Straight Ahead Animation Podcast

Aishwarya Chandramohan is a story revisionist lead at Wild Brain studios. We discuss her role directing and mentoring her revisionist team, and her experience working with Canadian and Australian studios. Originally from Dubai, Aishwarya talks about going to school in America, completing her master's degree in character design for games, and all the twists that came with being an international student before landing on story. We touch on starting rates, our experience in interviews, joining the WIA story circle, and how she diversified the boards in her portfolio. Worldly and hilarious, there's never a dull moment in this week's episode. Plus, if you like the inbetween segment, you'll love how much time we spend ruminating on jumpsuit outfits and monster labor benefits.

Curie Lu is a Chinese-American, who is a Freelance Animator. She has not only worked as an animator for Powerhouse Animation's Castlevania but has also animated for Toei Animation's One Piece! In her off time, Curie is working on her own personal film Yaoguai where she talks a lot of inspiration from her own cultural background. Curie also talks about dropping out of CalArts and how she came to that decision. There is never a direct path to landing a job in this industry and we all ave to take our own journey to get there.

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Jeremy Vicentina is an Asian-American 3D generalist working for Grover Gaming: an expansive studio that makes games for casinos. Jeremy talks about his many duties as a Generalist, the test and interview getting there, and why he chose to accept the position. There are many benefits in going into a less-mainstream facet of animation, such as job security, relocation funding, and learning on the job instead of jumping straight into a AAA company. On top of this, we have a blast reminiscing about many things, but most importantly, what it was like being a kid faking migraines to obtain super powers.

Meet Joon Chung, script coordinator and absolute sweetheart. From the Sesame Workshop to his job at Nickelodeon, Joon is able to talk about his position as a Script Coordinator on the East coast of the US, and how that differs from the same position held in Los Angeles. Various other things have also helped Joon grow before breaking-in, like the Staten Island Art Grant, and the projects that can be funded by such organizations. We discuss importance of being seen in media whether that is a character who looks like you or a character who has made the same life choices as yourself. We also talk about the impact that improv and sketch comedy classes has had on Joon's skills as a writer. Join us as we enter the Jooniverse to learn more about what it's like being a writer in animation.

We're kicking off our AAPI heritage month celebration with Asians in Animation! Alisha Syed (External Relations Chair) and Katie Dizon (External Relations Director) talk about the organization, its goals and accomplishments, and about its founding with a small quote from Lexie Chu. Meant as a safe-space, Animasians provides resources and events for its members, but the true strength of AIA is its community. Learn how you can be a part of it, and take advantage of the opportunities this wonderful organization is supplying. On top of that, we touch a little on Alisha's and Katie's day jobs as post-production coordinator and production assistant (respectively), and how their experiences inform their work ethic. 

Instagram: @animasians

If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices!

Finally, our episode with Ulises Alvarado Llamas is here! Character designer, Vis Dev artist, and former roommate to Ray, we get down to tacks on what Uli does as a Character Designer for a 3D show at Nickelodeon. Uli talks about "Packeting", and the technical nuances between designing for a 3D show and a 2D show. Despite having such a stylized approach, Uli actually prefers designing for 3D! Wonder why that may be? Listen in to find out! But even before is job at Nickelodeon, Uli was invited to intern for Tonko House, and even had a summer internship at UBER. We even dig into his experience freelancing while still in school, and how he wishes he knew how to better balance his self-worth, health, and workload. With such a variety in productions, from corporate to indie, there's no shortage of experiences Uli has to tell.

Aerik Bertulfo is a Filipino-American animator at Dream View. We talk about his experience as a student transitioning to professional during the full-swing of the pandemic, which comes with certain quirks like working on a Virtual Machine. Aerik was also the co-writer, and inspiration for his thesis film: First Born. We talk about the cultural pressures, and implications of being the first born son in an Asian family, and how it has influenced his work. Developing his soft-skills and coming out of his shell is something Aerik attributes to joining the improv club at San Jose State University. Alongside those soft-skills, he also hones his hard-skills animating outside of his professional work... by making Kaiju fist-fight each other.

Portfolio: https://aerikbertulfo.com/home

Kayleen Acosta Rodriguez is a Dominican artist and our very first Lighting guest! Kayleen talks us through what her job entails, lighting and compositing as one of the final steps in the feature CG pipeline. But of course before that, we get to know how she got her start interning for three different studios: Bluesky, Hornet, and Disney! Kayleen talks about being a CG generalist, using Nuke and Toolkit. She also talks about the many things in lighting that gets her excited, and we get into the nuance of lighting for all skin types. She talks about her time at the School of Visual Arts... where she still lives! We get loud and proud of our art and our heritage (and our long last names), so get ready to party with us in this week's episode!

Zilai Feng is an Asian Story Artist at Pixar. Originally from China, Zilai only began to explore her Chinese identity after moving to the United States. We explore the inspiration for their Cal Arts short film, and Z's inspirations for her abstract style. We also touch on her many internships including Dreamworks, Tonko House, and Illumination (just to name a few), and her extended studying at the University of Southern California before Cal Arts. Let your worries be washed away by the compelling dream-like state of Z's journey.