Ashraf Ghori

What is your name and your current occupation?
Ashraf Ghori. I am an artist and animation director. I also run my own digital design agency Xpanse CGI in Dubai UAE as its CEO.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was an artist at Six Flags Astroworld in Houston doing caricatures, I also worked for a year as a laser show animator doing some outrageous events in the UAE.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I am proud of my comic books and fantasy art that I made in Houston, and of my first short film ‘Xero Error’ which also happened to be the first CGI Sci-fi Film produced in the UAE.

I love the projects I get to do while traveling to different countries. I did a TV commercial for Lux Progress in Cape Town, where I had to create a blob of green liquid shooting through dirty plates and cleaning them in its wake. I could’ve easily done this back home in Dubai, but the client preferred to take the whole team there, No complaints from me!

I was the art director for Malal which was also the first Indo-Emirati film. We got to shoot this in a picturesque green hill station in Kerala, India. It was a wondrous week of very satisfying work while dodging blood sucking leeches from the forest!

How did you become interested in animation?
Prior to ’94 I was only into comic book & fantasy art. Then games like Continue reading

Shaun McLaughlin

What is your name and your current occupation?
Shaun McLaughlin. Currently I’m working on getting my own projects up with Cheapjack Partners, my company with Gabriel Benson. I’m largely a producer/writer but I’ve directed some of our live-action shorts and do a bit of everything.  We’re running some webcomics and video content on our site. We did a live-action web comedy called The Bullpen and a feature called Gene-Fusion most recently.  I’m also freelancing scripts for animation and comics and doing a little consulting on getting projects up and running.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
 I ran a cowboy stunt show at an amusement park. I played “Marshal Rick” and did the fist fights/gunfights and fell off the occasional roof.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
 Gene-Fusion, Batman Beyond and Static Shock.
How did you become interested in animation?
I was always interested in movies, TV and comics. Never specifically in animation. When I was 8 I told my mother I wanted Continue reading

Karl Maddix

What is your name and your current occupation?
Karl Maddix – 3d Artist/Animator


What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Not very crazy but I once got sacked from a greengrocers for being too scruffy to bag potatoes!?

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’m proud of all my work, but in particular my animated short The Roboteers which despite being produced under extremely tight deadlines, budget and resources, managed to win a film festival award for best animation. Also my animatic concept for EA’s Dante’s Inferno which won first prize and was subsequently shown on the big screen at London’s Apollo as part of London Sci-Fi Festival a few years ago.

How did you become interested in animation?
I’ve always drawn and been obsessed by Continue reading

Gregory Stoffel


What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Gregory Stoffel. I’m a lead 3d artist working on simulation projects for a japanese company here in Vietnam and a freelance artist working mostly for advertising.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I have been traveling around Australia for 2 years and did a lot of hard, dirty, crazy jobs at that time but I think cleaning bricks outside, it was freezing cold and raining was one of the worst job I ever had…good it lasted only for 3 days.

How did you become interested in animation?
Probably the first time I watched Toy story, then get my hand on 3dsmax R3 a bit later and never stop since then.
Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from Belgium, after traveling to Australia, I went to Vietnam, gave my demoreel to a director a met , Continue reading