Lauren Montgomery

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What is your name and what is your primary job?
Lauren Montgomery: Director/Producer of DC Direct to DVD movies at Warner Bros Animation

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Animation was my first REAL job. I had one job answering phones for a summer during college that I hated. And before that I did some babysitting during high school, which I also hated. But my first real job was right out of college as a Storyboard artist at Mike Young Productions on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in 2002.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’ve had the good fortune of being able to work on a lot of properties I’ve been proud to be a part of.

Those include:

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David Knott

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What is your name?
David Knott

What would you say has been your primary job in animation?
Supervising Director.  Although I’ve spent the better part of my career in Animation as a Storyboard Artist.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of? 
Kim Possible was a watershed show for me.  I grew exponentially as a board artist on that show, gaining valuable experience in boarding action sequences, which, up until then, I had not done much of.  This was also due in no small part to the series’ Director, Steve Loter, whom I consider to be one of my mentors.  He challenged me to get into the head of the characters and to make that inform whatever gags or actions I had them do.  I’m also indebted to him for turning me onto ʺCowboy Bebop.ʺThe other project that has stood out for me is the one I’ve been on for the last 3+ years, The Penguins of Madagascar.  Not only is it a challenging CG show involving cinematic action sequences, slapstick pantomime gags, and even heartfelt Continue reading

Bob Doucette

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What is your name?
Bob Doucette

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I like the two movies I am finishing now: Zhu Zhu Pets: Quest for Zhu and Power of Zhu. They are coming out real well.  I usually hate my work as soon as it is done so usually the answer is …what ever I’m working on now!

How did you become interested in animation?
As a kid I loved both Warner Bros. shorts and Disney features but I think it was Chuck Jones and Continue reading

Herb Moore

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What is your name?

Herb Moore

 What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Pinky & The Brain, The Simpsons and lately, Phineas & Ferb… My first job was as a background clean up artist om “The Simpsons” and it soon became one of my all time favorite shows to have worked on.  I also hold extremely fond memories as a timer on “Pinky & The Brain” as well as numerous other Warner Bros. shows such as “Animaniacs,” which lead to my first Emmy nomination for Directing.  I also hold a special place in my heart for the pilot, “Smirt & Kirkle,” that I co-create with Rusty Mills for Playhouse Disney.  The experience was terrific and left a taste in my mouth for wanting to do another pilot.  Currently, I’m having a blast working as the Timing Supervisor on “Phineas & Ferb” at Disney TV Animation and it’s turning out to be another great experience that ranks right up there with the best in my career.  Yet all these great shows fall by the wayside when my kids watch one of my short animations that I’ve created, and laugh or tease me for my sense of humor.

How did you become interested in animation?
I was sitting in my apartment in Orlando, Florida, working as a boat driver at The Jungle Cruise at Walt Disney World when I figured out what I wanted to do.  From that point forward nothing was going to stop me from making it to Continue reading

Tony Craig

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What is your name?
Tony Craig
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
“The animation project I’m most proud of is the DVD video Bobs Gannaway, Jess Winfield and I did to wrap up the Lilo and Stitch tv series.  I know that it is relatively unknown, and I won’t get into the reasons for why I think the release of it was handled inappropriately, but the name of it is “”Leroy and Stitch””.  The reason I am proudest of it has to do with how it all turned out.  Usually, as a director, you have in your head what you think it should look like, and then when your show comes back from being animated overseas, it is not even close.  Then you get used to what you do have, and start molding it into the final show.  This project was the closest to what I had in my head.  I know that it is not feature quality, but when you consider the time and the budget we were given to do it (1/4 the time the Disneytoons folks got for Stitch has a glitch, and probably 1/8 or less of what they spent), well, I’m proud of what we pulled off.
The storyline is good too.  Bobs and Jess did a great job with the script and the transitions of emotion from scene to scene, action sequence to quiet sequence, musical parts, score…all of it came together.
House of Mouse was another fun one, because we were able to utilize any character from the history of Disney animation.  We were pulling the most obscure characters from old Silly Symphony cartoons and sticking them in the show, just for fun.
A personal project that I enjoyed doing was photographing old country and general stores across the state of North Carolina and compiling them into a book, “”Country Stores in North Carolina”.
How did you become interested in animation?
“I remember an evening at my grandparents’ house with my parents. I was still in a high chair, and I know this memory wasn’t based on photos or anything like that.  We went to see Disney’s “Pinocchio” that evening.  I fell asleep through most of it, but what I saw must have made an impression, or clicked in at that developmental stage of my infant mind. There was a copy of Christopher Finch’s book, “The Art of Walt Disney” in the reference section of our library.  Every family trip to the library, I would be at the end of that row, poring over the artwork.  I worked in the yard, saved my nickels, dimes, and quarters, until I had the $35 to buy my very own copy of that book, and I copied the pictures out of it regularly.

Alex Almaguer

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What is your name? Alex Almaguer. Or Alejandro Almaguer which is my real name that I used to use when I first started in animation. I think you can still find some early episodes of Johnny Bravo or Pinky and the Brain that I storyboarded that have my real name in the credits. And Big Poo. Don’t ask.

What would you say has been your primary job in animation?
Mainly Storyboards. It’s what I started on when I got into the industry and I’ve just stuck to it.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Storyboarding. It doesn’t get crazier than that.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’d have to say being a part of “The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.” It was the first time I REALLY got to write and draw my own boards. Within a few months on that show I was already coming up with my own gags and writing my own dialogue and learning how to tell a story. Back then, the studio was still doing the 7 min. format, so we really had a lot of freedom to get in and do a bunch of silly, dumb jokes and get out while telling a simple story at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di_LO1JqopA Continue reading