OUR STUDENTS

Finding others like me, BIPOC + Queer, has progressed my career, helped support me. We all were honest about our experiences, the prejudices we navigate in our industry, and how to help others in the animation industry. Animation of all sects, can be an unnecessarily competitive and discriminatory, so it was huge for me to find that community in college and after I graduated.

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Would you share an experience from your time at MICA that helped you develop your voice?

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I think that things really started to click when I took my first stop motion class. Not just cuz stop motion was fun, but stop motion as a genre was relatively new to me. I had to research a lot of the artists we learned about and I learned a lot of new things. I think it was really important for me to research and pull inspiration from places I never would have thought of. Even if you’re sure of what path you want to take in animation, it makes a world of difference to be exposed to forms you’re not familiar with. Trust me you’ll find some dope shit that only makes your work stronger. And hey, it’s pretty fun too.

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What suggestions do you have for us as an institution and/or a department that would help us better serve the interest of our students?

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I think it’d be helpful to tell students of all different paths to take animation. To be frank, I went in thinking there was only TV/Broadcast and Film. It wasn’t until I did more research and talked more in depth with certain professors that I found out that there’s ads, documentaries, residencies, and a bunch of other stuff. One or two job fairs isn’t going to cover it all.

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Also, there are a lot of students that have the will and desire to travel and get internships. But honestly, I know a lot of students wouldn’t be able to afford that. It would be great if not crucial to sponsor internships / workshops / residencies for students who can’t afford it. I mean, they’re paying a house’s worth of tuition. It’s the least the institution can do.

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What project are you most excited about working on right now?

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Real talk, I’m most excited to just focus on my own work and hobbies. I’ve worked on some real cool stuff over the years that I’m really proud of, but after years of working, it can be easy to get burned out. If you’re making animation for work, it takes a lot of creative energy.

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It’s nice to take it easy and work on art that’s not, well, work haha.

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Who are 3-5 of your favorite artists?

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Jan Svankmajer, Felix Colgrave , Nicole Ham, Patricia Piccinini and Junj Ito.