Alan Foreman

http://vimeo.com/42168143

 

What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Alan Foreman and I’m a freelance animator and director working out of Brooklyn, NY.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I don’t know if I would label any of my previous jobs as crazy. I got into animation right after graduating from college. Before that it was mostly your run-of-the-mill highschool jobs… working at a movie theater, a children’s museum, basic manual labor jobs… things like that.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
There are a lot to choose from. Home Movies (Adult Swim) was a lot of fun. Directing Three Delivery (Nicktoons) was very challenging and satisfying. Recently I finished a music video for my band that is on the festival circuit that I’m very proud of. Doing that has gotten me excited about producing independent films again.

How did you become interested in animation?
All I ever wanted to do all my life was draw. While a freshman at the Rhode Island School of Design I had Continue reading

Kenn McDonald

http://vimeo.com/32092877

What is your name and your current occupation?
Kenn McDonald. I’m an animation supervisor for Dreamworks on the Dragons tv series.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I don’t know if I’ve had a truly crazy job. I’ve made pizza, served ice-cream and taught English in Japan. The coolest job outside animation I had was working at a fine art foundry that cast bronze statues. That was a gas.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Going way back to my 2d days I’d say Cat’s Don’t Dance. I love that movie and it was one of the best times I’ve had on a production. Some other high points would be Stuart Little 2, Beowulf, which was my first gig as a supervisor and Watchmen. I’m having a great time on Dragons now.

How did you become interested in animation?
That would go all the way back to sitting on my Dad’s lap while he drew for me. He’d draw a lot of superheroes and stuff like that. He still paints. From there I was Continue reading

Sandra Ní Chonaola

http://vimeo.com/43397083


What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Sandra Ní Chonaola and I am an Animation Supervisor at JAM Media in Dublin, Ireland.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Hummm… I don’t know if I’ve had any ‘crazy’, jobs, but I did start out studying Fitness Instruction only to go onto a career in accounting to finally find my way back on track with animation.

 

What are some of your favourite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
The current one, ‘Tilly and Friends’. Its not only mind-blowing to work with such talented, enthusiastic seasoned animation directors every day, but to get to work on such unique project is truly inspiring. Based on a series of books by author Polly Dunbar, the show is heavily traditional, though it is drawn digitally. We aim to honour the books as much as possible, when a shot is approved in animation it put through After Effects and given a paper texture and a boiling line, that allows it to look just like the books. Its so beautiful, I love it! It’s a pleasure to look at eight or more hours a dayJ

 

How did you become interested in animation?
I have been a huge fan of Warner Bros for as long as I could remember. The likes of Daffy Duck giving out about his lines etc… persuaded me that these characters where alive… so the concept of becoming an animator happened fairly late for me. I was probably about nine years old, when I got Continue reading

Guillaume Herent

http://vimeo.com/47481510

 

What is your name and your current occupation?
My name’s Guillaume Herent, I’m a CG character animator at Illumination|McGuff in Paris.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I need to choose between two jobs…Maybe my first day as a prosthetic technician ? When a guy entered the waiting room, removed his leg, handed it over to me saying “I need you to fix it.”  Or this summer job in a nappies factory ? I was on the night shift, and the very first night, a nappy got stuck in the gears, the machines started to tremble, smoke, I’ve had to push the emergency stop button with the guy yelling at me “What the f*** did you do ?”

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Well, I’d say I’m proud of my job in general. Working on feature animations and have your name displayed on the big screen is something so rewarding.  But to name a few, I liked working on “Valiant” ; although it was not a box office hit, I liked it because it was my first job in animation, in London, on a feature film !  I’m also very proud to have been part of the success of movies like “Despicable Me” and “The Lorax”.

How did you become interested in animation?
I was around 14 and, like every kid this age, I had no idea what to do in the future.  The father of a good friend of mine once told me “there’s an open day at this CG school, Supinfocom, maybe you should go and have a look”. When I saw Continue reading

Joelle Sellner

 

What is your name and current occupation?
Joelle Sellner, freelance animation writer.

What are the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
When I was 15, I worked on the assembly line at a sweater factory. I didn’t realize I was illegal child labor, I just thought I had an awesome job where I could buy cheap sweaters. I also worked the night shift at a financial printer on Wall Street where I ordered “dinner” for investment bankers at 3 AM.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
This year I had the opportunity to write an episode of BEN 10: OMNIVERSE, Cartoon Network’s reboot of the franchise. Everyone involved is so incredibly talented it was an honor to be included. Since most of my writing has been action for boys, I loved writing comedy for girls on Mattel’s MONSTER HIGH webisodes. I also was a writer/story editor on the upcoming SAMURAI! DAYCARE web series for Smosh’s Shut Up! Cartoons channel on YouTube. We all worked hard to make it the first WGA-covered animated series created for the web. And as the only girl on staff, I was proud to write the grossest, most offensive jokes.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
As far back as I can remember, I watched cartoons. I watched them while I was getting ready for school. Then I’d come home and watch them until dinner. If the cable channels had been around then, Continue reading

Billy Burger


What is your name and your current occupation?
Billy Burger _ Assistant Director – Media Arts and Animation – AiCAsf

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation? 
Neon Artist … Photographer … Bartender … Dad!

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of? 
James and The Giant Peach … I wish Henry Selcik had gotten to do Toots and the Upside down house like we were all hoping for.

How did you become interested in animation? 
In 1965 my folks bought a Continue reading