We are ending season one of the podcast with a banger with the one and only Steph Rizo, a Mexican-American Character Designer and Story Artist currently working at Sony Animation Studio! Learn how Steph tried to break into the industry as a character designer but instead broke in as a Story Intern for Walt Disney Animation! Her journey into story didn't stop there, as she soon got a job as a storyboard artist on Spider Verse 2! We also talk about her educational journey and her decision to study at a community college due to finical circumstances. She also talks about being more open about her sexuality and wanting to represent that more in her art moving forward. Steph journey into animation has been crazy, unorthodox and amazing! We hope you enjoy our final episode of season one of the Straight Ahead Animation Podcast!

Instagram: @steph_rizo

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This week we are joined by the incredible Daniela Dwek, a Middle-Eastern artist currently working at Pixar. We learn what happens on the technical side of animation as Daniela explains her role in the animation pipeline as a Character TD Model/Rigger. We also discuss her progression from Pixar Intern, to Resident, to Full-time employee. Daniela has had an amazing career in animation, but it started way before Pixar when she produced and directed the Student Academy Award-winning short film Hamsa. Daniela is so multi-talented and has a hunger for knowledge, find out more as you listen to this weeks episode!

Instagram: @mypassion4art

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Todays we are joined by Derrick Malik Johnson an African American Storyboard Revisionist currently working at Disney TVA. This episode gets a little heavy in certain subject matters than other episodes but it's still import to acknowledge and discuss these topics. Despite the difficult subject matters Derrick is an explosive wave of positivity and energy that you cant help but smile and laugh along with him. He talks about his amazing experience being the first black student from his alma mater to receive an animation internship. We also discuss the toxic school environment that certain professors created for him, causing him drop out for his own emotional and mental well being. Despite dropping out of art school, Derrick was able to land a full time position at Titmouse, and now he finds himself working on Disney's highly anticipated Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur as a Storyboard Revisionist. It is a very emotional journey in this weeks episode!

Instagram: @derrickmalikjohnson

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In this week episode we are joined by Taiwanese Storyboard Revisionist Rae Huang! Is she a person? Is she a goat? Who knows?! You have to listen to find out! As you listen you will learn how Rae got her start in animation as a 2D Animation Intern at Moving Colour! Did you know that BuzzFeed has an animation department? Well neither did we until Rae told us her experience working there as an animator/story artist. We also learn more about what it is like looking for work and attending school as an international student and so much more!

Instagram: @raehanim

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Today we have the wonderful Samia Khalaf a Palestinian/Lebanese Senior Concept Artist currently working at Funomena. Samia shares her experience attending school as an international student and the hurdles one has to go though when trying to get a work visa. We also talk about how Samia slowly started becoming more comfortable sharing her artistic voice and started creating art that she enjoyed and didn't worry so much about trying to cater her art to other people. Samia also talked about her amazing opportunity with Facebook/Oculus where she got to direct a short film titled Kteer Tayyeb about her love of food and the joy and memories that it created with friends and family. She talks more in depth about creating a story in VR and so much more! Sit back relax and get ready to expand you mind with Samia!

Instagram: @samsoomfull

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Andrew Arcilla is a Filipino-American working as a Production Coordinator. Unlike most of our guests, Andrew knew about many positions in the animation industry since high school, and made his his goal to join the community in a production role. We get wrapped up in Andrew's many passions, and one of us earns the title of Lego destroyer. We also talk at length about Andrew's love of musicals, the importance of feeding your soul, and his Space-Musical Podcast The Romulus 5. He also teaches as his Alma Mater, Woodbury University, and we talk about his experience there as well as his reasons for teaching. Let Andrew's sweet stories put you at ease on this week's episode of Straight Ahead.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-miguel-arcilla-777555172/

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Grey Chen is a Chinese-American Background Painter and Color Designer, currently working at Warner Bros. Animation! Hear how each of her past experiences prepared for the next, such as getting her start doing freelance color design work for PowerPuff Girls to becoming a full-time Color Designer on DreamWorks She-Ra! We also talk about Grey's tough decision of accepting a full-time PA job whilst still trying to complete her college degree at San Jose State University. The harsh reality of burnout also comes up and Grey talks to us on how she approached dealing with burnout. This episode is a super insightful and is a must needed listen!

Kristal Babich is a Chilean-American story artist and WIA mentor who has worked on a variety of projects. Grab some tips on the differences between boarding for stop motion, CG feature films, and even how that all differs from a comics pipeline. Even before that, Kristal nearly finished her degree for Biology Education, and learn about her decision to pivot her career trajectory. If you're in a similar position, know that it's never too late to learn something new! Kristal's perspective as a Latinx person growing up in Florida is greatly different than a Latinx-American from California. Even though we group people by continent (ie. South America, Asia, etc), the countries within them have largely different cultures. Just something to keep in mind as we become aware of how diverse our world is.

We've talked a lot about working as an artist or production crew in a pipeline, but... ¿Por qué no los dos? Christian Alvarez is a Production Coordinator that freelances as a Character Designer on the side. We talk about how he fell in love with production, what it's been like working on Kamp Koral: Spongebob's Under Years, his goals for recruiting in the future. Aside from work we get into how he built his instagram brand, Ghostlyre, and his love of unique Pokémon cards.

Twitter @GhostLyre

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

Continuing on our Latinx celebration, Janet Rodriguez is a Mexican-American freelancer for character design and illustration. Understanding where your aesthetic tastes come from can be a real boon, and being able to share those inspirations is a way Janet communicates with her team. We talk about her experiences at California State Fullerton, and how wanting to make genuine friendships has lead her to a full network (and a full freelancing schedule)! On the fence about pursuing art? So was Janet! We talk so much about her journey into the industry, the different styles of her digital and traditional art, and so much more!