Craig Bartlett

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Craig Bartlett, creator and exec producer, Dinosaur Train, PBS Kids.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Matt Groening used to say that you need to do 10 years of awful jobs before you get to the good ones. I washed dishes, washed cars in the Northwest in winter, waited tables, worked in a pea cannery – that one was the worst. It was hot, steamy, deafeningly loud. And we were canning peas! Who eats canned peas?

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I worked for Bob Rogers on several special-venue films, for worlds fairs – I made two short 360-degree films, one for Basque Spain and one for a Korean worlds fair that shot in seven locations around the world. We also did permanent installations like Mystery Lodge at Knott’s Berry Farm, and the Shuttle Launch Experience at the Kennedy Space Center for NASA. Those jobs were always fun because they got me out of town and out of our little entertainment bubble. Also I got to get intensely into subjects I was interested in, like the space program and Northwest Indian art.

How did you become interested in animation?
I grew up wanting to be an artist, so I went to art school in Portland for a traditional art education. But it seemed to me that the whole fine art world was too serious. Then I saw the “Tournee of Animation” that played in our art museum’s theater, and the short films I saw there seemed to combine fine art with storytelling, and they were just weirder and funnier than the stuff I was studying. So….. Continue reading

Aaron Rozenfeld

What is your name and your current occupation?
Aaron Rozenfeld and I am unemployed.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I haven’t had a job any crazier than in animation except for selling(or to be more precise, not selling) ugly t-shirts to the audience of the Jimmy Kimmel Live show. But that more sucked than was crazy and was after I got into and left out of the animation industry. I’m not really sure what crazy means. I’ve always interpreted crazy as ‘knowing the difference between right and wrong, but not caring. Being that I’m a both moral and spiritual person, I always care about right and wrong so I wouldn’t participate in a crazy job.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
The Simpsons, Futurama, Fairly Odd Parents, and the next job in animation I get.
How did you become interested in animation?

I became interested in animation as a child, watching cartoons. SOme favorites include Warner Brothers Looney Tunes, Woody Woodpecker, Spiderman and his Amazing Friends and many others.
Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from Walnut Creek, California. It’s about 20 miles east of San Fransisco. I got into the animation business with Continue reading

Shawn Patterson

http://www.animationinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/RC504-BUZZ-WOODY.mov
What is your name and your current occupation?
Shawn Patterson – Composer / Song Writer / Music Producer

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was a security guard when I first got to Los Angeles in the 9000 building on Sunset Blvd. It was a trip being able to watch the LA cops go across the street and clear out the drunk club goers when they poured out onto Sunset after the Rainbow and Roxy closed.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I would have to say Titan Maximum and El Tigre are my top for episodic animation. Fun stories and well developed characters especially El Tigre. Also, Robot Chicken because although the skits are generally very short there is massive variety needed in the music and that is not only a challenge but really fun.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m originally from Athol, Massachusetts. I drove to Los Angeles to find composing and playing work and started bringing my music around to everyone who would listen. I sold some music to a few trailer houses pretty quickly. But the real challenge was Continue reading

Lewis

What is your name and your current occupation?
Lewis, Lewisone Entertainment, Animation Director for Feature Films and Consumer Psychologist

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I drove a tractor on a farm for two years in Junior high school pulling trees out of the ground and driving the product from the fields to the barn.  The farmer wanted me to work because I was the only one he knew that could speak spanish to the workers.  It was a wine farm with apples and grapes,  He told me I could eat all the grapes and apples I wanted.  My first big bite made me realize why he said that, fruit for wine production tastes like ass.
I went for one day with a farmer to take care of horses.  He had me put on a large glove that went to my shoulders and showed me my job of un-constipating horses.  All the farmer saw after training me was a burst of dust and by backside as I go out of there.  Soon after I landed an animation job at Warner.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
It has been a pleasure learning from all the people around me in past projects.  I’ve look at each project as a Continue reading