interesting jobs. One summer I spent as an Asbestos Remover. Another summer I spent working two jobs at once(75 hours a week), one as a Peer Tutor helping Learning Disabled students in a College Prep program, the other as an “Egg Cook” in a Perkins Diner. I spent a day working in a trash sorting facility and 4 weeks on an assembly line waterproofing nuts and bolts for the Navy. I also painted houses, delivered pizzas, waited tables, worked as an Assistant Theater Manager, as a Sound Mixer for live shows, photo tech, and various others.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of? 
Hmmm, tough question. I am particularly proud of the work on Genie’s Great Minds, a project I worked on when I was a part of the Special Projects Department at Walt Disney TV Animation under the direction of Gary Katona. The Larry Boy show I worked on at Cornerstone Animation had a very challenging schedule, but was a very fun, if intense, work experience. My wife and I storyboarded an episode of Continue reading

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Ray Chase

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Ray Chase and I am a directing animator on “Free Birds” our first feature film at ReelFx. I am also a mentor at Animation Mentor.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I don’t know that I really had any crazy jobs.  But let’s say that I was a llama herder in Australia.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
A couple years ago I worked on a series of Looney Tunes cartoons which were a lot of fun.  One short in particular, “Daffy’s Rhapsody”, used original Mel Blanc recordings of Daffy Duck. It was pretty amazing to animate to his voice.

How did you become interested in animation?
I was always interested in animation as a kid but never thought much about doing it as a career.  Toward the end of high school Who framed Roger Rabbit came out and I was inspired; I saw it eight times in the theater.  A couple years later the Disney/MGM studios opened in Orlando where you could see real animators bringing characters to life.  That’s when I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I grew up in Gambrills Maryland. And went to school at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). They didn’t have much of an animation program at the time; this was the early 90s. After college I started applying to Disney to get a job as a 2d animator, but Continue reading

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Jon Rennie

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Jon Rennie and I’m the Managing Director of Cloth Cat Animation.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Besides the usual stints in call centres and copy typing pools, the best job I had before animation was as a tester and writer for Bullfrog Productions. Bullfrog was a games company eventually purchased by EA but while I was there I got to work on titles such as Dungeon Keeper, Theme Hospital, Syndicate Wars and Populous: The Beginning. It was a fun creative place to work and a great place to learn how to develop my skills in the media industry.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’ve had a diverse career so I’m proud of all the work I’ve been able to do. My favourite game at Bullfrog was working on Dungeon Keeper, but then I moved into VFX and animation and so Grandpa In My Pocket has been a major part of my career up to now.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from Cardiff in Wales and I came to animation from the VFX industry. I studied filmmaking at university in Newport but found I had an affinity for manipulating images and footage. I experimented with bluescreen and colour correction so, when I came to make my own short films, I was able to do a lot of the work myself. A local animation company needed a compositor to work on a Continue reading

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Harinarayan Rajeev

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http://vimeo.com/20518291
What is your name and your current occupation?
Hi,I am Harinarayan Rajeev and i am currently working as a 3d animator in Dreamworks Animation Dedicated Unit,India(DDU).

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Honestly, the only job i had ever done in my life is that of an animator.I got my first job in the industry right after finishing my 2d/3d animation training , when i was 18.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of ?
Well,I am super excited about the Dreamworks Animation projects i am working on right now and going to work for at DDU,India which I consider are amazing oppurtunites that as an animator I could ever have. I also had a great time working on my third animated feature film “Dorothy of OZ” [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884726/] while i was working in Prana animation studios.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
I used to draw and watch a looot of cartoons as a kid,infact i remember running like a deer after school so that i could reach home on time and watch my favourite cartoon shows,Swatkats,Dexter’s Laboratory,Johny Bravo,Popeye,Samurai Jack , He-Man,the list goes on.. I used to watch them as if they were real and living .  My intense love for Continue reading