Virgil Mihailescu

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Hi everybody, my name is Virgil Mihailescu and I’m currently a character animator at The Creative Assembly, working on Rome 2 – Total War.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I had to buss tables and wait for dishes at the dish machine with my international student schoolmates (the only ones left around during the long boring summer in Bowling Green Ohio..). I then worked in catering when I was living in Chicago and had to serve the Romanian president (I’m Romanian btw) at some weird official breakfast meeting.. probably my life’s most epic achievement? :} And I worked one day in flooring but did the easier parts of this job, which is probably one of the most awful jobs invented by humans. And then I worked for a month remodeling an apartment, well.. just destroying it in fact… which included breaking a cast iron tub with a sledgehammer, which I found extremely satisfying and fun.. and a completely awful experience at the same time, if you can imagine that!

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
The current one, Rome 2.. because working on the Total War series is a privilege, I think. And then I got to animate more animals than I ever animated before, and it’s such a cool project to be working on. And Tintin, which was for me my first project at Ubisoft and the first game I ever worked on, and, surprise of surprises, only 2 months into the project I was chosen team lead, or animation coordinator.. as it was officially called. Which, as you can imagine, came as an adrenaline shot and it also turned into one of the most challenging but also very exciting experiences.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born in Brasov, Romania, I started writing ‘novels’ and drawing ‘comic books’ when I was about 7 or 8 years old.. To better understand this.. you have to imagine that, in fact, my first novel had about 30 pages and probably half of them were drawings… and my characters were mostly traveling, eating, and sleeping (when they were not dealing with savage Indian tribes in the jungles of.. India). As a visual artist I’m Continue reading

Phree device on Kickstarter seeks to let you write on anything

Here’s an interesting device that seeks to allow you to write on anything and have it instantly transfer to your phone. It’s more or less like a Wacom pen but there’s no tablet. Anything you draw anywhere transfers in real time to your phone. Kinda cool but I wonder if that means you can draw on the screen itself and it will still work. After all you can draw on anything so…

Apparently the pen will also let you talk on it like a phone should you so desire to look that silly.

If you’re interested in backing them, drive your browser over here.

Nikolas Ilic

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Nikolas Ilic and I am currently working at ToonBox Entertainment in Toronto as a Junior Designer.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Nothing to to crazy at all, I worked as a cook at a pizza joint during and after highschool. It was alot of fun, especailly all the crazy customers and the late night drunks!
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Well right now the projects I am working at ToonBox are quite exciting. It is a pretty young and ambitious studio. I am jumping from project to project which is always fun and refreshing. Right now I am designing model packs for their upcoming TV series in development and also working on their upcoming feature film! Other then that making my own short film was something I loved  to be able to do and hope to do one day again!
How did you become interested in animation?
I became interested in animation through childhood cartoons for sure. Some of the cartoons that inspired me were Tazmanian devil, Pink Panther, Inspector gadget,  X-men, Ninja Turtles, Pinky and the Brain,  and Samurai Jack the list goes on really.  Also I have to give credit to Continue reading

9 Story Media Group Licenses GET ACE and NERDS AND MONSTERS to Gloob Brazil

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9 Story Media Group Licenses GET ACE and NERDS AND MONSTERS to Gloob Brazil

Toronto, Canada – May 19, 2015 – 9 Story Media Group is pleased to announce that it has licensed the animated children’s comedies Get Ace (52 x 11’) and Nerds and Monsters (40 x 11’)  to Gloob, Globosat’s Brazilian children’s TV  channel. The announcement comes shortly after LA Screenings last week. Both series will air in Brazilian Portuguese and are expected to premiere in January 2016.

Get Ace is produced by Galaxy Pop and premiered on Network TEN’s ELEVEN in Australia. In addition to Gloob, the series has also been licensed to Boing (France), ABC TV Australia, TVNZ (New Zealand), TVE (Spain), E Junior (UAE) and Zoom (Israel). The series follows the adventures of hapless, geek Ace McDougal who, after being accidentally fitted with a pair of hi-tech super-spy braces, finds himself thrown into a world of espionage and adventure.

Nerds and Monsters is produced by Slap Happy Cartoons for YTV (Canada), and is currently in production on a second season. The series has previously been licensed to CiTV (UK), ABC TV Australia, TVE (Spain), Canal+ Family (France and Africa), E-Junior (UAE), Noga(Israel) and MBC Kids (Middle East). The series tosses 3 nerdy kids and a thick-headed football star on a fantastic uncharted island. The tween castaways must use nothing but their smarts to survive the relentless attacks by the island’s inhabitants – a tribe of hideous but hilarious monsters. And lucky for the Nerds, these dim-witted monsters don’t have any smarts!

9 Story Media Group is a leading content creator, marketer and distributor of kids & family focused intellectual property. Recognized around the world for best-in-class brands such as Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood, Wild Kratts, Numb Chucks, Arthur and Peg + Cat, 9 Story represents over 1800 half hours of animated and live action programming, seen on some of the most respected international channels and platforms.  With one of North America’s largest animation studios, 9 Story employs over 250 creative and production staff and has produced over 900 half hours of award-winning children’s content. 9 Story is owned by senior management, ZM Capital and media entrepreneur Neil Court. www.9story.com

For further information: 

Jennifer Ansley, Vice President, Marketing & Communications, 9 Story Media Group

+1 416 530-9900 ext 230, jennifera@9story.com

Stephen Nicodemus

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What is your name?
Stephen Nicodemus

What would you say has been your primary job in animation?
I have primarily been a background painter for most of my animation career although in the past five years I art directed at Cartoon Network a show called My Gym Partner’s a Monkey and have been a background paint supervisor for Marvel Animation. Currently I am an art directing for Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated at WB Animation. Having a background painting foundation gives me the experience I need to direct color and lighting and painting style for the the show.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Every time I’m on a project I think that this is the one I’m most excited about and put my all into it. You have to have that attitude about your work. When I do a personal painting I think this is gonna be my best painting I’ve ever done. So right now I am most excited about Scooby Doo Mystery Inc. It is the best Scooby Doo series so far and I’m proud to be a part of it.I was proud to be working on the last few Marvel dvd releases. Planet Hulk, Hulk Vs and yet to be released Thor: Tales of Asgard. Before that on My Gym Partner’s a Monkey, there were some shows I was proud to pull together as an AD and the painting style I enjoyed. One WB dvd I really thought came out great was Batman: Under the Continue reading