In our 33rd episode and last podcast for 2014, we interview three iAnimate students who had the opportunity to work on a very unique and exciting project here in our Game animation workshops. Peter Thorneycroft, Ryan Haynes, and Chris Figat help lead in the participation and development of this project titled Lune. Lune is essentially a test 'game' level created in Unity for our students to mimics the pressures and expectations that will be placed on them in the professional environment, as well as showcase their talents as valuable artists. A playable demo reel, if you will. It was interesting and fun to hear about their ups & downs with working on such a project, along with having our very own Ric Arroyo be their director.

Project Lune | Peter Thorneycroft reel | Ryan Haynes reel | Chris Figat reel

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In episode 32 we speak with 2D artist LeSean Thomas. LeSean has "worn many hats" in his 10+ year career while working on such series as The Boondocks, The Legend of Korra, and most recently Black Dynamite. He's also spent several years working abroad in South Korea as an animation production/storyboard artist. While in South Korea, in addition to lending his talent to hit shows, he spent time honing his skills and developing his own personal project, Cannon Busters!

Cannon Busters Kickstarter page | LeSean's Twitter

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In our 31st podcast, we interviewed Bungie Principal Animator, Richard Lico. Richard was a Sr. Art Lead on Bungie’s recently anticipated title Destiny. This was Bungie’s first mutli-platform title release since having been exclusive with the Halo franchise, and Richard was a part of the project from its infancy. He was responsible for the overall character animation technology and working with the art director to set the animation vision on Destiny. He’s been in the game industry since 1999, and has a passion for animation and game design that definitely showed in the podcast!

Richard's 2014 demo reel | Destiny Game Website

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In our 30th episode, we speak with Ubisoft Toronto Animation Director, Kristjan Zadziuk. He's worked on many high profile titles such as James Bond: Bloodstone and Splinter Cell: Blacklist, as well as the original Assassins Creed that launched the award winning series. With 15 years of experience and having worked on such prestigious titles, Kristjan had some great insight to animation and the gaming world, as well as some entertaining behind the scenes stories with tactical martial arts expert Kevin Secours. You won't want to miss it.

Kristjan' demo reel | karambit seminar with Kevin Secours | Games Workshop 3 Elite Edition

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In our 29th episode, we speak with witty Senior Animator James Bennett. This guy has over 15 years experience animating creatures for such blockbusters as The Hobbit, Godzilla,  Avatar, King Kong, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Madagascar 3, and Iron Man 2. Having worked in the business for this length and at top studios like Dreamworks & Weta, this made for a great podcast full of insight & entertainment.

James' demo reel | Zerply | Our Creature Workshop page

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We interview feature film animator, and iAnimate instructor, Ken Fountain. Ken is an independent animator, who recently worked for DreamWorks on such films as: Monsters vs. Aliens, Shrek 4, Megamind, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, and the How to Train Your Dragon Holiday Special. He has been acting since he was little and much of that theater and acting knowledge shows in his animation as well as his lectures.

Ken's current reel | New Cartoony training | GeoMe!

In this podcast we get to discuss the very funny film, The Lego Movie, with Lead Animator Mathieu Dimuro! The Lego Movie is definitely a unique flick and it was great to be able to hear Mathieu's experience on the show as well as the challenges and joys from working with characters that have limited movement. Mathieu's currently working at ILM on Transformers 4, and we'll be looking forward to getting another podcast in with him in the future.

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In our 26th episode, we speak with iAnimate Feature Instructor, and amazing animator, Ted Ty. Ted has over 18 years experience at the feature animation level and has animated on more than 14 feature films. Before working on such titles as "Puss and Boots ", "Shrek Forever After", "Kung Fu Panda", and 'Rise of the Guardians' at DreamWorks, he spent 10 years at Walt Disney Feature Animation in Florida working on such 2D titles as "Mulan", "The Lion King", and "Lilo and Stitch". There is a unique perspective one has having worked at such a high level in both 2D and CG for so long, and we are pleased get some of his time to discuss this craft we all enjoy!

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