Prashanth Pandurangaiah

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What is your name and your current occupation?
First off, please allow me to thank you for doing this interview with me. I really appreciate the opportunity.

My name is Prashanth Pandurangaiah and I currently work as a Technical Director in the Assembly dept at Blue Sky Studios.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Before getting into Blue Sky Studios, I worked in the IT industry for a few years as a programmer. This was right after my Bachelors and at the time I did not know that animation could be a career for someone who has no art background, so I pretty much went with the flow without realizing my heart sought something else. I worked there until I found out that I could actually work in animation with my background.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Our curriculum at Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), where I did my graduate studies, was not quite what we’ve come to expect from a master’s course. We worked on semester-long projects and learned on the job rather than sit through classes. This also helped me take on different roles in the team and worked as an FX Animator for a project, in which we had to create animated videos of traveling in space. This was a very cool project and I learned so much.

Apart from my school projects, I would have to say my first animated film (also my first at Blue Sky Studios), Epic, is my most favorite project that I’ve worked on. I worked with amazing people on Epic and it felt really great to finally have my dream come true.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from Bangalore, India. Ever since I was a kid all I really cared about is the kids hour and cartoon network on TV. It was mesmerizing to be carried away to a magical place, be it about a silly little mouse being chased by a cat, or seeing a dog owned by an anthropomorphic mouse getting entangled in funny business or watch a duck in a sailor’s outfit throw temper-tantrums. It was then that I decided I wanted to be one of those behind the scenes, whose work would put a smile on my face, and wanted to do the same for others. After getting my bachelor’s in computer science, I worked for an software company for a few years and then decided to do my masters (at CMU) in the US, which then served as a gateway to the industry. I was given the opportunity to work for Blue Sky Studios right after I completed my master’s degree and haven’t looked back since.

What’s a typical day like for you with regards to your job?
With my computer science background being put to good use, I primarily develop tools (or software) for the team. If we’re doing something more than twice, my department looks for ways to automate the process. There may be some processes that, when done manually, are tedious and might lead to errors that are easy to overlook. That’s where I come in, and after discussing with my supervisor, I develop tools that will simplify the workflow. In addition, I also work on the digital sets and environments in the animated movie.

What part of your job do you like best? Why?
The best feeling is when I see my name on the big screen at the end of the movie, when the credits roll. Also, seeing the happy faces in the audience while watching a movie I’ve been a part of is extremely humbling and that’s one of the things we try hard to achieve here at Blue Sky Studios.

What part of your job do you like least? Why?
Sometimes things don’t work the way we expect it to and we don’t realize that until it’s quite deep in the pipeline, and we have to finish and deliver our work while maintaining the original deadline. It can be exhausting, but in the end, it all works out, and we’re always happy with the result.

What kind of technology do you work with on a daily basis, how has technology changed in the last few years in your field and how has that impacted you in your job?
We use Autodesk’s Maya for most of our work. Maya is used by every animation studio and is a very important software to learn if one wants to work in animation. Some of the tools that I develop are developed to be used within Maya. With computers getting faster and more resources at our disposal we’re now able to do more in less time. This has resulted in improved technology being developed to be able to “see” something better way before we need to render, so that render cycles are not wasted, allowing us to work more efficiently.

What is the most difficult part for you about being in the business?
A lot of people from outside the industry do not fully understand how 3D animated movies are made and to explain the process can be challenging as the lingo used in the industry is not easily translated over to the natural language.

If you could change the way the business works and is run how would you do it?
I’ve always been intrigued with different departments and how they achieve their output, or how they solve the issues that they encounter. Most of the time there’s a communication gap because we may not clearly understand each other’s work-flow. I have found that there could be more opportunities for inter-departmental exchange, so that those interested can work in different teams and gain more varied experience.

In your travels, have you had any brushes with animation greatness?
Yes!! It’s curious that Ice Age was the first ever 3D animated movie that I saw as a kid and now I work here at Blue Sky Studios. Co-incidentally, the first movie I worked on was directed by the same director (Chris Wedge) who directed Ice Age. When I saw Chris Wedge in the hallway and he said “Hi”, I was pleasantly surprised and mumbled something in an alien language. I often also run into the director of Rio and Rio 2, Carlos Saldanha, and both, Chris and Carlos are amazing people. Once on a school tour to Walt Disney Animation Studios I got to see Glen Keane.

Describe a tough situation you had in life.
I once got stuck in an elevator and pondered life and its meaning. The elevators at work were going through a rough patch this one time. We decided to risk taking them, got stuck with just enough space to see the hallway, but not enough to get ourselves out. Firemen had to be called in. It was a long evening.

Any side projects you’re working on that you’d like to share details of?
I’ve been learning different technologies that could be useful at work, and I constantly try to improve myself and keep myself updated on the latest technologies.

Any unusual talents or hobbies like tying a cherry stem with your tongue or metallurgy?
I like playing the guitar and play it occasionally. I can only play the intros to a few of my favorite songs though.

Is there any advice you can give for an aspiring animation student or artist trying to break into the business?
I know it sounds cliché , but from my experience what I’ve learned is to never give up. Also make contacts, reach out to someone on the various forums available. People in the industry are generally very helpful and usually don’t turn down requests for advice and feedback. There are also tutorials available online for basically everything today, so utilize them to learn something that may not be taught at school.

Mark Behm

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What is your name and your current occupation?
First let me say thanks, Mike, for the opportunity. My name is Mark Behm and I’m an artist at Valve Software. We don’t have propper titles, so what I do depends on what I feel the project I’m working on needs and if I feel I am up to the task. Mostly I design or make assets and sometimes animate them.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Before? I’d say a lot of my jobs IN the animation industry were fairly crazy. As a teenager I did enough manual and kitchen labor to build a healthy fear of spending my life swinging a hammer in a cold rain. Craziest? Hmm…I once taught a class on animal tracking.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
My first feature was as an animator on Robots at BlueSky. That was a huge learning opportunity for me. At Valve, I got to design, sculpt and texture all of the aliens in a little top down game we released for free on Steam called AlienSwarm. That kind of ownership was very fun for me.

How did you become interested in animation?
I grew up in the mid 70s into the 80s as SciFi was getting big. I saw Star Wars when I was around 7 and was Continue reading

Jesse Soto

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What is your name and your current occupation? 
My name is Jesse Soto. Currently, I’m a Freelance Storyboard Artist/Animator. I was fortunate enough to intern for Disney Consumer Products as a Artist/Animation Intern for their Blue Sky Think Tank a few months ago.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
This isn’t crazy, but I taught a 9-year-old how to animate her first film for a School District Competition. The girl, Ariana, had a piece where a young girl uses friendship to clean the beaches, one helping hand at a time. I felt like a school teacher because her and her best friend were the voice talents and I had to do parent/teacher conferences to make sure she did her animation work. She had to go through a little crunch time for not doing her homework, and fell asleep during the final composite 10 P.M. the night before. She won 1st place and gained a bit of confidence for kicking butt.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I was very proud to be working on a secret development project during my time at Disney. Our group, the Blue Sky Think Tank was comprised of 7 talented individuals with their own points of view and completely different backgrounds (Artist/Animator/Social Media/Writer/Filmmaker/Marketing) and locking them in a room for 6 months. Our project involved a lot of awesome ideas coming from Anime, Old School Disney, LA Culture/Counterculture, and our favorite TV shows which we learned a great deal from. Over the course of a few months, we saw a simple concept grow into flushed out characters, a strong and meaningful story-line, and great artwork/animation. The creative impact made would not be possible without the guidance of the excellent and talented storytellers/artists that reside within Disney.  Another favorite was the Black Dynamite Pilot that was featured on Adult Swim. On my first day interning at Titmouse, I was thrown into clean-up animation and color along with a few other interns. The studio was in the final push to completion. Every animator was working tirelessly, often through the weekends. Great fun came in each scene where it had either some neck-breaking karate chop or possessed puppets whipping out their machine guns and Desert Eagles.  Dailies had a lot of funny shots and high level of violence that was being animated. Also, artists were open about sharing what they know, and tag-teamed the production work very well. The end result made everyone very proud of their work.

How did you become interested in animation?
As a youngin’, I grew up always interested in art and sketching cartoon characters. In middle school, I found out that my favorite TV shows, movies, and video games were Continue reading

Dan Shefelman

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Dan Shefelman, Cartoonist, Director, Head of Story, Writer.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Hanging 200 feet on the side of a building painting a trompe l’oeil mural on Park Avenue in NYC. The owner of the company was color blind but we were’nt supposed to know. So he would come to the site and tell us to add more red. We would do nothing and the next day he’d say it looked much better. The union guys on the site hated us because we were non-union. They would tip over our paint. Once I got stranded 200 feet up on the scaffold when the electrician shut off the power at quitting time. I had to swing like Spiderman on my safety line over to a fire escape and climb down. I finally quit the next day when I realized I was risking my life for “art”.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Teaching storyboarding at NYU. It’s so great to see new talent develop. I did a flash political web cartoon during the 2008 election on CNN.com. Wrote, designed and animated it. I love the collaboration of big productions but it’s always very satisfying to do everything on your own.  I have always been proud of working on the story team at Blue Sky on Ice Age. It was the first feature for Blue Sky and it was great to be there in the beginning as we all flailed our way to discover how to get these monsters done. I am particularly proud of the cave painting sequence I storyboarded which dealt with difficult issues of loss and forgiveness in a family movie without terrifying the kids in the audience. The big challenge was to Continue reading

Ron Yavnieli


What is your name and your current occupation?
Name: Ron Yavnieli. Occupation: Animator at Bento Box. I’m also a Voice Actor and Stand-Up Comedian.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
When I was a teenager I worked for a birthday clown company as a character performer. I usually dressed up as Batman but once they sent me out as Barney the Dinosaur. The Barney costume didn’t fit me. I’m 6’2″ and the feet of the costume only came down to my shins. So I was walking around the mall that day with my feet sticking out. People kept saying to me “Nice Sandals Barney” or “You look like Barney on Crack!” At one point a group of mentally challenged adults came up and hugged me, then they tried to pull my mask off but their caretaker called them off before they could. I never did that character again.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Currently my favorite project is “The Sketchy Comedy Show” which I produce and perform in with several other multi- talented Comedians at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank. It’s a show that blends stand-up comedy with Sketches: both the drawn and the performed variety, and music. We have a roster of great Comedians who all Continue reading

Nick Gibbons

What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Nick Gibbons and I am currently the editor at Radical Axis in Atlanta Georgia and a freelance writer.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I worked at a magic shop for about 7 years. I loved doing magic for the first 4 years working there, then I sort of lost interest. The store was a magnet for insane people. Clowns, magicians, jugglers and mental patients would frequent the store on a daily basis. It was like a stationary traveling circus.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I worked at DNA Productions for about 8 years in Dallas. That is the studio responsible for Jimmy Neutron. I was around from the very beginning of that project, working on the movie and the series. The people there are all so fantastic and talented. It really was like being part of a family. Watching that little studio help break new ground in 3-D animation by showing the world you didn’t have to be in California to create magic, was an amazing experience.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
It feels weird to say I watched a lot of animation as a kid, because every kid watches a lot of animation, right? I guess the difference is Continue reading