Animator

Po- because I was such a HUGE fan of the first film. It was a real treat to get to make him come to life!

I think every scene is hard. There's always something I don't know how to do and have to figure out. Animating Princess Anna was the hardest challenge I've had to date.

I think I'm most proud of KFP2 because I was such a big fan of the first film that it was a dream come true to work on the second. I never thought that would be possible.

First thing is get the skills you need. Either go to a college and focus on getting a strong reel or attend online workshops like ianimate or classes like animationmentor Any one of these options should lead you to work on your animation skills and develop a strong demoreel. That's step one! The next thing would be submitting your work to the different studios and start gathering production experience.

I am formally trained. I first went to Ringling School of Art and Design where I received a BFA in Animation and a Minor in Photography. And then later on decided my animation skills just weren't where they needed to be to work in film so I enrolled in Animation Mentor.

I grab a coffee from the common area on the second floor, which they call the 'Caffeine Patch' (a reference to Meet the Robinsons .) I go to my office, check my email and calendar for the day, and I also like to look at the latest updates on the server.

We have a program that catalogs all new submissions for every department and every project. It's inspiring to see the animation that people submit on a daily basis. It's great for staying up to date on a project and being influenced by the best work that other artists are creating.

Good question. There's a lot of animators where I just admire how they can get so much life into their shots. Here's a list of just a few. David Stodolny because his animation is so sincere, fluid and natural. Jason Ryan and Dave Burgess for their whimsical and cartoony yet emotional style. Victor Navone for his technical skills and knowledge of motion, spacing and timing. Dave Hardin and Glen Keane for the realistic and organic approach they deliver in their work. All these animators have a real sense of believability and sincerity in their work that I admire and try to put into my own.

I am most familiar with Photoshop animation. It is a unwieldly, and unopopular animation style, but it I have found it very useful for practicing animated illustrations. It also gave me patience when working in other mediums such as with Maya. I prefer a key frame/pose by pose style, where I draw/pose the key frames first, and try to get the timing and acting right first. Then I work on arcs and so forth.

My career goals are to work on a production team an a character designer or storyboard artist.

Adaptable, quick learner, aproachable and open to critique.

That is always exciting. 3 of my films have been nominated and one, Golden Compass actually won for Best Visual Effects.

All around. There's always some new funny youtube clip or inspirational animation circulating around the studio. We at work and my friends are always sending each other new animation shorts and talking about ideas all the time. I guess I constantly find inspiration in those things.

I struggled in school, but with my return, I excelled in places I thought weak. My accomplishment was a matter of going through a very important learning experience early on.

I usually wake up around 7am, and because I walk to work, I'm usually there between 8 and 8:30. It's uncommon to walk to work in LA County, but in Burbank it's quite a good setup.