Rounding out our Special Speaker Series is Karissa Valencia: Executive Producer and Showrunner on Netflix Animation’s “Spirit Rangers”. Karissa shares what it's like being a show-runner for a children's series, how she gathered her all-indigenous writer's room, and the inspiration behind "Spirit Rangers". We also talk about how Karissa's past experience as a production intern led to her being a more mindful writer and well-rounded director. Karissa also takes us through her cultural experience a...
Aug 30, 2022•47 min•Season 2Ep. 76
Servan Castillo got his big break in 2013 as an intern for Titmouse Animation. Dive back with us into Servan's career as an animator, from working on Superjail and the Midnight Gospel, and how he saw the role of the animator evolve in the past decade. We talk about his shifted from animator to storyboard artist, and how even though he has such a rich history in this industry, how he feels green in this new role. We talk about his lucky break working on Vox Machina and Castlevania, and how he ove...
Aug 16, 2022•51 min•Season 2Ep. 75
Continuing on our Special Speaker Series, Grace Han is a Korean-American working in Montreal, Canada as a rigging artist for the VFX industry. While the VFX and Animation industries are very closely related, and if you rig for 3D animation you can jump between both, we also talk about what's more often expected in VFX vs. Animation for a rigger. From Spiderman to octopi, we talk about what can be more interesting for a rigging artist to tackle, and how artistic flare can be brought into such a t...
Aug 09, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 74
Starting out strong on our August Speaker series with Jalysa Leva: creator of the PBS kids show Jelly, Ben, and Pogo! We ask Jalysa how JBP first developed, and her journey leading-up to the opportunity for her to pitch a show. Jalysa values community and kindness, backed with her experience as an animation director, hear how she applied these to the production and what seemed to work to benefit the show. We talk about struggling with perfectionism, finding your own cultural connection, and stre...
Aug 02, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 73
From Muppet babies to Murder hobos on Harley Quinn, Jennifer shares her experience working in production at Warner Bros. Animation. We chat about how Jennifer brings her experience earning her BFA in Animation to production. Then how after graduation, she persevered for 2 years against the catch 22 of our industry: needing experience on the job to get the job before you have the job. Ray and Jennifer also share their experiences on a show suddenly being cancelled mid-production, and how that per...
Jul 26, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 72
This week we have Michael Rodriguez a Dominican-American writer currently working in animation! Michael has worked for a verity of different studios such as Nickelodeon, Disney and Warner Bros. He is also currently in development with Disney for an original animated series! Learn more about how you bring authenticity to your work and the stories you want to tell! Also learn more about to Tag POC Writers Committee! Portfolio: https://www.michael-rodriguez.net/ Twitter: @mrodrig94 TAG POC Writer's...
Jul 19, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 71
Kick back and listen in to this knock-out episode with Kimmie King! First we dive into her latest job as a retake animator for Rick & Morty, and all the duties and expectations that come with it. Learn about the indie animation scene through Kimmie's experience working on Battu and Helluva Boss. Then jump into the world of Spongebob 360 through the eyes of an animator. Hear her story on how she became the director for the opening of Ziwe's late night show on Black Entertainment Television (B...
Jul 05, 2022•56 min•Season 2Ep. 70
Meet Shannon Parayil, an Indian-American Visual Development artist. Currently working at Sony Animation, Shannon has also worked for a variety of studios including Nickelodeon, Disney, Warner Bros, and Netflix. We discuss what it's like being on such short contracts with studios, and where she was recruited for those projects in such a short time. We dive a lot into Shannon's experience as a student, and how putting aside her own art goals to fill production roles paused her growth as an artist....
Jun 21, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 69
This week is a bit of a special episode, as we were reached-out to by Women in Animaton to feature their new initiative: Stories x Women ("Stories by Women"). We talk with Marge Dean, President of WIA; Heather Kenyon, a mentor for the program; and Benoit Ginisty, Chief representative of FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations). We dive back into our animation roots with how WIA was first established, first-hand from Marge and Heather. We learn about how programs like Stor...
Jun 14, 2022•57 min•Season 2Ep. 68
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 ...
Jun 07, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 67
Ferrari Duanghathai Sotthisaowaphak & Tanta Vorawatanakul who are Thai Concept Artist who recently got married to one another! They talk about how they met and why they decided to pursue a masters degree at Academy of Art. We dive into what it is like to be in a relationship with a fellow artist and how they support one another. They also talk about some of the pitfalls of being a relationship with an artist and they overcome it. Ferrari & Tanta are amazing artist and individuals and it ...
May 31, 2022•56 min•Season 2Ep. 66
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 o...
May 24, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 65
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 ...
May 17, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 64
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 chara...
May 12, 2022•58 min•Season 2Ep. 63
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...
May 03, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 62
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...
Apr 26, 2022•53 min•Season 2Ep. 61
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 ...
Apr 19, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 60
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 n...
Apr 12, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 59
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 compellin...
Apr 05, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 58
Meet the real life Sparkle Cadet, a character from Craig of the Creek whose story is directly pulled from writer Shakira Pressley's life. Kira takes us through her incredible journey from what inspired her writing as a child, how she dropped out of college and taught herself to write professionally, and how an unlikely series of events led to her first freelance working for Man of Action. This episode is absolutely packed with information on writing in the animation pipeline from pitch, freelanc...
Mar 29, 2022•58 min•Season 2Ep. 57
Roxy Simons is a black writer working for both live action and animated content! We go over the differences between a writer's room for live action and animation. Roxy even talks about her experience on a show with live-action puppets, and the challenges that come with that medium. Before her career really took off, she also attended the Sesame Street fellowship: a writer's program with the intent of diversifying children's content by giving those minorities the skills to enter the industry. Eas...
Mar 22, 2022•51 min•Season 2Ep. 56
Marisa Torres is a Cuban-American artist working for Nickelodeon! We dive into her day-to-day working as a background painter for Santiago of the Seas. Marisa works in 2d to ideate, design, and paint how the assets will look before they reach that 3D stage. Before that, she was selected for the Nick Artist's program. She talks about how even with no self-confidence, she built herself up to continue forward through the application process. An auspicious meeting with Adrienne Norman, and a persist...
Mar 15, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 55
WE MADE IT TO EPISODE 50! Okay we know hit episode 50 a while ago so this is little late with this, but better late than never. Thank you to everyone who joined us live for our 50th Straight Ahead Episode Celebration Stream! We also want to thank our audience who have supported the podcast and has helped us create a platform to spotlight these rising BIPOC voices. In this episode we reflect back on how we started, what we have learned, and what the future holds. Learn some behind the scene inner...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Season 2Ep. 50
From board artist to supervising director, Jersey to California, listen in as Dashawn illustrates how his career took off. Learn about his time at OddBot, and afterwards his transition from revisionist to board artist at Cartoon Network. We even get to touch on Valorous Tales , a comic he drew for fun on his own that ultimately helped land him his first story job! Speaking of comics, Dashawn reveals more about his current project, The Brother's Boom. He also shares what it's like being a supervi...
Feb 22, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 54
This week we have the incredibly wonderful Angela Entzminger, a black artist who is currently working as a Story Artist and Writer. Everyone journey into animation is different and Angela is proof. Her animated journey took 15 years before landing her first job as a Pixar Development Intern. Since then Angela has worked on Nickelodeon's Santiago of the Seas as a Storyboard Artist and for Warner Bros. Animation's My Adventures with Superman as a Writer. She is just a wealth of amazing knowledge w...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 53
Aaron Cobb is a cool and collected individual, and a background painter at Wild Canary. Already in his brief career, Aaron has worked for television, feature, and VR games in a variety of roles from Background Paint to freelance Character Design. Speaking of, we touch on the differences between Background Designers and Background Painters (small distinction we haven't really discussed before). Peer into Aaron's student days as we reminisce on his hands-on internship at Linden Labs, and how his p...
Feb 08, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 52
Black 'N Animated is an organization that is focused on the empowerment of Black students and professionals in the animation industry. But before that, it was simply a podcast crated by Breana Williams and Waymond Singleton. On top of all the information revolving around BNA, we are also able to touch on Bre's own journey, and her aspirations to move from Production to Storyboarding. We talk about the auspicious meeting that made the podcast a reality, and how it was sparked by the anxiety that ...
Feb 01, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 51
No your eyes are not playing tricks on you, this week we have the wonderful other half of our whole host Yuki Okamura-Wong! If you don't know already, she is an Asian-American 2D Animator currently working at Global Mechanic. In this non-stop thrill ride of an episode, we dive into Yuki's career working as 2D animator for both adult and kids shows and how these experiences differed from one another. She also explains how she became a fully realized human being in her transition from community co...
Jan 18, 2022•56 min•Season 2Ep. 49
We're kicking off season 2 with a name you may find familiar: Ray Mendoza Landa! A story artist at Warner Bros. Animation and one of the co-hosts of Straight Ahead! Although Ray has only just started his career, he has a plethora of experiences: story artist on a 3D show with a blender-integrated pipeline, interning at Pixar, acting as President for the Shrunken Headman Club, and heading the ambitious animated graphic novel, Sol Naciente. We may have touched on these topics in the past, but Ray ...
Jan 11, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 48
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...
Nov 30, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 47
