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Donna Grillo

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Donna Grillo.  Casting and Dialog Director.


What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I’ve always been in the entertainment business – that’s crazy, right?

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Well, Spongebob Squarepants is certainly the most iconic show I ever cast but as far as favorites go I’d have to say “Squirrel Boy” and “The Angry
Beavers” just for the sheer laughs and freedom to create crazy characters. “Duckman” was also an awesome show – so friggen funny!

How did you become interested in animation?

Although I loved Looney Tunes when I was growing up I wasn’t that big of an animation fan until I started working at Klasky Csupo.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m an L.A. girl. I was burned out from years of working on motion pictures.  I took some time off to write but…. Continue reading
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100 Interviews!

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On March 26th, this year we launched Animation Insider, a site dedicated to championing the faceless artists behind the scenes of the award winning animation in the world. Today with Michael Fry, “Over The Hedge” comic strip creator I am very proud to announce we’ve hit 100 posted interviews! I would like to thank all who have participated as well as my Assistant Editor and wife Laura Milo for helping to make my idea a reality. This is only the beginning as we’ve got hundreds more in the queue so stay tuned!

And as always if you’d like to be interviewed yourself then grab a copy of the questions or email me and I will send them to you!

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Elyse Whittaker-Paek

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Hi My name is Elyse Whittaker-Paek, Ex pat Aussie.

I’m currently a freelance Illustrator and mum of 2 lovely little looney lads.
Some of the crazier jobs I’ve had?  Well I was a Dental assistant at the tender age of 14, my dad would have me help him out after school in Sydney Australia.  He very much wanted me to get into the drill fill and bill biz.
I was very good with x-rays and Continue reading
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Floyd Bishop

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What is your name and your current occupation?
I’m Floyd Bishop. I’m currently the senior animator on Free Realms at Sony Online Entertainment.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was a lifeguard for eight years, mostly summers during high school and college. In the winters, I would work odd jobs. These included a short stint at a bakery where I started as a dish washer but then got to decorate wedding cakes and a bra factory where I would sort bundles of sports bra sections and then carry them upstairs to the factory floor to be sewn together. I tried to learn something at every job I ever had. For example, the average sports bra has five pieces!

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’m really proud of Free Realms. There is a ton of animation in the game, and we get to be really creative on the project. I was also a character animator on the first Ice Age movie. I have something like 90 shots in the final film.

How did you become interested in animation?
I always liked cartoons as a kid. I watched a lot of Sesame Street, and that show had a ton of animation on it. As a result, I was exposed to a lot of different kinds of animation at a very young age. I drew a lot as I got older, and started to Continue reading

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Larissa Marantz

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Larissa Marantz, Owner of OC Art Studios, Illustrator, Fine Artist, Art Instructor

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I am short so I used to work as a mascot for various conventions and shows- any time there was some kind of costumed character with a big head. Once I dressed up as Elmo.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I am proud to be one of the 200 artists that were involved in the Manifest Hope:DC art exhibition celebrating the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2008. I flew to Washington DC a few days before the inauguration to participate in the art exhibit and the energy was amazing. The first Obama painting I did “Unite America” was sold in an auction during the campaign. The image was also published in a multicultural calendar. The second painting “This Moment”, was published in an Art of Obama book, exhibited at the Bowers Museum and now hangs on my wall. Someone I knew was doing a brief stint at the White House and passed out a bunch of posters of my paintings to the people in his department. I was told that they were put up on the office walls. So, although I don’t have physical proof, I think I can say that my paintings are in the White House.
How did you become interested in animation?
I had always wanted to teach art but after meeting with my advisor and finding out that Continue reading
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Maeve McGrath

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What is your name and your current occupation?

Maeve McGrath, Flash artist and animator
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Worked at a pet store and helped hatch lizards and baby birds, fed mice to snakes.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
The Simpsons Movie, Neopets the startup…

How did you become interested in animation?

Ever since I watched my first cartoon as a kid, I have been interested…I created my own comic books based on the smurfs. They are pretty bad, but when I was little I thought they were awesome…

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?

I grew up all over the world.  Lived in Papua New Guinea and Burma, among other places… I found myself in Continue reading