This week we are spotlighting Asian Queens in Animation: an organization dedicated to fostering a community of Asians of underrepresented genders in the animation space. We have the pleasure of talking with co-founders Maansi Sunkara and Shrav Yalsangikar, along with one of their admins, Sanisha Agarwal. We talk about the inception of AQIA, how their built their brand as an organization, and their panel at Lightbox Expo. These achievements are topped by their most successful program, Coffee with...
Aug 15, 2023•46 min•Season 3Ep. 106
This week we are joined by the amazing Jim Mortensen (founder of SFA) and Tristan Cabral (Admin of SFA) as we learn all about their amazing program: Story For All! Volunteer-run and completely free to join, SFA is a mentorship program focused on 1:1 mentorship between industry professionals and budding storyboard artists. The organization helps mentors onboard, guide them on how to touch base with mentees, and even how to finish that mentor relationship in case they have a big gig coming up. For...
Aug 08, 2023•52 min•Season 3Ep. 105
Kicking off our August Special Speaker series with one of the co-founders of Diverse Toons: Jade Seaberry! Diverse Toons is a East-Coast (USA) based organization and resource dedicated to uplifting diversity in the animation industry. Jade shares the story of how she and Monique Henry-Hudson created Diverse Toons, and how they wanted to foster a community outside of the West coast. We learn more about Jade's own history: forming her own production company, president of Women Against Rape and Sex...
Aug 01, 2023•56 min•Season 3Ep. 104
Joel Zamudio is a Location Designer for Disney TVA! We chat about his "first three starts" in animation: working on the Sony Animation's Mitú project, then as a freelance character designer for Shadow Machine, and then again for Disney TVA. Why so many "starts"? Well, we talk about the clarity of losing your ego after graduation, and continuing your education after school to become industry-ready. Joel also tells us about his time working on The Loud House comics, and how that differed from his ...
Jul 25, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 103
Zharia B Rahn is an African-American artist working as a Model Designer for Disney TVA! This means she works on both props and characters, and she shares her workflow with us and how she makes and meets her own work quotas. She also tells about the multi-platform work she and her team does, and how this emerging department has evolved into this fast-paced age of social media. We also chat about her time as an intern for ImagineX: an indie animation collective headed by an upperclassmen of hers f...
Jul 18, 2023•46 min•Season 3Ep. 102
Isabella Martinez Luna is a Colombian artist working as an Associate Artist at Blizzard. Join us as we learn about the world of 3D Modeling and why Bella enjoyed learning the technical side of Animation. She has worked in a variety of different 3D pipelines at a variety of different studios, from small indy studios like Ignite Animation Studios to big studios like Blizzard Entertainment. We hope you enjoyed learning more about her journey in animation as much as we did. Also don't forget to supp...
Jul 11, 2023•46 min•Season 3Ep. 101
WE ARE CELEBRATING 100 EPISODES! Thank you to everyone who has been following our podcast and giving us a platform to spotlight BIPOC voices. We are so honored to have hit this huge milestone! To celebrate our 100th episode we brought back previous guest that we have had on the podcast. Join us as we catch up with Trilina Mai, Li Cree, Joon Chung, and Rebecca Chan! Also don't forget to support us on ko-fi , every little bit helps! Host Ray Mendoza Landa @raydiosilence Yuki Okamura-Wong @chuudles...
Jul 04, 2023•1 hr 52 min•Season 3Ep. 100
Ash Tahilan is a fil-am artist who grew-up in the melting pot of Hawaii. She shares with us her journey of bumping to a few different studios, each time as a revisionist to ease on to the production before promoting into boards. We chat about her incomparable time on Craig of the Creek, the culture of the production, and her foray into writing a fan-comic for a property she worked on. Ash also has a message for you: Don't Hold Back! Write and draw what you love, show your passion in your work! H...
Jun 27, 2023•52 min•Season 3Ep. 99
We are joined by young Sean Yeung, a member of the Riot Games champion skins team. He shares his experience going from intern to full-time employee, and the expectations within those positions. He shares his process in developing game animations for work by creating pose sheets, a standard practice in the industry. He also talks about going to Worlds 2022 in San Francisco, and how that really put into perspective the audience that enjoys League of Legends, and sees his work. Sean also shares his...
May 23, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 98
Our guest this week is Devin Yang, a Chinese-American Concept Artist currently working in games. After graduating college Devin found a corporate job as a motion graphic artist. However, after two years he decided to take the leap of faith and jump into freelancing before landing a full-time position in video games! Devin credits twitter and his personal project The Witching Hour which garnered him a lot of attention from future clients that really gravitated toward his artistic sensibilities. F...
May 16, 2023•55 min•Season 3Ep. 97
Thy Võ is a 2D Animator staffed at Primal Screen. While working on a senior film in school, and despite feeling like her quality of work wasn't the best, her attitude and ability to take critique left an impression on her upperclassman, which lead to a recommendation on her first job. For those of you working on your own films, Thy also talks at length about her team's process on their senior film Tutorial>Skip? , a hilarious ode to JRPGs. We get into the impact of working on a crew with a di...
May 09, 2023•56 min•Season 3Ep. 96
Yusra Shahid is a Background Designer and Painter, who holds her Indian heritage in high respect. Yusra shares her experiences working for A24 on the upcoming "#1 Happy Family USA", and the connection between her South East Asian and Muslim peers on the production. We go back through her time working on a variety of styles, from the child-like "Frog and Toad", to the more modern cartoon adaptation for "Night at the Museum". She shares many nuggets of wisdom, and we all reflect on the struggle of...
May 02, 2023•47 min•Season 3Ep. 95
Joining us this week is Elliot Salgado a Mexican Assistant Animatic Editor currently working on Big Nate at Nickelodeon! Elliot entered the world of animation as an Intern at Nickelodeon not fully knowing what specfically in animation he wanted to do. His journey then took him to becoming a Production Assistant at DreamWorks where he got the chance to be a part of every part of the pipeline. It was there when he discovered his calling... Animatic Editing! He recounts that is was listening to the...
Apr 25, 2023•58 min•Season 3Ep. 94
Amie Sanchez is a Latina Storyboard Artist working at Nickelodeon. Straight out of school, Amie's first job was actually a full-time storyboard artist. We talk about her lucky break in 2D boarding, and the changes that came with the shift to boarding for a 3D show, Rugrats (2021). We have a candid conversation about having gaps in your education, and ways to fill them when your school doesn't have all the resources you need. Amie also talks about how she connects with her art outside of professi...
Apr 18, 2023•40 min
This week's guest is Michelle Lam, story artist and now, graphic novelist! She shares her experiences on so many different productions, and reflects especially fondly upon her time as an Assistant Episodic Director for Tonko House's Oni: a Thunder God's Tale. We also chat at length about her experiences at Cal Arts, how she found her voice, and how that also lead to her many different internships. Michelle also shares her new experience diving into the world of publishing, and working with Pengu...
Apr 11, 2023•56 min•Season 3Ep. 92
Najja Porter is a half-black, half-white artist working as a supervising director on Craig of the Creek. We talk about her time on a long-running project like Craig (4 years!) and the highs and lows that come with such a unique production. Najja also tells us the whirlwind tale of how she began moving from Tampa, Florida all the way to Los Angeles, California without even a job secured! She tells us all about her experience in the Nickelodeon Artist Program, and how that trained her to be an ind...
Apr 04, 2023•57 min•Season 3Ep. 91
Meet Eddie Clark, an African American Storyboard Revisionist currently working on The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder! After graduating from SJSU Eddie felt burnt out from school and decided to take a step back from animation. Outside of animation Eddie was heavily involved in theatre and started acting more. His love for acting really strengthened his skills as an animator and story artist. Eventually Eddie came into contact with Bruce W. Smith and the rest is history. Instagram: @tim3lesz_edd...
Feb 28, 2023•54 min•Season 3Ep. 90
Meet Harron Atkins, a black writer currently working freelance. Harron is also an alumni of the Sesame Street Writers Workshop and raves how much that experience helped him in his animation career. One of Harron's most recent gigs was being a Staff Writer for Craig of the Creek! That experience helped him gain a greater appreciation for artist and has helped take the artist into consideration when he writes his scripts. He also hopes to create his own production company to help POC voices tell t...
Feb 21, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 89
Meet Corinth Boone, a black artist from New Jersey who works as a Prop Designer for Cartoon Network! Although she lives in Los Angeles now, Corinth originally had to turn down CN's first offer since she wasn't ready to relocate. That opportunity would have been lost if Corinth didn't follow the #1 rule of job hunting: Always Follow-Up! During her time at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Corinth took a semester off to hone her portfolio and inadvertently did a little growing-up. As a...
Feb 16, 2023•50 min•Season 3Ep. 88
Our guest this week is Jaylen Tate-Lucas a black storyboard artist currently working at Warner Bros. Animation. We talk about what it is like storyboarding on a show like Teen Titans Go! Jaylen also talks about his love for the Horror Genre and how it is inspiring him for his own personal project. We hope you enjoy this episode and find it insightful. Instagram: @j_t_lucas Twitter: @jtealucas Portfolio: https://jtatelucas.com/ If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcas...
Feb 07, 2023•53 min•Season 3Ep. 87
Ray and Yuki are back with Season 3 of the Straight Ahead Animation Podcast! We reflect back on Season 2 by talking about the most played episodes. We also talk about our past 3 years working in the Animation Industry. We finally wrap up by talking about what you should expect in Season 3 of the podcast! Thank you so much for your continued support and if you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voice...
Feb 01, 2023•46 min•Season 3Ep. 86
Our guest this week is Da-Hee Im, a Korean-American Cinematic Animator currently working at Bungie. Learn what gravitated Da-Hee towards working in the games industry over the animation industry. Learn about the ins and outs between Cinematic Animation for games and Gameplay animation. We also discuss how you should consider every opportunity that comes you way because you never know where it may lead you. Portfolio: https://www.daheeim.com/ If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us ...
Nov 29, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 85
This week we have Ren Bernal a Colombian artist currently working as a Character Designer! His journey has taken him back and forth between Character Design and Storyboards! His most notable projects has been storyboarding the Music Video Electric by Katy Perry for Pokémon's 25th Anniversary. Ren is also currently leading a team in creating an independently produced animated series titled Bit Wars. This project has garnered attention from both smaller and larger studios. Ren also talks about bei...
Nov 22, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 84
Nessa Tweneboah is a Black artist working for 6-point harness painting backgrounds! Nessa explains the different roles of the background pipeline including design, paint, and the collaboration that can happen therein. They also talk about their mentorship with Valerie Schwarz, and how that lead to their first break into the industry. We continue on with their work from home experience based in Ohio, and their mistake in juggling school with two different freelance jobs. At the Rhode Island Schoo...
Nov 08, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 83
Cecilia Gutierrez is a Mexican-Guatemalan artist, color designer, and former nursing student. Come with us as we explore Cesilia's career so far, and how everything went wrong during her interview. Because of her family's financial situation, she couldn't afford art school or university, but didn't let that hold her back. Learn why she abandoned her track to the medical industry, and all the regrets and triumphs along the way. And of course, we have some riveting inbetween questions about Dogs a...
Nov 01, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 82
Diego & Sebastián Ramírez Jacinto, AKA the Awesombrosos, are Mexican twins and freelance Vis Dev artists! They share their experience dropping out of college, and changing their mindset from being a student to being unemployed to professional. Find out what motivated them to start creating, how their workflow evolved into a mini pipeline, and how they negotiate being a package deal. Despite their poetic outlook on life, they also have their share of down-to-earth realizations about the indu...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 81
Hispanic Heritage Month continues with Daniela Rodriguez de la Peña, a Hispanic Artist currently working as a Storyboard Artist at Nickelodeon! She didn't realize she wanted to do story until her final year of college. From there she honed her craft until she got her first break at Nickelodeon as a Revisionist and has been there ever since! Not too long after being a Revisionist, Daniela was promoted to Storyboard Artist, and recommends that if you have an interest in moving up in your position ...
Sep 27, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 80
Joining us today straight out of Colombia is Juan Montoya! Juan applied and applied to several job postings until he finally got his start at Awesome Incorporated. We also dive deep on the inner workings of the H-1B Visa and how residency could be achieved. Juan also shares what he enjoys about being a background artist and the little easter eggs he leaves when given the chance. Hope you enjoy as we continue celebrating Hispanic Heritage month! Instagram: @1montoya Portfolio: https://www.1montoy...
Sep 22, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 79
Happy Hispanic Heritage month! We're starting out with the powerful Angélica Agélviz: a story artist from Puerto Rico. Her passion shines through everything she does, as she takes us through what it's like working on bumpers and boards. Angé has had such a full career in a short time: from animating for Adult Swim, to storyboarding for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, to directing the short film "Nuevo Rico". "Nuevo Rico" and her own project, Netflix Spark Grant recipient "Children of the Antill...
Sep 15, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 78
The optimistic Ruby Wang is a Visual Development artist at Skydance Animation. Ruby shares her experience growing-up in Taiwan, absorbing both Japanese and American animation and storytelling. At Flight School Studio she was designing for VR, AR, XR, and MR; and what those different media were like to work on. Ray and Ruby reminisce on their time at Tonko House, and how Dice Tsusumi and Robert Kondo's mentorship changed their art fundamentally. Ruby really gets into the different visas you can h...
Sep 06, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 77
