Jordan Lamarre-Wan

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Hi, my name is Jordan Lamarre-Wan and I’m a Concept Artist for Disney Interactive – Junction Point Studios.


What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I worked as an underage bar tender in a hip bistro, a store assistant for DeWalt, a factory worker for Pillsbury and a Layout Artist for a Christian animation studio on a project called God Rocks about these characters who were rocks and who played rock music, lol. I actually really enjoyed working at that studio.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I really enjoyed working on Warner Bros’ Johnny Test, George of the Jungle and Richard Scarry’sBusytown Mysteries. But the project I’m most proud of is being part of Disney’s Epic Mickey 1 and Epic Mickey2. I’m also very lucky and honored to have been published in The Art Of Epic Mickey, an art book about the ‘making of’ including the pre-production drawings and paintings for the game. This is a Time Lapse Video of me sketching Mickey vs an animatronic character for Epic Mickey 1.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
Back in high school, I had an older friend who introduced me to 3D animation and I was Continue reading

Live on Twitch.tv/adobe this Saturday from 12-3pm PST

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This Saturday I’ll be once again broadcasting LIVE on the Adobe Twitch stream at http://www.twitch.tv/adobe animating with Adobe Animate CC(formally Adobe Flash) where I’ll be animating nonsense like this gif… I may even fix it to be better! Join us and see! That’s 12-3 pm PST only on Twitch!

Sarah Jargstorf

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 What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Sarah Jargstorf and I’m a 3d artist and animator. Currently I’m working as a 3D modelor at Arc Productions in Toronto.What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I really don’t think any of my part-time gigs during high school and college can compare to animation. They were just your typical retail, amusement park and factory work. Though I’ll never forget the day I was working at the Toronto Islands and I witnessed a seagull swallow a WHOLE footlong hotdog, in one gulp. Shocking. Little bugger was determined.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’ve had the pleasure of animating on My Little Pony. I’ve been fortunate to work on a lot of fun tv shows but My Little Pony was a real treat.

 

How did you become interested in animation?Growing up on Bugs Bunny, Batman, TMNT, Disney Classics and Sailor Moon definitely contributed. I’ve always loved to draw and when I found out Continue reading

Dan Lund

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Dan Lund and I am currently an EFX animator at the Walt Disney studios as well as, cant believe this is coming out of my mouth….an APP developer. I am releasing an animated knock knock app on Aug 1st (knock knock and the Who’s There Doors) so that seems to be my occupation these days but don’t tell Disney that, they think its just a hobby.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation? 
I was always into jobs, ever since I was 14 I worked and loved the power I felt in doing a good job for someone. The worst was being a car jockey but i have done it all (burger king, Root beer stand, old folks home, fry cook, video store…)
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of? 
Almost every Disney film I have worked on had a moment either artistically or work experience wise that made me proud. The BIG ones, of course, were great (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King) but when i look at Princess and the Frog i feel my my artistic level kicked up a notch. Even after some 13 screen credits, when you think you had tried it all, learned it all and maybe even lost the thrill a bit…a film opens up a brand new box of crayons, for me that film was “Frog”.  I am also very very proud of my personal work especially the 3  “Hildy Hildy” shorts (strike TV and all over the youtubes)  that i directed/animated and then sold to TBS as an animated series. Collaborating with Hildy’s creator, Patricia Scanlon was a moment i would not trade for anything.
How did you become interested in animation?
Always loved it but never studied it… Continue reading

Keith Osborn


What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Keith Osborn. And I’m a freelance character animator.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was once an intern for a super-secret government agency – though I can neither confirm nor deny that. I also drove an ice-cream truck. Until it went up in flames. Interestingly enough, after the firemen came to the rescue, the ice cream was still cold in the charred, warped freezer. I offered them some but they kindly refused. Good thing too as it had a hint of smoky flavor after that.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Though this was probably the toughest job I had, I’m incredibly proud to have been a part of the Reel FX crew on the new Looney Tunes theatrical shorts. Animating those classic, beloved characters was an absolute honor. In a couple of them, we actually got to animate to Mel Blanc’s voice! I’m also proud to have been a small part of the 2012 Oscar winning animated short film, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” for Moonbot Studios. It’s amazing to me that a crew, largely comprised of recent graduates, was able to put together such a remarkable film.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
I was bored. I had seen every movie that was playing at the movie theater I worked at. Well, all but one. Continue reading

Mike Blum

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Mike Blum and I am a director, producer, writer and owner of two boutique production companies, Pipsqueak Films and Blumayan Films. Pipsqueak Films works on animated content of all sorts and Blumayan Films produces live action features.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I waited tables while being a ski bum after college. I couldn’t ski more than 5 feet without falling at the start of the season but was cruising black diamonds by the end. Never did learn to wait tables all that well…And when I was in junior high and high school I worked at this crazy nut, candy, coffee store called The Head Nut. Come to think of it, slinging nuts and candy is a lot like turning the crank in production — head down and scoop away!

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
My favorite projects are the ones I’ve had the biggest hand in seeing through creatively. So, even though I worked on nearly a dozen features with world class artists and technical people while at Disney Feature Animation, none gave me the same satisfaction as working on my first shorts, Oil & Vinegar and The Zit.  And while a lot of my colleagues gave me funny looks when I told them I was leaving Disney to direct a series about a pair of talking testicles, The Adventures of Baxter & McGuire (for Comedy Central), got me nominated for an Emmy and took me to great festivals like Sundance and Annecy. And I worked with the amazing showrunners Michael Weithorn and Nick Bakay.  But my favorite project so far is the one I just completed, Samurai! Daycare. It’s a 10 part, Flash animated web series I did for the new YouTube channel, Shut Up! Cartoons. It’s the first property I sold that made it all the way to series and it was great fun to showrun my own creation.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I’ll answer these 2 questions together…. I was a huge fan of Bugs Bunny growing up. I know, I know I have such unusual tastes. But I really never had any classic artistic skills and grew up so far removed from “the industry” in the Philadelphia ‘burbs, it never occurred to me in at least a conscious way that it could be a career. I did, however, Continue reading