Hello!
I’ve been involved in one way or another with animation for over a quarter century. Frequently, the entry point for a career in animation is childhood affection for a particular character or cartoon, but that wasn’t the case for me.
If I think really hard about it, I’d say the first time I became really excited about animation was Chuck Jones’ autobiography Chuck Amuck. The most exciting parts of the book were Jones’ descriptions of the atmosphere of a Golden Age animation studio: the wild personalities who experimented relentlessly, the story idea sessions where anything was possible, the exploration of a still-young art form. As much as anything, it was the possibilities of animation that fascinated me.
Fast-forward a few decades, and I’ve been involved in the animation world in various capacities from working on TV productions to researching and writing books to serving as an expert witness on character/production design in legal cases. But the work that I’m perhaps most proud of is publishing Cartoon Brew, a news resource that has steadfastly served the global animation community for over twenty years.
The online publication, with over 21,000 published articles and tens of thousands of daily readers, has been the most challenging writing and editing assignment of my lifetime. But the reward has been equally great: a front-row seat to the animation medium’s growth and evolution – as well as to all of its endless possibilities that fascinated me as a kid and continue to fascinate me to this day.
Books
- Upcoming: If It Ain’t Fun, To Hell With It! Ward Kimball’s Adventures in Disney, Jazz, Trains, and the Avant-Garde
- 2011: The Art of Pixar: The Complete Color Scripts and Select Art from 25 Years of Animation
- 2010: A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Sève
- 2009: The Art of Pixar Short Films
- 2007: Inside UPA
- 2006: Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation
- 2005: The Art of Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox’s Robots
Animation Projects
- 2024: Baby Bro (dir. Celia Bullwinkel) [Role: Executive producer]
- 2019: Substance (dir. Jamaal Bradley) [Role: Associate producer]
- 2017: Ugly (dir. Nikita Diakur) [Role: Associate producer]
- 2014: Sidewalk (dir. Celia Bullwinkel) [Role: Story consultant]
- 2003: Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon (Spike TV) [Role: Production coordinator]
Lectures, Panels, and/or Film Program Curation
- TAC – The Animation Conference (2024, Canada)
- MIFA – Annecy Int’l Animation Film Markets (2024, France)
- MIFA Campus (2018, France)
- GLAS Animation Festival (2018, USA)
- Sommets du cinéma d’animation (2017, Canada)
- Anibar (2016, Kosovo)
- Sorbonne symposium: Full or Limited? (2014, France)
- Festival by Pixelatl (2014, Mexico)
- Klik! Amsterdam Animation Festival (2013, The Netherlands)
- Ottawa International Animation Festival (2012, 2004, 2002, Canada)
- Elektra: International Digital Arts Festival (2010, Canada)
- Anima Mundi (2009, Brazil)
- Fredrikstad Animation Festival (2008, Norway)
- Platform International Animation Festival (2007, USA)
- Projector Festival (2006, Scotland)
- Walt Disney Animation Studios (USA)
- Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (2006, USA)
- Comic-Con International: San Diego (2000-’03, USA)
Film Jury Member
- Odense Int’l Film Festival (2019, Denmark)
- Cinekid Festival (2018, Netherlands)
- Animafest Zagreb (2017, Croatia)
- 3D Wire (2016, Spain)
- New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival (2015, Japan)
- Anim’est (2014, Romania)
- Festival by Pixelatl (2014, Mexico)
- Anifilm (2013, Czech Republic)
- Center for Urban Pedagogy’s Public Access Design Grants (2013, USA)
- Vimeo Festival (2012, USA)
- Animation Block Party (2010, USA)
- Ottawa International Animation Festival (2009, Canada)
- Fredrikstad Animation Festival (2008, Norway)