A collection of my interviews with women who work in the field of Animation covering their personal history, views on animation, and advice for women who would like to become animators.
Looking for the most up-to-date information and articles on Women Animators? Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WomenAnimators/
Showing posts with label Women of Animated Film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women of Animated Film. Show all posts
Christmas is right around the corner. If you're looking for a gift for that special someone in your life, I hope you'll consider some of the following products that were produced by women animators:
Do your kids like penguins? Monica has a book following the adventures of her original characters "Penguin and Peep". 'Penguin and Peep: Feathered Friends' is for sale online via Monica's webstore.
You can also find her book, as well as some extra Penguin and Peep merch, for sale on her Etsy store: ArtistMonicaBruenjes.
Angie Novak (née Hauch)
Lake Michigan inspired and produced jewelry using Great Lakes natural resources (and some not so natural) sold through her "Straight from the Lake" webstore.
Catherine and Sarah Satrun
The Satrun sisters have lots of their original artwork for sale on their webstore and you can find selected prints of theirs made into t-shirts on their Threadless shop.
Joan Gratz
Need a little serenity in your life? Academy Award winner Joan Gratz has released a coloring book of her designs for sale on Amazon.com. Time to break out the colored pencils and pens for some quiet time with The Amazing Cosmic Coloring Book.
Corrie Francis Parks
And lastly, but certainly not least, for that budding animator in your life (or maybe the experienced animator who wants to expand their toolkit) we have Fluid Frames written by Corrie Francis Parks.
If you'd like to see Corrie's bona fides, as it were, check out her film 'A Tangled Tale' on her website -- or watch it below. This hybrid digital/traditional sand animation film was produced using many of the techniques she discusses in her book.
I've been attending the Ottawa International Animation Festival since 1994. Coincidentally, 1994 was also Pilar Newton-Katz's first year at the OIAF. For the better part of twenty-some years, we'd see each other at the festival but our paths never intersected. One day about five or six years ago, we were both heading to a screening of MTV Animation films and I found myself standing on an escalator behind Pilar and finally said 'hi'. At that point, I pretty much had made a friend for life. Pilar is one of those bundles of positive energy who seems to be guided by the philosophy that "every stranger is a friend I haven't made yet." And over the years, it's been a real joy to interact with her, learn about her history, and hear about the exciting projects that she's working on before she jets off to share her energy with other festival attendees. There are a lot of things about the Ottawa festival that I look forward to all year and Pilar is one of them. It is my pleasure to introduce Pilar to those of you who have never met her in person and reintroduce her to those of you who have fond memories of her boundless enthusiasm for animation.
* * *
CW: What is your current job description?
PNK: Animator, Director, Illustrator, and Animation Professor at the City College of New York and Kingsborough Community College -- both part of the City University of New York.
CW: How long have you worked in the animation industry?
PNK: A little over twenty years.
CW: You've mentioned in previous conversations that your parents were always supportive of your desire to be an artist. But when did you know that you wanted to be an animator? Was there a single defining moment?
PNK: Watching the Smurfs on TV on Saturday mornings really blew me away. I had no idea how that cartoon was made as I was 8 at the time, but I just knew that was what I wanted to do.
CW: What roles have you performed during your career in animation?
PNK: I started off as an inbetweener on a series of short films that John Dilworth of Stretch Films fame directed for Sesame Street. He then moved me over to take on scenes to animate, working directly off of layout that he handed directly to me in the tiny studio. When Courage the Cowardly Dog launched I was a prop designer and a Story Board revisionist on that show. I then went on to be a layout artist at MTV for shows like Daria. I’ve done character design and BG design too as well as storyboard and sheet timing.
CW: You have worked for studios and as an independent, which do you prefer and why?
PNK: I love working independently. With a slightly more flexible schedule I can be PilarToons and I can also teach which I am now equally passionate about, particularly at the college level.
Also, working independently I attract clients that more or less give me creative freedom to interpret their projects.
CW: You've stated that you're pretty busy working on jobs and bringing in more jobs, are you able to find time in order do more personal work?
PNK: Amending my previous answer: I am doing more personal work lately because I just started grad school this summer at the School of Visual Arts MFA Visual Narrative program. It is heavy on illustration and creative writing. In the next couple of years I will have illustrated a graphic novel and a picture book and a number of other really cool things.
I’m also in the process of developing a series of shorts geared towards girls.
CW: Let's go back to your time working for MTV Animation. You once told me a funny anecdote about how you drew yourself into the crowd scenes of Daria's "I Loathe a Parade". Did you have to get permission to do that or was it a little mischief that you played on the producers?
PNK: It was the producers on the show that came up with the idea to pad the show side characters with likenesses of Daria crew. There were only so many characters that the designers could come up with for dozens of kids walking through the halls of the school and scenes that take place in the town such as a supermarket or a sporting event or parade. So we had a model pack full of teen versions of the Daria crew as well as the generic kids and townspeople.
Editor's note: If you see a girl with short hair and red shirt in the Daria parade scene, that's Pilar! :)
CW: You've been branching out into illustration work. Is this a recent development in your career?
PNK: I’ve illustrated over 20 children’s books for companies such as Nickelodeon, Random House and Little Golden Books. I do character art for licensing having worked on the style guides for Frosty the Snowman, Pink Panther and various Warner Brother’s properties. All of the illustration that I have done has been commissioned work. I am working on releasing my own children’s book soon.
CW: You've experienced first-hand the ups and downs of the New York animation scene. In the past while working on Daria, you were also doing some work on the side, so when Viacom shut down MTV Animation, it didn't impact you as hard as it did others. Do you think it's important for animators to have a 'fall back' skill that they can draw upon during times when animation work is scarce? (Examples: illustration, storyboarding, coloring, special-effects, etc).
PNK: Yes, Illustration became my 'fall back' skill. Whenever animation work dried up for a time, I would fall back on illustration work. For the past 6 years teaching animation became a really useful side gig. Now lately, teaching animation is more than something to fall back on, it is a passion of mine, particularly at the college level.
Pilar after the show with the Cybertronic Spree. 1
CW: You've been attending the Ottawa International Animation Festival for about twenty-five years now, what do you think is the best benefit for attending festivals?
PNK: I’ve been attending OIAF since 1994 and I also attend local festivals in New York City of which there are many. Going to festivals is inspiring and it is a really great way to get out there and show your face at industry events. It’s not a guaranteed way to get work even at networking events, but rest assured you will come away feeling really inspired.
CW: Speaking of the importance of networking at festivals (and being at the right place at the right time), would you share about how you got to meet industry luminaries Jon Musker and Ron Clements?
PNK: I met them because I attended a screening of the Little Mermaid at the Bytowne. All of my friends went to a Laika presentation. Musker and Clements gave a small introduction and the movie commenced. When the movie ended I was standing in the nearly empty theater chatting with some people when I noticed way on the other side of the theater Clements and Musker were just standing there talking to about three people. Myself and a couple other people ran over and introduced ourselves to them and they were both lovely and didn't seem to be in a rush at all. They took their time chatting with us until someone came and whisked them away to another event. Later that evening everyone else that I knew stood on line for an hour to meet them. I managed to take my picture with Jon Musker
Pilar, posing at the NightOwl party's live-drawing session. 1
CW: How has the industry changed for women animators since the time you started?
PNK: Having visited the Pixar studio a couple months ago I met so many amazing artists that were women who were story artists, directors, animators etc…
I can’t say with authority that there are more women that are in animation now than another time but I am pleased with the number of women that I am meeting in the industry
CW: If your daughter said that she wanted to work in animation, what advice would you give her?
PNK: Draw, draw, draw! Practice drawing and never stop. Like my mentor John Dilworth told me “draw drawdrawdrawdraw!”
My advice would also be to not let whether you work in a studio or not define you as an artist. You are an artist whether you work in a studio or not.
CW: What is the most important thing that authority figures (parents, teachers, professors, etc.) can do to encourage girls who are considering a career in animation?
PNK: Tell them they can do it!
* * *
In addition to her teaching, Pilar is also the owner of her own boutique animation studio called Pilartoons where she conducts most of her freelance work. I encourage everyone to take a look at her comic strip "Just Pilar", Pilar's humorous take on her life experiences as a grad student. And before you go, I also recommend checking out some of Pilar's freelance animation work on the Kabbalah Toons series that she directed for chabad.org (along with husband and Sound Engineer Ivan Katz) -- a series of animated shorts designed to teach concepts about science, Judaism, and the Torah to kids.
1. Photos copyright Charles Wilson.
2. All other photos, illustrations, and videos copyright Pilar Newton-Katz (PilarToons LLC) and used with permission.
It's March 8th, which means it's both Women's History Month and International Women's Day. So let's start out with a little history about women animators!
Back in November 2018, I drove out to Toronto to see a special screening of films by Lotte Reiniger including the rarely seen English version of Aucassin and Nicolette (which she produced for the National Film Board) and the even rarer Ring and the Rose (independently produced for Gordon and Patricia Martin), from an old 16mm film copy.
The event was hosted by Jonathan Culp at the TAIS Studios on Dufferin Street. And after an introduction by Jonathan, and a showing of the latest silhouette animation workshop film by Lynn Dana Wilton, the following films were shown:
The Art of Lotte Reiniger (the full documentary)
The Rose and the Ring
Carmen
Jack and the Beanstalk
Aucassin and Nicolette
Thumbelina
Grasshopper and the Ant
Lynn explaining the trick-table setup
Afterwards, we retired to the "Lotte Studio" where Jonathan talked about the history of Lotte's trick-table, how it came to be in his possession (along with a large amount of "animation artifacts" from Lotte's time in Canada) and what led up to his decision to donate the table to the Toronto Animated Image Society.
Dedication Plaque
Jonathan then placed a plaque on Lotte's trick-table to commemorate both her and the Martin's contribution to animation. The dedication video is presented below:
Now, if you would like to have an animation experience that touches upon a part of animation history, specifically the history of women animators, I would like to recommend a trip out to the Toronto Animated Image Society (tais.ca). TAIS has made Lotte's trick-table available for members to rent for their own animated films. Located at the TAIS Studio on Dufferin Street, the table setup comes with a digital camera, a Macintosh computer running DragonFrame, and a bottom-mounted set of lights. Studio Membership costs at TAIS are reasonable as are the rental fees for using the Lotte Studio.
Back in September, I was blessed to spend a day working on a silhouette film using Lotte's table before driving to the Ottawa International Animation Festival. And while I wouldn't call it a "religious experience" per se, it certainly was a very gratifying experience to work on an animation using a piece of animation history that was built by and used by a titan of animated film. If you have the time, I highly recommend the experience.
There's so much information out there from so many sources that it's impossible to repost it on blogs. So instead, I use a Facebook page as a 'women animators' news aggregate. If you're on Facebook, check out my page: The Women of Animated Film (https://www.facebook.com/WomenAnimators/).
I follow a lot of animation news sites, individual women animators, and crowdfunding campaigns. And when something women animator-related comes across my news feed, I'll repost it on Facebook. So if you're looking for more up-to-date info, please feel free to visit, like, and subscribe.
Rather than force people to sift through months upon months of my mad rambling about animation over on my Smudge Animation blog, I've created a repository blog filled with the interviews I've conducted (and some other posts I've found interesting enough to talk about). That way, you don't have to go sifting through years of my mad rambling about animation and pictures of butterflies to find the interviews that you want to read and share with future animators.
One of the cool things about supporting animators (on Crowdfunding sites and thru their website stores) is the wonderful swag you can get. Yes, yes, I know: "virtue is its own reward" and we should be supporting these animators regardless of perks and rewards. But that doesn't change the fact that above and beyond the reward for being altruistic, the perks can be pretty cool!
So, I'd like to share some pictures of the wonderful products I've purchased, rewards I've been presented with, and gifts I've been given during my time supporting women animators.
Signe Baumane: Water spirit drawing/cel from Rocks in my Pockets
The "water spirit" from Rocks in my Pockets
Back when Signe and her producer, Sturgis Warner, were taking Rocks in my Pockets on tour, the closest it was going to screen to my hometown was Chicago. So, I enlisted a pair of friends who were familiar with the area and we made the five-hour drive to the windy city for a day of Chicago-style pizza and animation. I was already going to receive the DVD of her feature as a Kickstarter reward, but having seen sneak peeks at other venues, I really wanted to see her film in a large scale format. Well, Signe was floored that we made the ten hour round-trip drive to see her film. As a special 'thank you' for supporting her film, Signe gifted me a drawing from Rocks in my Pockets.
* * *
Joanna Priestley: framed "cel" from her film All My Relations
Paper cel from All My Relations
In 2016, I was working on my history of women animators class for Huntington University. One of the most fun aspects of the class for me personally was expanding my research by hunting down lots of DVDs. Many of these films I had seen in the past during my college classes or at festivals, but if you're going to teach a subject, it's really best to refresh your memories. One such purchase was the latest compilation DVD from Joanna Priestley. For supporting her work, Joanna was kind enough to include an original production "cel" from her film All My Relations.
* * *
Samantha Inoue-Harte: 'Stitch' print
Also back in 2016, Samantha made a return trip to Michigan's own Alma Con. Well, for this visit, she brought a bunch of Lilo and Stitch artwork that she had produced for the House of Mouse. Sami had obtained a license from Disney to produce a limited number of these prints and sell them as a fundraiser for cancer research, to which she donated all the proceeds. Well, I really like Lilo and Stitch... and Sami... and it's for a good cause, so...
Now due to peculiarities of licensing, I can't post an image of the print, but suffice it to say, when you have the chance to support someone who is promoting a worthy cause, you take the opportunity to help out if you can. :)
* * *
Satrun Sisters: Fairy Sleep print
Fairy Sleep by Sarah Satrun
This was the first print that I purchased from the Satrun Sisters--the full story of which was printed earlier this week in part two of the Satrun Sisters' interview. A short while later, they visited the Grand Rapids Comic Con and I couldn't resist picking up two of their framed mermaid prints that would go along nicely with the fantasy art theme in one of my rooms.
Having been a fan of Jessica's work for years, when she started selling t-shirts with her delightfully subversive bunny on her website Foolish Kingdom, I had to have one!
Canadian Crest by Jessica Borutski
Jessica was also one of the first women I interviewed for this blog. For years afterwards, I'd see her at the festivals and say "hi" but I never had an opportunity to say "thank you for the interview" in a more tangible way until the summer of 2014 where she had an artist's table at TAAFI. So I was able to support her by purchasing one of her Canadian crest t-shirts. It never ceases to get a laugh and positive comments whenever I wear it.
Additionally, on Jessy's website Foolish Kingdom, she released paper cut-out dolls of her characters. So far, I've only got the I like pandas figures printed and assembled. But the mole and bunny from The Good Little Bunny with the Big Bad Teeth are on my list of things to do on a rainy day.
Panda 2 and Panda 1
* * *
Monica Brujenes: Penguin & Peep Kickstarter rewards
Penguin & Peep! Little Moments by Monica Brujenes
The last animator I'll showcase is ASIFA Central's own Monica Brujenes. A year ago, Monica hosted a crowdfunding campaign to produce a cartoon book called Little Moments featuring her original characters Penguin and Peep. Some of the rewards you could get as part of this campaign included Penguin & Peep stickers, original hand painted art:
Penguin & Peep painting by Monica Brujenes
exclusive prints:
Exclusive Print by Monica Brujenes
and original autographed drawings in our copies of Little Moments.
Penguin & Peep ink drawing by Monica Brujenes
As I alluded to at the start of this article, yes we should be supporting women animators regardless of the perks--but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the art that they create and make it a part of our lives. If you've clicked on any of the hyperlinks, you've been taken to these talented ladies' websites where you can support their work yourself. Regardless, I hope that in the future, you will all find a woman animator whose work resonates with you. And if you have the resources, take the time to support them financially. Every little bit of encouragement helps them as they produce their films.
I first learned about the Satrun sisters many years ago through their illustration work and prints, though it wouldn't be until several years later that I met them in person at the Grand Rapids Comicon. Regulars at the convention scene, the Satrun Sisters embody an entrepreneurial spirit as they divide their time between freelance animation work, selling their original artwork online and at conventions, and producing commissioned art.
As we proceed through the interview, I've selected works of art that Catherine and Sarah have created, works that I think represent their unique style as well as ones that appeal to me personally. And if one of them catches your eye, click on the hyperlink in the picture caption, you'll be taken to their Etsy store where you can purchase prints. Additionally, they have a Society 6 storefront where you can buy merchandise printed with their artwork. And you can view their full line of artwork and animations on their website: sketchyduo.com.
Veteran animators and twin sisters, Catherine and Sarah Satrun hail from the Chicago-area where they work as freelance animators and illustrators for both independent and corporate clients... but, I think I'll let them tell you their story:
CW: What are your current job descriptions?
CS: We're freelance animators and illustrators. We do concept art, character design, storyboarding, animation, and illustration.
SS: We wear many hats, doing whatever is needed--just having that skill-set to go anywhere.
CW: How long have you worked in the animation industry?
CS: Twelve years.
SS: Time flew by!
CW: How did the two of you get into animation?
CS: After college we did some storyboarding and concept art for independent projects--things like indie films and personal-type projects. Like concept art, pitches, and storyboards. And that gave us experience, just get our foot in the door so we'd have that experience on our résumés. And then we approached Calabash [Animation] to see if we could get some freelance work. Then that December after graduation we started doing some clean-up work at Calabash and from there--we got a lot of experience at Calabash and that's where our skills started to really develop.
So, from there we got to go on to get more animation work--independent contractor-type work at other studios and other indie projects.
CS: We would've loved to go to CalArts or someplace else like that and travel. But there was no way we could afford that. Instead, we got Associates of Art [degrees] at community college and then transferred over to Columbia College.
SS: We couldn't afford to go live in the dorm and have that kind of college life experience. It was out of the question.
CS: We were lucky to have Columbia College here. That really helped a lot.
SS: That was back in the day before we had all those online schools and stuff and that online training.
CW: You mention that Columbia was a good choice for you, being local and a more affordable choice, was there a lot of cross training? Story, drawing?
SS: Well for us, we didn't have the typical experience. Because we did one degree first, and all our "Gen Eds" first, we transferred over. And then in two, two-and-a-half-years, we squeezed in all of the curriculum so we were super art and animation heavy, we had to do it all at the same time. We would have loved to take other classes like watercoloring, painting, sculpting, and illustration, but there wasn't enough time in our schedules.
CS: Every class was like a studio class for us. It was really hard and the teachers even commented, it was not recommended to do what we did but we still did it.
SS: We handled it. And we were still working and then doing school work and homework and all the projects and I don't know we just made it happen.
CS: And handled part-time jobs on top of that. Sometimes you get a lot more hours than you want and then we were animating, I remember multiple times having to animate... quickly whip out the animation like a few hours--one hour even before it was due. I remember doing that. Like we go in, y'know, we were spending all our time commuting and working part-time jobs, you just make it work. You have a lot of late nights. A few all-nighters.
CW: When did you know that you wanted to be an animators?
CS: Pretty much our whole lives, since early grade school it was really, really obvious to our parents and all of our teachers and other classmates that we were going to be artists, professionally. There was just no question that we were going to do something in the arts. Because we've always loved to draw and we've always loved the art of animation, it just always seemed natural to go that route.
CW: Was it mainly the art of animation itself, like the physical act of drawing or were you also involved in the music or the color design?
SS: We were always interested in the visual art, the drawing aspect of animation, because we were always drawing. And then, do you remember, there's was this vintage toy little projector and you put these yellow large plastic cartridges into it and it was like a little projector projecting on the screen and you would hand crank it and it would have little short clips of film from classic animated shorts... Mickey Mouse and the ghost, that little animated sort. Robin Hood, I think it had him dancing...
CS: The whole chase scene from Robin Hood...
SS: Right, so we had all these little cartridges of clips, little clips from a whole bunch of different films, so when we were really young, we had that, and we went frame by frame and you could just see the movement and you understood that "omigosh these are all just drawings" and look how it comes together and it was just so beautiful. We always appreciated the art of animation in terms of the hand craftsmanship, so I think that was a really big influence on us.
The Fisher Price Movie Viewer Theater
CW: Was there someone in your past who encouraged you or inspired you to become animators?
[both laugh]
CS: Our Dad just walked in...
SS: You just asked that question when our Dad walked in [the room]...
CS: Our parents, yeah yeah, growing up our parents they bought us a lot of books and art supplies when we were little. And actually our Dad was the one who brought home the projector. He brought that home from an auction, so that was a big thing and then like our Mom, instead of toys she kept buying us books and art supplies, so that was really good.
Also, when we were in Junior High, our Dad took us to hear a Disney animator give a talk at a mall. So we got to hear an actual Disney animator talk about animation and also how hard he had to work--he really emphasized how hard he had to work to get into animation and also specifically Disney too. I think he applied like five or more times, so he emphasized how hard it was and how hard he had to work to get there. So that was really good to hear that.
Since Catherine and Sarah had so much information to gift us with, this interview will be separated into three full posts, so check back next week for Part two of my interview with the Satrun Sisters. But before you go, please take a look at Sarah's demo animation reel.
* * *
Portrait photo, artwork, and animations copyright Catherine and Sarah Satrun, used with permission.
