Gordon Kent

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Edit: Sadly, Gordon Kent passed away last year due to Cancer but his 38 year career lives on…

You can read our article on his passing here.

What is your name and your current occupation?
Gordon Kent – Animation timing director at Bento Box on Bob’s Burgers

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation? 
I was pretty lucky to get into animation almost right out of college. However, while I was in college I spent one summer working in an auto body repair shop as a “lot boy” – the worst part of the job being cleaning the toilet – those guys were not as careful in the bathroom as they were when repairing or painting cars. I also did scrimshaw for about a year – pendants, earrings, belt buckles… lions, tigers and bears mostly (oh, my!)

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’ve been doing this since 1977… I worked on a show called CBS Storybreak for two seasons. I was associate producer – but my job entailed hiring character and background designers, storyboard artists and story editing (and some writing). I also was the voice director for most of them and worked with the composers and sound effects people as well as working with the engineers on the final mix. I got to learn and do a lot. That was for Buzz Potamkin at Southern Star. I also worked for him years later at both Disney TV and Hanna-Barbera. At HB I got to be Supervising Producer on a couple of movies for TV – Titles change in animation all the time – today that would be supervising director. The Flintstones’ Christmas Carol was my favorite project there. I’ve been an animation timing director since then and have been lucky enough to work on Kim Possible, Teamo Supremo, Billy and Mandy and Bob’s Burgers among dozens of other shows.

How did you become interested in animation?
It wasn’t animation per se that I loved it was just the idea of being a cartoonist. Drawing funny pictures that made people laugh. What I really wanted to do was be a strip cartoonist. I tried several strips, both alone and with a partner, but was never able to create anything that the syndicates liked enough to buy. However I did write the Rugrats comic strip for five years. I learned a lot – it’s a very tough job.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’m from McKeesport, PA – but we moved to Los Angeles when I was seven. I went to Cal State Northridge as an art major and in my last year I met Martin Crossly, who worked at H-B in the Xerography department. He told me that H-B was beginning a class. He told me to take a portfolio to Tiger West and tell him Martin sent me. This was in the summer of 1976. Somehow I made the cut and I was Continue reading

Michael Jantze

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Michael Jantze, owner of Jantze Studios and professor at SCAD. Prior jobs include: Newspaper journalist. Syndicated cartoonist. Visual Effects Art Director at ILM.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Co-directed Joe Murray’s “Frog in a Suit” and directed the animation for a dream sequence in Lawrence Kasdan’s 2012 feature “Darling Companion”.

How did you become interested in animation?
I was born. I was interested in animation.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
Born in New York, grew up in Illinois, I’ve been in California on and off since 1981 (film school at Cal State Northridge). I got out of college, applied to Disney the week “Black Cauldron” came out. So I went into documentary filmmaking the following week. That lead to art directing, that led to Continue reading

David Williams

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What is your name and your current occupation?
David Williams and I work for Disney TV Animation’s “Jake And The Never Land Pirates”

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Nothing crazy. Just the standard “no brainier” jobs. Car wash, gas station, stock boy, construction, etc.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Without a doubt, the best job I had, while between animation jobs, was working for Applause designing collectible mugs, sculpts, toys, etc. For Lucasfilm Properties. I was head designer the second year and pitched the line-up of proposed merchandise to Lucasfilm (but not George). Flew out on the company’s dime and made several journeys to the Skywalker Ranch. Yes, I’ll admit it, it made me feel important. I made some long-standing friendships during that time, as well. In animation, it was working on the two Klasky/Csupo feature films “The Wild Thornberrys” and “Rugrats Go Wild”. I got into the studio at it’s zenith, and watch it all fade away within the two years I was there. Very sad. What made my time so special was the opportunities that were put in my lap! My job was storyboarding but I also designed some BG layouts, animated sequences, I even worked with the editor timing out my song sequence. Yes, this job also made me feel important. Also I played basketball almost everyday at lunch right there on the grounds. Definitely a perk.

How did you become interested in animation?
The standard way, for my generation, propped in front of the TV with a bowl of cereal on a Saturday morning. Peanuts Specials, every Christmas Special and The Wonderful World Of Disney. Definitely feature films, as well, but Continue reading

Neal Warner

What is your name and your current occupation? 
I’m Neal Warner and I am currently directing a live stage show called Rock & Roll Rehabwhich features a live band playing in sync with animated music videos projected on a large screen above the stage. It’s been an ambition of mine since I was in Junior High School and saw the re-release of Walt Disney’s Fantasia. It recently finished a run at the Hayworth Theater on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Before I went to work as an inbetweener at Hanna-Barbera during my summer vacation between graduating high school and starting college I was a published cartoonist in the “Free Press” and in “underground comix”. Ironically, the only job I ever had after creating the underground comic character Pizza Fella and starting full time in the Animation Industry was as a pizza delivery guy while attending San Diego State.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I wrote and directed the John Lennon themed stage show, A Day In His Life, which was represented by the William Morris Agency and followed that with the Rock & Roll Rehabshow, both of which include a lot of animation as part of the multimedia projection. I published PaperCuts, The Illustrated Lyrics Magazine in the 80s which included a two song record insert and featured the songs’ lyrics in comic book form, I produced several animated music videos, one of which won the Gold Plaque in Music Video at the Chicago International Film Festival and was included in a screening of “The World’s Best Animated Music Videos” at the First Los Angeles Animation Celebration and I produced The Tooner’s Trip Disc enhanced CD and The Tooners’ Rocktasia CD (available on iTunes). Those are my favorite “pet” projects but I’m also proud of my work on The Heavy Metal Movie, Ducktails The Movie, the two Rugrats Movies, The Puff The Magic Dragon TV special and some of the many TV commercials and series I’ve worked on either as an animator, an assistant animator, a director or as a timing director for studios such as Disney TV, Klasky-Csupo, Marvel, Murakami-Wolf, Filmmation, Film Roman, Sony, Universal, Fred Wolf Films and many others.

How did you become interested in animation? 
I was a cartoonist whose work was published in my junior high school newspaper, the cover of the yearbook and animated my first film, The Jogger, in the ninth grade. In high school I was the school’s staff “political” cartoonist as well as a paid contributor to professional underground comics and in college I was elected into Sigma Delta Chi, the Society Of Professional Journalists for my political cartoons in the CSUN campus paper. Although Continue reading