Michael K. Foster

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Michael K. Foster, character designer and animator.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Not sure if they’re crazy, but when I was younger I was a stock boy for a health food store, talk about nut jobs.  I was a professional mover for three years and spent many of those nights sleeping in the back of the moving truck trying to keep warm in those dirty moving blankets because there was no time to go home.  My first art related job was designing yellow page ads.  Ever see those ads?  That’s pretty much the lowest design job there is.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Wow, um…I guess one would be a new product for Anagram Intl. a company I used to work for.  They’re a huge national and international mylar balloon company.  Not what you may think of when talking animation, but I was contacted by them with nothing more then an idea and told to make it work.  It was all based around the QR codes that you see everywhere that can be scanned with a smart phone.  I developed a line of character driven mylar balloons for children with themes such as pirates, skateboarders, princess’s & mermaids.  Each balloon had a scannable QR code printed on it and when scanned, a short fun animation played based on the balloon.  It was a way to “continue” the story from the balloon.  The balloons are being sold throughout the U.S.  It may not be a huge deal, but for me, it was something because it started as a blank idea and it turned into something bigger.  This also helped my approach for new clients because it showed that animation is not just for TV and Film, but many other industries.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born in Ann Arbor Michigan and raised in Hillburn NY a small village about an hour north of NYC.  I got into animation some what by chance.  A company I used to work for was in need of some simple character driven animation to help promote a few new products.  My boss came to me and basically said, Continue reading

Anne Walker

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Anne Walker, lead character layout artist at Six Point Harness

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Working at a party supply store with a (possibly psychotic) owner, bookkeeper at Staples, smoothie wench at the Laguna Beach Jamba Juice. Also I taught piano.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Random Cartoons!!! Also, the The Mr. Men Show, and Good Vibes, my current project at 6PH, which is quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve ever worked on.

How did you become interested in animation?
I always loved cartoons, but I really fell in love with telling animated stories in high school.  Mixing storytelling and art made me feel more alive and at home than anything else in my life at the time – including being with my family in my actual home.  I drew more than I listened in class.  I spent prom night working on my epic (read: TERRIBLE) science fiction anime screenplay in my parents’ office.  I was That Sort.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I originally came down to southern CA from the Bay Area to go to art school. The first two years at school were a blast; my third year was miserable. One of the high points of that miserable third year was an internship at Cartoon Network studios, where I met (stalked) a number of artists who were generous enough to share their time and wisdom with me. I learned that many of them had never graduated college, or in some cases had never even gone to school, period, and it occurred to me that I could break into the industry without suffering through another expensive year of art school. So, the summer before my senior year I

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Raul Aguirre Jr.

 

What is your name?
Raul Aguirre Jr.

What would you say has been your primary job in animation?
Animator, Storyboard Artist and Director.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I worked as a bouncer at a few night clubs around L.A.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
My favorite project is my animated short Hero Heights that I made at Nickelodeon and Frederator a couple of years ago for The Random Cartoons Show.

How did you become interested in animation?
When I was six years old I fell in love with drawing and decided I was going to be an artist. Then one Sunday night in 1981 when I was nine, I watched Continue reading