Christian Roman

What is your name and your current occupation?
Christian Roman, and I’m a story artist at Pixar.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
When I first moved to Los Angeles I did temp work at a medical supply rental company where I was put in charge of filing. Being a compulsive doodler, I couldn’t help but redraw all of their labeling on the file cabinets. One file was for “Dead Files”, clients that were no longer active. The sign I drew for this file cabinet was of tombstones and such, not making the connection that it was a medical supply company and that the files were probably for literally dead clients. I was let go a few days after drawing that.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’m probably the most proud of being a part of Toy Story 3, which was the most collaborative and creative project I’ve ever worked on. It was thrilling to be involved in not only drawing the story, but helping to collaboratively craft the story as well. The second would be Disney’s Fillmore!, which was also very collaborative and creative, and probably the most indicative of what I personally can do cinematically and artistically. Third, when I was on the Simpsons I put together a handout called ‘Storyboarding the Simpsons Way’ which has taken on a life of it’s own outside the studio, and I’m pretty proud of that.   In fact, I once went to a lecture on storyboarding and the lecturer gave everyone a copy of it!
How did you become interested in animation?
As a kid, I always loved watching all kinds of animation, but I typically would draw superheroes rather than cartoony characters. It never occurred to me that animation was drawn by anyone, it just existed. Not until Continue reading

Maurice Morgan

What is your name and your current occupation?
Maurice Morgan, Freelance Designer/illustrator
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Nothing really out of the norm.  Got robbed twice at gun point working at two different food joints as a kid,  but that’s L.A.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
The Angry Beavers  – Great looking show, fun designs, great crew, crazy hours & politics, lots of martini’s, lots of laughs and I drew my butt off.Invader Zim – Another great looking show, pencil heavy;  got cramps in my hands & forearms from all the noodling in the design work.Kid Notorious – A nightmare production that shaved off ten years of my life but I’m damn proud of the work we all put into it.  Thanks for the martini’s and the memories, Bob. Flavio – Not only did I love the flavio character but Continue reading

Louie del Carmen

 

What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Louie del Carmen and I’m a story artist at Dreamworks Animation

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Nothing real crazy but I was an FM DJ in Manila before I came to the US and one of my early jobs after coming to America was a hotel room service order taker.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’ve learned from EVERY show i’ve worked on whether they were hits or not but I loved my last TV gig on the MIGHTY B!  KIM POSSIBLE was another awesome show.  INVADER ZIM was challenging and the people where downright insane. In other words: FUN.  RUGRATS was where I learned to board and eventually direct series so that was memorable.  The few episodes I boarded on GRIM ADVENTURES of BILLY AND MANDY really challenged and eventually elevated my work.  Really proud of those.  And of course, working alongside some really amazing, world class talent on KUNG FU PANDA.
How did you become interested in animation?
I probably didn’t recognize it but growing up watching Japanese toons like Tetsujin (Gigantor) and Mazinger Z as well as all the american fare like Johnny Quest, Herculoids and Space Ghost, I guess I was always interested.  It wasn’t until I was Continue reading

Paul Scarlata

What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Paul Scarlata and I’m currently a storyboard revisionist working on Regular Show at Cartoon Network.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
In high school I worked at a hobby/computer game software shop and in college I worked at a music/comic book store in Boston called Newbury Comics.  So nothing too crazy, but perfect for a young nerd like myself, priming me for my future career.  I was fortunate in that the first job I got after college was an animation job, on King of the Hill as a character designer.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’ve been part of some great shows, and am proud and honored to have had the opportunity to be a part of them.  I worked on King of the Hill for over 7 years, which was also my first job in animation, doing character design, then character layout, and finally storyboards.  I was at Family Guy for the better part of a year before moving to American Dad, which I worked on for about three years.  I had fun and learned a lot on those shows, having worked with some really cool and amazingly talented people, but I must say I’m most proud to be involved with Continue reading

Maeve McGrath

What is your name and your current occupation?

Maeve McGrath, Flash artist and animator
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Worked at a pet store and helped hatch lizards and baby birds, fed mice to snakes.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
The Simpsons Movie, Neopets the startup…

How did you become interested in animation?

Ever since I watched my first cartoon as a kid, I have been interested…I created my own comic books based on the smurfs. They are pretty bad, but when I was little I thought they were awesome…

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?

I grew up all over the world.  Lived in Papua New Guinea and Burma, among other places… I found myself in Continue reading

George Zaleski

 

What is your name and your current occupation?

George Zaleski, currently finishing producing an educational video for the CA school system called “Invaders from around the world”
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I worked for an Air force Research Lab as a photography assistant. I got to take pictures of jets and copters used for radio research. Funny thing is that I got the job by putting “coke dealer” on my resume , because I managed a soda machine in college. That made me stand out from the rest.
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
The work I have done for USC Sea Grant. I really like working with Continue reading