Kevin Casas is a Latinx production coordinator and writer working at Nickelodeon studios! He studied Graphic Design in undergrad, and had no idea that production existed in the animation industry. As a graphic designer Kevin built skills in pitch packaging and communication, both of which translated into his role as a production coordinator. Kevin shares what duties are expected of production on CG shows like Max & the Midknights and Star Trek: Prodigy. Kevin strives to join the development ...
Dec 10, 2024•53 min•Season 4Ep. 136
Karolyn Schenewark-Moses is a Mexican-American artists working in Development at Nickelodeon. From intern to Production Coordinator, Karolyn tells us about what it's like to work in development, and what crucial role this department does in an animation company. Having been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, we talk about how her disability has affected her life and goals, but also about how the diagnosis gave her closure and outlets for how to manage it. Karolyn's original industry goals were to be a...
Nov 26, 2024•47 min•Season 4Ep. 135
Meet Harley Knife, a First Nations (Cree) artist who has been animating for over 11 years. He shares his start going from intern to full-time at YetiFarm Creative (now called Artists Animation Studio). He candidly shares his experience living with depression and grief, and how it has affected his work in the past. We touch on his hopes for the future: to inspire the next generation of Indigenous kids to explore careers in the tech industry (animation, development, or coding). IG: @thetinyrobotdo...
Nov 19, 2024•58 min•Season 4Ep. 134
Making his way to the ring we have Rajkamal Singh a Punjabi-American Character Designer who is currently working as a Storyboard Revisionist. How does something like this happen you might ask yourself? Well tune in and find out how it all started by attend D23! Portfolio: https://www.rajkamalsinghart.com IG: @ruberduckyboi Twitter: @ruberduckyboi Cara: @ruberduckyboi If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify t...
Jul 23, 2024•53 min•Season 4Ep. 133
Joining us this week is Nina Robinson, a black background artist! We talk about how she got her start and how she took any role that came her way and learned and she went. Ultimately she just want to make art for the gorls and we love to see it! Portfolio: https://www.neens-world.com/ IG: @nii.naa.bean If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a...
Jul 16, 2024•50 min•Season 4Ep. 132
Today we have Maritza Louis a Syilx & Secwépemc Character Modeler working in the animation industry! Maritza has experience that spans across Feature Animation, Game, VFX and Cinematics! With all this experience she has been using her knowledge to help mentor fellow native and other BIPOC artist break into the animation industry! Portfolio: https://maritzalouis.com/ IG: @_punchy_ Linktr.ee If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand...
Jul 09, 2024•59 min•Season 4Ep. 131
Vanessa Guvele shares her experience being fully remote for the Pixar 2020 internships, juggling Youtube freelance work, and how she made the most of what seemed to be a fleeting dream... that is, until she was offered the story residency! But first, she had to complete her schooling to fulfill the dreams of her immigrant mother. Learn how Vanessa deftly navigated all these things, and got to play DnD along the way. IG: @van_guv Youtube: VanGuv https://www.vanguv.com/ Edited by Ashley Itliong If...
Jul 02, 2024•47 min•Season 4Ep. 130
This week, we are proud to spotlight the Superhero Project: an organization dedicated to empowering youth impacted by serious illnesses, disabilities, community trauma, and other complex mental health or medical need. They interview these youths, and then design a superhero poster of them. We have the opportunity to speak with Taryn Cozzy, a creative director who also shares invaluable experience from her creative career; as well as Maria Jimenez, one of the many volunteers that make the magic h...
Jun 25, 2024•45 min•Season 4Ep. 129
Ricardo Scioville is a Latino character designer, story artist, and creator of Cazadores De Estrellas/Star Chasers. He shares his experience creating a pilot in collaboration with Cartoon Network Latin America, and the project's spontaneous creation. Ricardo chats about his time on Rey Mysterio vs. La Oscuridad, shares some emotional motivations about his inner-child, and we get to try out a new icebreaker game... Portfolio: https://www.behance.net/Rslle IG: @richiscioville Twitter: @RichiSciovi...
Jun 18, 2024•58 min•Season 4Ep. 128
From storyboarding to making their own comics, Chinook Cartoonist Quinne Larsen is telling their own stories! Tune is as we talk about their graphic novel with First Second Publishing and how that came about. We also chat about their love for storyboarding musical sequences. Did we mention they're also in a band? IG: @quinnecl Portfolio: quinnelarsen.net Edited by Edgar Arellano If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform a...
Jun 11, 2024•39 min•Season 4Ep. 127
Humble and hungry, James imparts a wealth of knowledge from his career path from production to writer in animation. We also get to chat about his dissertation on the Evolution of the Disney Princess he wrote for his Master's of humanities. And finally, we all give the well-deserved flowers to the significant others in our lives. IG: @rayoflight789 If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! I...
Jun 04, 2024•57 min•Season 4Ep. 126
Tune is as we talk to Manuela Escolar Gonzalez a Colombian animator who is currently working at Powerhouse Studios. We also discover that her love for How To Train Your Dragon is the reason why she decided to study at Sheridan College! Portfolio: manuelaescolargonzalez.weebly.com IG: @artisminerva Twitter: @Artisminerva Short Film: Mi Pukita Edited by Ashley Itliong If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify th...
May 28, 2024•53 min•Season 4Ep. 125
Tune in as we talk to Haruka Sato, a Japanese concept artist working in Japan. Learn about all the different jobs Haruka worked until she landed her Background Painter role on an anime feature film. Portfolio: https://harukasato.com/ IG: @here_is_haruka Twitter: @here_is_haruka Youtube: Make a Graphic Novel with ME! 2024 Edited by Edgar Arellano If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If ...
May 21, 2024•59 min•Season 4Ep. 124
Tune in as we talk to JohnTom Knight, a Cherokee Native writer working in animation. JohnTom mentions how the book We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy landed him his Script Coordinator Position on Spirit Rangers ! We also talk about how on Spirit Rangers he became known as The Lore Keeper! IG: @JohnTomKnight Twitter: @JohnTomKnight If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our pla...
May 14, 2024•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 123
Tune in as we talk to Kiana Khansmith, a Japanese/Jamaican artist working as a Director on Big City Greens at DTVA! We discuss her amazing rise from storyboard artist to director as well as her love for Team Rocket! IG: @kianamai Twitter: @kianamaiart Edited by Ashley Itliong If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ko-fi!...
May 07, 2024•51 min•Season 4Ep. 122
We are still alive! We are back with a brand new season and a brand new look! Tune in as we touch base about our animation journey and our personal lives. We also give our thoughts about the current state of animation and the use of AI. Ray's IG @radiosilence Yuli's IG @chuudles If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ko-fi !...
Apr 30, 2024•48 min•Season 4Ep. 121
Time for a throwback! This is a recording from 2021 of a panel Straight Ahead hosted during Geek Girl Conline. We hosted a round table discussion with Samia Khalaf, Steph Rizo, and Li Cree. We take this rare opportunity to share some of the many different paths one can take breaking into the animation industry. We talk about personal pitfalls in our early years, and how relatable those experiences can be. Samia tells us about her film she painted in VR, Kteer Tayyeb , and why she chose to tell t...
Dec 12, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 120
Kelly Lynne D'Angelo (she/they) is a Native—Haudenosaunee Tuscarora and Muscowpetung Cree—writer for animation, live action, and musicals, who also plays D&D professionally. Kelly kicks-off by telling the most insane story about how she met the producers of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia... who then gave her an internship! We get to chat about the process of Starry , a musical about brothers Theo and Vincent Van Gogh, and what magic happens in the writer's room before a production even be...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 119
Nicolette Ray is Native American, Acoma Pueblo, a storyboard artist and currently a game dev artist. She tells us about her strong start in animation, working for Wild Canary on Puppy Dog Pals for 5 years! We talk about work culture at Wild Canary, and the difference between working under Disney vs. Lucasfilm. We chat about her personal Native American Renaissance, as she dove into the history of her own people, and how connecting to those roots helped feed into her experience on Spirit Rangers....
Nov 15, 2023•59 min•Season 3Ep. 118
Entering the ring this week is Joey Clift, a Native American enrolled Cowlitz tribal member, currently working as a freelance writer. Not only has Joey worked as a Staff Writer and Consulting Producer for Netflix's Spirit Rangers , he has also wrote and directed his own animated digital series Gone Native for Comedy Central. Joey has a love for comedy and has a unique sense of humor that has helped him pitch and sell shows. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did! IG: @joeycliiiiiift Tw...
Nov 07, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 117
Ashley Chung works as an Associate Animator in the video games industry! In her first job working at Steamroller Studio she was thrown into the deep end working on Mortal Kombat 1! Ashley also talks about taking additional animation classes post graduation really helped her improve as an animator. Tune in and find out more about the world of animating for video games! Portfolio: ashleychung.com IG: @ashthemush Twitter: @ashthemush If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Po...
Oct 31, 2023•43 min•Season 3Ep. 116
Steve Sandoval talks about how he slipped into the cracks of animation. Out of high school Steve started working as a carpenter with his cousins, unfortunately was laid off in 2007 due to a recession. However, Steve took this as an opportunity to go to school to study animation! One of the things Steve loves to do is plein air paint and posting it to social media. Eventually Robh Ruppel came across his works and asked if he wanted to work on Entergalactic. Steve has had an amazing journey into a...
Oct 24, 2023•50 min•Season 3Ep. 115
Sofia is a Mexican-Salvadoran American storyboard artist currently working for a studio based outside of the US. Find out how Sofia's journey in the entertainment industry shifted from live action to animation. Not every journey is a straight path, alot of times its a winding path that goes in several different directions. She worked several non-union jobs before landing her first industry job as an artist at Warner Bros. Animation. Despite the current state of the animation industry, Sofia has ...
Oct 10, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 114
Angela Sánchez is a Xicanx writer and magician with a shining personality. We have a blast talking about their work on Primos , how their work with Latinx in Animation led to the position, and about how cathartic it was to work on a Latine/Hispanic-American show. We dive back into her first gig, her time at school, and how she didn't even know writing for television was a career one could have! We also get to chat about Scruffy and The Egg , their children's book that draws from the times she an...
Oct 03, 2023•57 min•Season 3Ep. 113
Jose Hernandez is an El Salvadorean-American freelance artist for Visual Development. We chat about how he got his start doing an unpaid internship, how the industry has changed over time, and the reality of getting through the valleys of the industry as a freelancer. He takes us through his artistic journey not being able to go to university out of high school, joining mentorships, and learning on the job. We talk a lot about his time on The Casa Grandes, and sprout a conversation about culture...
Sep 26, 2023•46 min•Season 3Ep. 112
Kayse Villalba shares her experience wearing hats in both 2D animation and storyboarding positions. We chat a lot about workflow and expectations when working in rigged animation, grabbing fun shots while working for Studio Yotta, and how animation can differ wildly per production. Kayse also shares insights into how her experiences have informed each other art job she's had, from awareness of animation while boarding scenes to just having a positive attitude when starting a new role. We chat ab...
Sep 19, 2023•50 min•Season 3Ep. 111
Yanna Casey is a Black artist working as a production coordinator in Atlanta, Georgia! We talk about their position as a PC outside of Los Angeles, and the ID she did for Adult Swim before deciding she didn't want to pursue an art role professionally. We also learn about Yanna's background in music production, and how they incorporate that into their personal art. We also talk about getting in touch with your passions, like creating the art that you want, or collecting black funko pops. Instagra...
Sep 12, 2023•54 min•Season 3Ep. 110
Cynthia Furey is a hapa-vietnamese-italian-irish writer and currently a staff writer for Nickelodeon! Follow her journey of building connections through Sesame Workshop, Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, and the CBS writer's program. We chat about her experiences on The Ghost and Molly McGee , Hello Jack! , and Tiny Chef . But before her career in screenwriting, she worked as a food writer for the Orange County register for 8 years! Learn all about her career shift, and the differenc...
Sep 05, 2023•55 min•Season 3Ep. 109
This week we are honored to spotlight Rise Up Animation, an organization that offers mentorship and portfolio reviews to burgeoning BIPOC talent. (fun fact: the idea for Straight Ahead was inspired by Rise Up!) To tell us all about this wonderful organization is co-founder and 16-year industry veteran: Frank Abney. We have such a great time chatting with Frank and listening to his wealth of insights into the Industry. We chat about the history of RUA, its goals as an organization, and some commo...
Aug 29, 2023•47 min•Season 3Ep. 108
This week we are proud to host Black Card Members' founder Celeste C. Black Card Members is a space meant for empowering creatives of color from all backgrounds. They are an online, international-friendly community that provides a safe space for creatives to grow and bond while providing prompts and events to nurture that creativity. Cel chats with us about her background as an event organizer and creative person themselves, and how BCM began as a humble Zine project. We chat about BCM's events ...
Aug 22, 2023•42 min•Season 3Ep. 107
