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Interview With Michael D'Ambrosio
709 Plays3 years ago
Our 75th episode is a milestone achievement as we excitedly welcome animation industry professional and veteran, Michael D'Ambrosio to the show to answer some questions and give his insights. As an Annie nominated animation editor, Michael has worked on celebrated series such as The Tom & Jerry Show, The Mr. Men Show, Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi and many more.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2834193/
http://www.renegadeanimation.com/
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2834193/
http://www.renegadeanimation.com/
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Background
00:00:00
Speaker
You're invited to explore cypress swamps and magical gardens and float along the rushing waters of an old-fashioned swimming hole. Plan your journey at visitmississippi.org slash outdoor adventure. Mississippi. Wanderers welcome. On a very special and exciting entry of animation deliberation, we are interviewing our first guest that's a professional in the industry. We have with us Michael D'Ambrosio, who is an animation editor
00:00:27
Speaker
with nearly 30 years in the industry under his belt. He is known for notable titles such as Tom and Jerry Cowboy Up, Tom and Jerry in New York, and my personal favorite, Hi Hi Puffy Yami Yumi. And coming from a younger audience, we have different things like Speed Racers and The Mr. Men Show, bringing us a wonderful home from Renegade Animation Studios. We have Mr. Michael D'Ambrosia.
00:00:52
Speaker
All right, and we are excited to have a conversation with him just after some ads that we have no say over whatsoever.
00:00:58
Speaker
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Speaker
from everybody else's vacation to a place where you can explore cypress swamps and magical gardens and see a 65 foot waterfall that once powered an old mill that you can walk through today. Or just float along the cool rushing waters of an old fashioned swimming hole. See the places and plan your journey at visitmississippi.org slash outdoor adventure, Mississippi. Wanderers welcome.
00:01:52
Speaker
Sing along if you know the words. One, two, three, it's time for animation deliberation. A conversation and a celebration of our favorite action animated series. Yeah. Yeah. All right,
Early Career and Influences
00:02:08
Speaker
folks. Welcome back to Animation Deliberation, the podcast that takes action animation and cartoons seriously, but not too seriously. It is a very exciting day here. As we mentioned at the top of the episode, we've got
00:02:20
Speaker
lead animation editor Michael D'Ambrosio with us. Michael, thank you for being here and welcome to the show. How are you? I'm good, I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. This is exciting. Of course, yeah, it's very exciting for us. And that us that I mentioned, I am not alone. I am joined as always by Suher Ali. Hello, hello. As well as Andrew Rogers. Hello, I'm so excited and hope we have plenty to learn here from you, Michael. It's an honor to have you.
00:02:47
Speaker
Yes, we shall see. We shall see how much wisdom I can cast on everyone. Well, I'm sure you've got plenty of wisdom to share with us and you've got to be passionate about animation since you've been doing it for almost 30 years now. So with that in mind, we had some questions that we wanted to send your way. Yeah, I'll kick it off with an easy one. Hopefully it shouldn't be too bad. Just kind of what got you into animation in the first place and what led you to where you are now? Well, the origin story.
00:03:18
Speaker
Story time. Yeah, I, you know, getting into the industry, one of my one of my favorite things to do as a kid, I was very fortunate to be able to go to Universal Studios was my favorite, favorite, favorite place in the world. I don't know what it was, just something about being behind the scenes, the backlot tour was so exciting to me that I knew at a pretty young age, this would be really cool to work in this business somehow.
00:03:43
Speaker
I didn't know in what capacity. And as time went on and I went to school, I went to Cal State Northridge as a radio TV film major. Editing kind of fell into my wheelhouse. That kind of seemed to be where I wanted to go. And I was actually very much, very much a sci-fi geek.
00:04:00
Speaker
So early in my career, I was fortunate enough to land a great job at rhythm and use studios. And I was cutting commercials there for about eight years. And that was always a combination that it was live action commercials, but we also well with live action commercials, clients would come to to rhythm and use and would it would be heavy emphasis in either 2d effects,
00:04:23
Speaker
CG animation Some type of visual effect and that's where it kind of led to a really kind of gravitated more towards animation and eventually on On a Cheetos campaign of
Joining Renegade Animation
00:04:35
Speaker
all things. I met my current employers at renegade Animation and one thing led to another and I ended up in animation. So that's awesome. Okay, cool. Was that? incorporating like the animated character of Chester
00:04:50
Speaker
Cheetos? Cheetos, yes. Okay. Absolutely. It was a combination that, if I recall correctly, that campaign had a combination. We had a CG Chester Cheeto, and we also had a traditionally animated 2D, if you will, Chester. And that's where Renegade came in.
00:05:07
Speaker
Very cool. It ain't easy being cheesy. So you just have like a variety of your portfolio just having like different mediums of creating the same character. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In many cases that happened. In many cases that happened
Technology and Animation Evolution
00:05:21
Speaker
because many of the directors at Rhythm came out of the traditional background. So they gravitated towards that. I gravitated towards that. CG is a great medium. I mean, it's been around for so long now and
00:05:37
Speaker
I mean, the things you can do in CG now are just... I mean, it goes without saying that. It kind of feels silly for me to even say it, but there's so much you can do with it. And the rigs and the characters now have so... You have so much ability now.
00:05:52
Speaker
to actually bring to life more animation. Whereas back in the day, about 20 years ago, the characters were a little bit more stiff, a little bit more rubbery. That's kind of gone. So at least on the feature side, or like special project side, short side,
00:06:12
Speaker
It's quite impressive. I recently got to watch the new shorts from Blue Sky on Disney Plus, the Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. Thank you. Thank you. The new Scratch shorts. Yes, yes. Very, very impressive. Very, very impressive. It's awesome. I enjoyed that. But again, I gravitate towards
00:06:33
Speaker
traditional animation, the old Looney Tunes style, just a draftsmanship, just the art of it. And there's so much that goes into it.
00:06:45
Speaker
So yeah, that's really satisfying for us to hear because the reason that we started this podcast was because there was a lot of great animated content that was really overlooked by people because it was perceived that like anything that was a cartoon or animated was for kids. And that's why we started the show because there's a whole appreciation for
00:07:09
Speaker
you know, this level of content that's out there and hearing your passion for how things have evolved and the effort that you put into it kind of justifies like why we do this cast to like fully appreciate all that hard work.
Appreciation of Animated Content
00:07:24
Speaker
And it really is seen and it really is appreciated, like how good the storytelling and the look and the environment and everything is in this modern era.
00:07:36
Speaker
Yeah, and I must say I get a lot of inspiration out of your backstory talking about Universal Studios and growing up thinking like this is what I want to do, because my backstory is a little bit of the same, except I turned into an engineer because I said I want to do the physical side of how we put these things together, you know, whether it be on movies or products or what the case may be, but to know that creatives can all kind of come from the same place and go in these totally different directions end up
00:08:00
Speaker
animating, editing, building all these different things. It's, it's just awesome to hear someone coming from a similar place and just going down a completely different path and doing something as amazing as you are now. Well, thank you. Yeah, I mean, yeah, absolutely. I mean, you get this inspiration as a kid, and it can lead you it can lead you to different avenues, but it can lead you into the same industry too.
00:08:24
Speaker
It's kind of analogous to the way I tried to shape my career at least as well because coming into the industry, I really prided myself also on the technical side, knowing how the software works, knowing how the hardware works. I wanted to be able to fix anything, adjust anything with
00:08:47
Speaker
from an a speed and an efficiency situation, sitting in the room with a director and not having to call IT, like something's not working. If I could fix it immediately and keep the flow going of the session,
00:09:01
Speaker
I found really helped in the creative process too. I know that may sound a little odd, but I think it's really interesting. Oh, I'm loving it. Yeah, I think, you know, because I, you know, I really pride myself. I used to tear and I still do at Renegade. I'll tear apart the back of the, we're mostly avid based.
00:09:22
Speaker
I'll tear apart the avid and rewire everything. I learned very early on. Well, I had to. I had to learn very early on because I was at the inception of all the kind of nonlinear thing, the nonlinear editing. So I go back to the days of
00:09:40
Speaker
Mac OS 9, SCSI drives, stop me if this doesn't make any sense, but if you had to literally, literally back in the day in order to get all your media drives to work, you had to manually assign on the back of the drive a SCSI number. I'm probably getting that terminology incorrect, but you had to give it a channel number. Otherwise your media drives wouldn't call up. So you had to get your hands dirty, so to speak. And that kind of just continued along learning everything
00:10:10
Speaker
about video signal and about how things worked on a mechanical and electronic level. But understanding that at the end of the day, you need to be creative to make sure that you're bringing something to the table for the director. Of course. Not only do I appreciate your balance between tech and art savvy, I definitely appreciate the technology that we have now that we don't have to worry about stuff like that anymore.
00:10:39
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I go back. I mean, it was kind of the inception of nonlinear because when I originally started at DDB Needham in Los Angeles, you know, it was I was in the audio video department. So it was a lot of making dubs of commercials for other executives, other, you know, copywriters and things like that. But there was there were other there. It was basically corporate video, if you will,
00:11:04
Speaker
Um, but I would edit three quarter inch tape to three quarter inch tape, you know, it was linear, you know, and you had to have pre roll and all that stuff. And then all of a sudden this, this avid box came along that the software that sits on a computer and it's like, Oh, you can like fast forward and go back and set it in the out and you, Oh, there's an undo button.
00:11:27
Speaker
What is going on? So, um, yeah, exactly. Exactly. So, um, I think I forgot my initial point other than to just kind of reiterate that I, I kind of pride myself on having both skillsets. That really is incredible. So Michael, what is the day in the life of an editor? Well, you know, it, it, it varies right now.
00:11:56
Speaker
Right now I'm working on another directed DVD. So DTV, Tom and Jerry film for Warner Brothers.
00:12:06
Speaker
And we're also doing this really cute project for Sesame Workshop, which is, yeah, it's been pretty challenging. The workflow's
Global Projects and Challenges
00:12:19
Speaker
very different than what I'm, that Renegade's accustomed to. We're adjusting day by day, but it's really rewarding because these five minute shorts are going to be played
00:12:33
Speaker
across the globe, you know, these are gonna be, from my understanding, it may be domestic here in the States, but it's also going to be played in Africa for children. It's going to be played all over, all over. This is gonna be versioning, you know, a language versioning just across the board. Oh, wow, okay. So to get back to your question,
00:12:59
Speaker
At Renegade, I do kind of the animation process. We do storyboards. I do both. If some companies like Disney, they bifurcate, they kind of split that job up. It's two different editors. There's a storyboard editor, there's a color editor. Other studios, I think Warner Brothers combines them. I'm pretty sure Warner Brothers combines that skill set.
00:13:21
Speaker
So at Renegade as well, I handle these storyboards. I cut that with the director, get it to time, make sure that all the dialogue's working, add any sound effects that will help tell the story, drop in any music that needs to help as long as it helps the flow of the piece, make sure the story's working, and then it gets shipped off to animation. Then when the animation comes back,
00:13:51
Speaker
I also work on that color timing. So it varies in the middle of the schedule. For instance, in Tom and Jerry, in the middle of the schedule, I could be working on a storyboard the first part of the day and then be working on color the next part of the day. Oh, nice. Oh, wow. I'm sure that keeps things interesting. So it really is a little bit of everything. Yeah, I think I'm fortunate in that way. I consider it being fortunate because I get to touch the project at beginning, middle, and end.
00:14:21
Speaker
And also, again, that technical side, I prepare everything for online, for the workflow for Tom and Jerry, again, was storyboards at Renegade, color at Renegade, and then the actual online was done at Warner Brothers Animation. And I would prepare everything, and again, it's
00:14:39
Speaker
Part of that, it's part of having that pride in that workflow and making sure that everything gets delivered to the online editor correctly. And that it's kind of almost a no brainer that the show falls into place and that person just has to hit play for the execs. You're making someone else's job a lot easier, huh? Trying to, trying to be a team player, you know, it's a back and forth because at the end of the day, at the end of the day, I'm kind of, I'm not in that very, very final part of the process, which is,
00:15:09
Speaker
Which, you know, if time allowed for the crazy busy schedule that, you know, kind of an episodic delivery is in animation, I would love to sit in on all those, all those onlines, but time doesn't permit. So you're hoping that you're just, you're handing something over that's as complete as possible. And sometimes it's not, sometimes stuff gets shipped off and I like, I have to send a note off, it's like,
00:15:36
Speaker
send them a timecode, send them a shot number and say, hey, this is still a placeholder. These shots are to come because we're still getting stuff. We're still getting stuff in, but that train keeps moving and there's a date to hit for the online. So, and so oftentimes an online would be finished now to be delivering shows and they would revise it later. That was quite common actually.
00:15:57
Speaker
Is that something you still find difficult to release something that you haven't had to have your hands in every single aspect that's somewhat still unfinished? The number of shows you've worked on and the number of episodes you've worked on at this point, is it just kind of like move on to the next thing? Let's keep this train rolling. Or do you still find yourself being kind of precious about certain projects?
00:16:19
Speaker
it definitely became that it definitely became became, you reach you reach a point where you're a little bit more comfortable with it. But it's always a bit disconcerting. Did they get that shot? Did they get that shot? Hey, did not sure. But as time goes on, as time goes on, you become you know, we did, we did five
00:16:40
Speaker
five and a half seasons. We did five seasons of Tom and Jerry and then a half a season of Tom and Jerry in New York. Okay. So we worked on Tom and Jerry for quite some time. It was a big chunk of time. So as the seasons rolled on, yes, you become more comfortable with that. And the team does and everybody kind of knows each other's moves. I guess it's kind of like a team sport. It's like you know where that certain player is going to be at a certain time to execute the play. So
00:17:07
Speaker
less disconcerting as time went on, but it's always, it's always, it doesn't back your mind for sure. Sure, sure, yeah.
00:17:17
Speaker
Yeah. I've been a photographer for some time now, and I was actually telling somebody the other day, it's like, I do real estate photography. And despite the fact I've been doing it for seven years, I still go to every shoot with a little bit of anxiety of like, what's the place going to be like? What are the obstacles going to be in my way? Like, essentially, it is the same thing. And I have the experience and I know how to overcome it. I know how to do it. But just kind of like, there's always something that's always going to be lingering. And I feel like that says a lot.
00:17:45
Speaker
to kind of like the passion of the craft and just making sure that you are prepared to where you kind of just go into a little bit of overdrive. Absolutely, absolutely. You know, again, I think you hear interviews with professional athletes, I think there's always butterflies, you know, the most crafty veteran, there's always butterflies going into the next game, especially come playoff time, if you will. But yeah, you know, absolutely, because there's
00:18:14
Speaker
With every project, there's always an unknown. Even though we had a workflow down pat, something may have changed between season one and, things did change between season one and season two. So that, every one of those decisions impacts the workflow a little bit differently, both from a creative and from a technical side. Season one, a Tom and Jerry were 11 minutes and they were 11 minute shorts. So we would deliver two for each half hour.
00:18:44
Speaker
Right. And I'll never forget. I'll never forget. This is kind of a sidebar. I never forget the very first storyboard we got in for Tom and Jerry season one came out to seven minutes. You're shooting for 11. Yeah. Yeah. And subsequently thereafter seasons
00:19:05
Speaker
two through five, we changed the format, we went to sevens. Because the format, the format of Tom and Jerry just settled into a six to seven minute short. 11 11 became a bit taxing. I think the shows turned out great. But
00:19:24
Speaker
that, that particular, that 11 minute construct was a little bit, was, was a little bit difficult for that show. So that changed, that changed from two 11s to three sevens. And then Tom and Jerry New York became three sixes with one three minute short changed the workflow for each time. And then there may have been something, there may have been something different that WB wanted delivered and that, and that tweak something.
00:19:53
Speaker
And something indeliverable kind of cascades back down through the workflow. And you try again, because the schedules are so challenging, you try and set up your workflow earlier on, as early as the board phase, to accommodate what they're asking for and what they need in the online process or what the client is asking for, whatever it may be. Certainly.
00:20:20
Speaker
Now, I've got kind of a two-part question for you. I think you kind of answered my first question a little bit. I was going to ask, what specifically attracted you to working as an editor within the studio or the industry as opposed to one of the other roles?
00:20:36
Speaker
But it really sounds like it's just being able to have that kind of that touchstone on every single element, be it the visual side, the audio side. It really is a combination of everything that's happening on screen from the movement of the character to what's going on in the background, where the camera's placed, as well as the audio. And I was interested to hear that audio element there. Have you personally or the team that you work with, do you have any kind of little
00:21:02
Speaker
favorite audio drops that you like to throw in there in live action? I know the Wilhelm screen is kind of a cultural touchstone. Has there been a particular sound bite you've been able to drop in there that's kind of unique to the projects you work on? Well, you remind me of a funny story.
Sound in Animation
00:21:20
Speaker
Okay. Okay. At the beginning of Tom and Jerry, we could not find the stock library sound effects from the originals. Oh, no.
00:21:32
Speaker
And the inception of the show, you know, my boss and director, Daryl Vinciter is a animation genius, by the way. So I'll drop that virtual high five there. You know, we really wanted to honor the Hanna-Barbera NGM days, like the late 40s, early 50s style, which was very, very challenging. Very, very challenging.
00:22:00
Speaker
in doing it with flash, what's now known as anime, right? It's a difficult task. And we really, really struggled and stride. And I think we succeeded on many levels to achieve that goal. But the we searched up and down, we searched up and down, we
00:22:22
Speaker
We asked Warner Brothers, do you know, you know, we could not find, because there is actually, you can just Google it, Tom and Jerry sound effects, but it's not, it's not out of that era. So, so what we, what we ended up doing, what we ended up doing is we harvested for placeholders in storyboards. We harvested everything, just basically digitized the classics and went through and combed through them and trying to find
00:22:51
Speaker
Tom screams clean without any score underneath it. Because that era, Tom and Jerry, they really bolstered the visual with the score. So it was always challenging to find something that was actually clean, which we weren't all that successful. You would hear a little bit of the score at the top or tail of the sound of the effort or what have you, the sound effect. Interesting.
00:23:23
Speaker
It also brings up how important sound is to the process, especially in storyboards. Thinking back to all that, after I'd get the boards kind of roughed out, my assist was really just one assist.
00:23:51
Speaker
would do a sound effects and a music pass. And then I would go back in and refine the edit for that. And I think that really helped us get things, I really think it helped kind of close the loop and help us get things approved on the Warner Brothers side because you had a more complete show, even though it was still storyboards, the sound
00:24:14
Speaker
sound sound sound is so so important certainly any visual medium any visual medium you know what's the old what's the old joke you know watch your favorite show and turn the sound off and then watch it and you'll be like what what is going on yeah yeah that's um
00:24:30
Speaker
It's outside of the animation realm, but it just reminds me of one of my favorite YouTube videos out there. They took the film, Mrs. Doubtfire, and they've recut it as like a horror trailer. And it's just like once you take away the sound, it's hilarious how just the visuals and when you introduce new sounds, how much it can sell that comedy as a horror story. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah.
00:24:55
Speaker
And as you talk about these old sounds that you were trying to go and find, are you talking the original sounds from the cartoons where they were making it with glass jugs and balloons? And I can't remember there is a term for it. Were you going back and trying to find those originally? Yeah, like the original Foley that they use. Correct. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's amazing. Yeah, I know that that's still hanging on. Oh, absolutely. We later we you know, I hope I'm not like
00:25:21
Speaker
WWE Legal is so touchy about things. But we were using, we were using, one of the, I think it's Hannah, you know, I'm gonna forget, but it's his original, Hannah Barbera's, it's their original, they went into sound booth to record the Tom screams. That's what we were using. Cool. Very cool.
00:25:42
Speaker
So did you ever find the originals? No, we, my, my, Darrell and I, Delavan, Sanders and I, my boss, my director, we constantly joke to this day. We go, we know it's sitting in some grandkids. It's one of, it's sitting in a garage in Burbank. Sure. It's some family member. That's where it is. We know there's like reel to reel or something of it somewhere. We're going to find it one of these days, but I know we do not.
00:26:11
Speaker
As frustrating as that is, I feel like it would be worse if, like, the first time that you had to use it, like, you had these placeholders, you were done, you were ready to go, and, like, right before, like, sending it off, like, the box comes up like, we found it! It's like, alright. Yes. Back to work! Yes, exactly. Like, what, like, as soon as I hit the send button in the very last episode, it's like...
00:26:31
Speaker
Hey, Michael D. Could you use these? We just found this. Yeah. Although, you know, if that were to happen, I'd be I'd be tickle pick. I'd be tickle picked if we found it would be it would be awesome. It would be awesome if we could find the originals. Yeah. I was gonna say maybe maybe through the podcast, we'll get we'll get someone messaging going. I know where they're at. Yeah, that'd be incredible. Yeah.
00:26:56
Speaker
Everyone check your garages like as soon as you're done listening to this interview and see if we can help Michael out over here Yeah, if you have any family members that ever worked in animation specifically Tom and Jerry, please
00:27:09
Speaker
Check your addict. Now, I got to say that I was watching Tom and Jerry New York last night, and then I was watching some of the original Tom and Jerry stuff. And honestly, one of the first things I noticed with New York, I was like, wow, they use the original Tom scream. And it sounds amazing. Like it worked so perfectly with what I was watching. And I was just sitting there and giggling like I was a 10 year old watching it all over again. Oh, that's awesome to hear. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We were, you know, like I said earlier,
00:27:39
Speaker
We really wanted to honor what they did in that era. And again, it was very challenging from an animation standpoint because we knew what the originals looked like. And you can't necessarily always achieve that with our scheduling and with the set of software. I mean, we're still very proud of what we did. Yeah, again, just trying to honor that era.
00:28:10
Speaker
No, I think you should be very proud. From the little bits of Tom and Jerry in New York that I've seen as well as watching a little bit of Tom and Jerry Tabway up, I think it definitely captures that aesthetic for the most part while updating it. And with that in mind, you mentioned working in Flash, which became Animate. I know one of the key differences between the different types of animation that you can work with with my limited
00:28:35
Speaker
experience there is the difference between frame by frame animation versus motion tweens. Was there one used more heavily than the other? Did you find yourself transitioning to more motion tweens as you tried to save time on the animation effort? Specifically with Tom and Jerry.
00:28:54
Speaker
And in general, motion tweens are kind of frowned upon. Putting stuff on ones, sometimes it depends. It depends on the action. If it's a certain run cycle, tweens work wonderfully. Putting the characters on ones work wonderfully. But oftentimes, actually in the animation process, I'm sorry, in the editorial process,
00:29:20
Speaker
I would take shots and put the characters on twos oh interesting because we again we wanted that classic feel of course it's one of the advantages of flash and it's one advantage of the very graphic style you know that you get out of flashing animate and out of harmony
00:29:38
Speaker
that in the editorial process, you have the ability to hold certain poses to actually, if there's too many poses to cut poses out, what we'd like to do is we call it thinking time. Sometimes we didn't, in the board phase, we didn't give the animator enough time in a certain shot to do what they needed to do. So we had to open it up in editorial
00:30:07
Speaker
Or cut it, depending on what the shot required. And we would have the ability to hold a pose, and sometimes it works, sometimes it'd have to go back to a technical director to put an in-between before the character went into that hold pose. Interesting. But again, it's literally a shot-by-shot consideration. Tweens can work amazingly well, and at other times can actually hurt the animation.
00:30:34
Speaker
And there's plugins too. There's plugins, there's a put on, I'm going to get it wrong, but there's a flash, there's an old flash plugin that says put on twos or something like that. And you can actually tween it and then put it on twos, which would work, would work really well actually.
Balancing Tradition and Innovation
00:30:53
Speaker
So as a creative, when you're going into the editing room at the end of the day, what are you looking at for inspiration besides just old Tom and Jerry? Are you watching other cartoons? Do you have a favorite animated show that you watch all the time and you think to yourself, I want to incorporate this in some part of my work? You know, what else do you enjoy besides the work you do?
00:31:13
Speaker
Well, you know, I don't watch too much animation because at the end of the day, it's like I've seen enough animations that I don't immerse myself in too much other animation. But I bet you just start critiquing everything more than you're actually taking in the content. Oh, yes, that question will take me off another tangent. Hopefully I'll remember to come back to it.
00:31:37
Speaker
will remind you. Okay, great, great. You know, I think I think to answer your question, what I generally do before a new project starts, especially if it's a classic show is to take a look at what they originally doing. So, so I have a conversation with with with the director.
00:31:57
Speaker
I then go back and I do as much research. We had all the entire library of the Hanna-Barbera and then some of Tom and Jerry, and it was kind of immersing yourself in it, going on YouTube, looking something up specifically so you could get to something specific quickly.
00:32:18
Speaker
rather than scanning through an old DVD. But at a certain point you put it away because you also want to bring your flavor to it. You want to bring our touch to it. It's recognizing what it's rooted in, but then also using some of the disadvantages of Flash animation
00:32:41
Speaker
to kind of mold a newer style. So it's immersed in the classic, but it's a new twist to it, if you will.
00:32:50
Speaker
Yeah. No, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, it's got to be hard when you have something where people have thoughts already. They know what they kind of want to see out of something like Tom and Jerry, but you need to do something new or it's not going to be as successful because it's just the same old thing. Why not watch the old thing? So you have to go through so many of those hurdles as you're changing it. Correct. 100% correct. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
00:33:17
Speaker
Oh, I was going to mention. My tangent, my tangent, especially when it was at Rhythm and Hues, back in the day, going to the movies that had visual effects in it, it was the biggest breakfast amongst the people. Did you see that one shot? The cop on that was hideous.
00:33:40
Speaker
Oh, boy, they needed another week on that shot easily. So you become an animation snob, specifically a CG snob. You can't help it. You can't help it because you're around it all day. And that's your job. I mean, it wasn't directly my job, but as I'm editing, and it's like, hey, that doesn't look right. That's not cutting. That's not working. Talking to the animation director.
00:34:09
Speaker
talking to the team. That happens both in CG and on the animate side.
00:34:16
Speaker
you know, that's not working, you know, so you kind of have to be a snob in a sense to bring up the best work. You keep pushing and pushing and pushing for better quality. Certainly, certainly. Now, I love that. Have you experienced kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum where you're viewing, you know, someone else's work and animation where it's just like it kind of almost blows your mind that they took a different approach to it or maybe push the envelope and maybe you've been able to incorporate some of those techniques in your own projects?
00:34:45
Speaker
Uh, no, all my ideas are original, every single one of them. A good creative there. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, most certainly, most, most certainly. Yeah. That's a good question. And I have to think about that, you know, a specific for you, but most, most certainly things influence you. It's, it's inevitable. So, uh, whether it's on a conscious level or subconscious level, you end up trying, you end up trying something. Certainly.
00:35:14
Speaker
I think, I think one of the, one of the things in editing is you may approach something and you know, you're just working on a scene and you're like, okay, I did this three, four, five different ways. There's nothing else we can do to this. This is, it is what it is. It's playing the best way. And then the director will come in and come up with a completely different idea. And you're like, Oh yeah.
00:35:39
Speaker
Oh, that's actually great idea. And then it ends up working. You know, sometimes, yeah, sometimes you, you know, the director will ask for something, you're like, in the back of your head, you're gonna go, okay, I'm gonna do it so we can see it. And you know, you know, I think what we've got is, is correct. But
00:35:55
Speaker
I can't put a percentage on it, but there's many times it's like, no, that's, that's much better. And I looked at this five different ways and turned it around and ran it backwards. You know, not literally, not literally, but uh, so the entity processes is continually, I find you continually learn.
00:36:13
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. One of my favorite quotes that I was constantly told in drawing class at the Art Institute was art never, it's never finished, but it stops in interesting places. And it's something that can always be revisited and retouched. And sometimes inspiration hits. And sometimes there's like a technique that you learn or technology that develops that kind of gives you that inspiration to go back to something and be like,
00:36:38
Speaker
now let's finish and then 10 years later it's like no I could do this to the now let's finish so yeah I do feel kind of like just getting that fixated on that one thing and somebody's like well you could do this it's like fine give it a try oh you don't want to admit that they're right but they did help you get there absolutely absolutely I kind of I one of the other
00:36:59
Speaker
I mean, the bottom line is to me, it's a collaborative effort, right? So there are often times that we get stuck, whether it's a technical issue or creative one, sometimes we get stuck.
00:37:15
Speaker
And it's the ability to talk to the technical director or specifically directly to the animator and giving them the ability to also bring their thoughts to it, their creativity to it, and not stifling them and letting people do their job. And oftentimes in that collaboration, you'll find the answer. Okay.
00:37:38
Speaker
It's 100% the frozen like philosophy. Yeah, and my next question kind of follows up on that collaborative effort you were that collaborative spirit you were speaking to, you know, you mentioned working at rhythm and cues.
00:37:52
Speaker
Yes. But then you spent the majority of your career at Renegade Animation. You've been there quite some time. Is it the team there that's kept you there so long? Is it the environment, the creative spirit there? What is unique about Renegade Animation? What's kept you there so long as opposed to moving to another animation studio? Just a great team, constantly a great team. The owners, Joe Van Sitters and Ashley Post, a way to put together a unique
00:38:21
Speaker
little animation house, right? And, you know, part of the reason for reaching out and doing, doing all, you know, doing this podcast and, and doing some interviews is, is we kind of stay, Renegade itself stays kind of under the radar. And I, you know, this all was kind of kicked off by my Annie award nomination, didn't win, was up against like ridiculous competition, but under nonetheless. And, um, sure.
00:38:51
Speaker
It was, I don't know, I felt it was time to kind of reach out and go, you know, we do good work. We do some interesting stuff here that's worthwhile to talk about. So getting back to what you were saying is just an amazing environment and bringing in just kind of under the radar talent and people that really are passionate about what they do.
00:39:21
Speaker
And it's just stayed consistent. And I've just been so fortunate to be along for that ride. Yeah. Sounds like a, an awesome place to be. And do you find, you mentioned the consistency there. Do you find that people tend to stay there for a long time and have long 10 years there? There's not a lot of turnover, I imagine. Yeah. I mean, the turnover, the turnover is forced by gaps between shows and things like that. Sure. Sure.
00:39:49
Speaker
But the thing that's also very telling is if there's freelance or something like that, we reach out to former employees that have moved on to bigger studios and they're always eager and willing to jump in. Speaks to the good times they've had there and the culture. That's awesome to hear. Absolutely.
00:40:14
Speaker
Metrally is a blessing to have an environment like that, but just kind of makes every day worth like going to work for. Yeah. I just, you know, I think the industry generally, I mean, I think that some would look at it as a disadvantage. I always thought it was a huge advantage. Um, sure. You know, it's the industry is kind of nomadic. You just, you, you move on to the next gig and sure. There were projects that were less, less glamorous at times at Renegade, but
00:40:43
Speaker
Um, to have that consistency was, uh, has been incredibly important to me. So I'm just very grateful to have been, uh, to hack, to still be with them. Congratulations on all those opportunities and the situation that you're in and the nomination. Um, I do want to kind of go back in time a little bit. I have a two part question for you. Did you watch, uh, Tom and Jerry and Sesame street growing up? Yes. I'm both accounts as matter of fact. Yes.
00:41:14
Speaker
Hey, nice. The reason that I ask is, so I was talking to my mom on the phone yesterday about how we're conducting this interview today and how excited I was. And she was like, oh, you definitely have to tell your aunts about that because all of us, all the sisters grew up, you know, watching Tom and Jerry's. It's going to be really exciting. And they definitely want to listen to that. And I thought about like how my parents like watch Tom and Jerry and know of Sesame Street characters.
00:41:43
Speaker
my grandparents know about it, me and my cousin used to sit and play Yu-Gi-Oh, eat corn dogs and have Tom and Jerry down in the background. And now there's like kids today who are familiar with who Tom and Jerry are. Do you feel that sense of legacy of like, continuing the the inspiration and the vibe and just that that feeling of attachment
00:42:08
Speaker
of continuing that from the original Tom and Jerry as you create new content with those same characters? Absolutely. Absolutely. I can't dwell on it because I don't want it to interfere and to necessarily second guess myself. But absolutely. I mean, that was the goal. That was kind of the underlying goal of the project. I'll tell you a funny story recently.
00:42:35
Speaker
Well, this is the God's honest truth. I was at a furniture store. It literally was at a furniture store. It's about a month, month and a half ago. And I'm running through a furniture store. And this little girl and her mom were standing about five, 10 feet away from me. And she literally said, mom, I'm paraphrasing here, mom, let's get out of here. I want to go home and watch Tom and Jerry. Quite literally. Wow. Amazing.
00:43:11
Speaker
should I walk up to you and tell her, oh, I know Tom and Jerry really well. And I just kind of just kind of left it alone and kind of just soaked in the moment, you know, it's just like, yeah, there's an important, you know, as you're saying, your family had watched this when they were kids, and here's a child, maybe she was six or seven, now enjoying it. I have no idea if she was watching the originals or our show or whatnot. But there is that that kind of power to
00:43:31
Speaker
and you know all that just you know like
00:43:37
Speaker
just how important these characters have been to people throughout their lives. So it's definitely there. The importance of these characters, how much they're beloved. The history of these characters, it's 80 plus years, I think.
00:43:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, it's, it's, it's definitely, it's definitely always there, especially in the back of your mind. But again, I try not, you try not to, you don't have it way on you, you know, just be honored and grateful that you get to work on something like this.
00:44:10
Speaker
Of course. Yeah, and I can definitely reassure that without it weighing on you. I mean, like I said, you had that experience yourself and then I was telling you like I put the show on and I felt like I was a 10 year old kid again, like just enjoying Tom and Jerry. So I personally want to tell you as a viewer that you have succeeded in honoring that legacy.
00:44:29
Speaker
and the show truly is a gem just like it was back in the day like from being able to watch Tom in New York and then to watch him try to play the piano while Jerry's underneath like stealing the keys and stuff and to feel like I'm watching the same show despite the advancements in technology and animation like
00:44:48
Speaker
thank you for preserving that as well as you have, because it truly is a generational thing that people get to enjoy. Well, yeah, thank you. I, you know, I can only take a little bit of credit all that goes to Darrell Vansitter's and his eye, you know, and him, him just, you know, knowing, knowing, and understanding and respecting that art that that art form, the art form. And I think I think Warner Brothers was wise enough to send it send that project to us.
00:45:17
Speaker
knowing his skill set and his ability. But yeah, it's very much appreciated.
00:45:26
Speaker
Is it difficult at times or interesting to create this content from the perspective of a child, especially with the Sesame Street workshop stuff that you were saying?
Child's Perspective in Animation
00:45:40
Speaker
What's that mindset of thinking from a child and wondering if the content will connect with them? Yeah, it's a great question. You let a project kind of develop.
00:45:51
Speaker
and kind of speak to you and you can come up with a you can come up with its own style you kind of curtail your style bring your sensibilities towards it and have it kind of mold into this new thing you know again i'll use to directly answer your question i'll kind of use a sports analogy again
00:46:12
Speaker
You know, I think if you talk to any athlete, you know, before game, there's those nerves at first. But once you get into it, once you're doing it, and once you're in the middle of it, those those butterflies go away. And you think about making the best product product you can, you know, the breath, the best, the best show you can, I hesitate, I don't like using the word product, but but but yeah, it definitely weighs on you at times. And then once once everything gets moving,
00:46:40
Speaker
And once everything gets moving, you have the goal of actually having to finish the project. So that specific pressure kind of wanes a bit. That's awesome.
00:46:55
Speaker
Yeah, and with that in mind, you know, having to get in kind of that head space, you mentioned that the Sesame Street Workshop stuff would be presented to a global audience. So not only are you thinking about, you know, kids within the United States, but how is this going to resonate with people all over the world? And I can't help but think with, you know, Tom and Jerry specifically, I too remember watching it growing up. And it really is just a testament to the indelibility of these characters that it continues to resonate. And on this podcast, we kind of pride ourselves on being
00:47:23
Speaker
defenders of animation. It's not just for kids. It can continue to entertain adults as well. And I think that's what's so special about a show like Tom and Jerry is that I remember my parents sitting down and watching Tom and Jerry with me when I was growing up and whatnot. So with that in mind, I kind of wanted to ask you, you mentioned being this kind of sci-fi fan growing up and with Warner Brothers having this catalog of characters and properties.
00:47:53
Speaker
Or is there like one that you kind of have in mind that would kind of be like your dream project that you have not had an opportunity to work with yet? But if that were to happen, it would be huge for you. Is there one in particular that you have in mind or maybe more than one?
00:48:08
Speaker
There's several. But I will tell you, literally had a conversation last week about this. Oh, yeah. And we would, you know, far be it for me to suggest anything to Warner Brothers. We would love. We would love to do the Jetsons.
00:48:32
Speaker
I think I'm not privy to all the conversations, all the meetings, you know, on the executive level. I believe several years back, they were kind of kicking around this idea. And I think I spoke to all the challenges we had to respect the animation and Tom and Jerry from the late 40s and early 50s. The Jetsons would fall right into our wheelhouse with that, that flash animate,
00:48:59
Speaker
Harmony style would fall right into a kind of that not necessarily limited but held animation You know, it would fall right into our wheelhouse She was just talking about this. It's no joke. We would love that is uh, I guess is Sam register listening We would love to do speaking all of this into existence, yeah, yeah putting it out in the ether we would love to do that and
00:49:26
Speaker
If that were to fall on your lap somehow, hopefully the audio, original audio files have been preserved a little bit better than in the case with... Yes! Yes! It would be a lot of fun to find that original hover car sound because that's still one of those ones that I love.
00:49:42
Speaker
Yes, yes, yes, you're actually making me excited about the project just to be able to drop that sound effect. No combing required. Yeah.
CG Integration in Traditional Animation
00:49:55
Speaker
So pushing back into the technical space a little bit, we talked about this slightly at the top as the world moves into this computer generated graphic era, what opportunities do you see to use this in some sort of way with
00:50:09
Speaker
a mix of 2D animation what other tools does it give you when you're not immediately thinking oh I could use 3D but you want to leave it in somewhere what what else is that giving you as an editor in animation.
00:50:22
Speaker
On Renegade projects, I don't think we've ever used a CG model per se. There were times where we would use a combination of rhythm. Well, they're often at rhythm and use a combination. I'd really have to think about when we've used a combination, if we used a combination at Renegade.
00:50:45
Speaker
Now, really, I was just kind of asking, and not even have you used computer-generated characters, but where do you see opportunities to mold in CG characters alongside traditional animation? Where would you see it as an advantage that you would want to use in the future, whether it be on this projects that you're working on now or something else? It's a great question.
00:51:11
Speaker
I mean, for instance, I can give you kind of a utilitarian answer here. For instance, if you have a car, a vehicle that is moving in space and needs to turn maybe from three quarter to profile to rear three quarter or something like that, I could definitely see an advantage of having a CG model do that because that is very, very challenging to draw.
00:51:39
Speaker
And we would get that back and probably have to cut around it somehow. So I could see a scenario like that, whether or not, whether or not, uh, my director would be into that. He'd probably be into more cutting around it rather than using a CG model. But, uh, definitely, I mean, I think it's a case by case basis and I think it would depend on the show, but, um, there are definitely moments where, where that can, that could be advantageous.
00:52:10
Speaker
Okay. I hope that answered it. No, you did answer that question because there's so many people out there as we talk about defending animation that don't know there's still a lot of human hand behind it. They think, oh, it's just all computers because we have these easy things to do. So helping to educate both ourselves and our listeners of when you may want to use one style over the other,
00:52:35
Speaker
And that, you know, simulating versus actually hand animating. There's so many different nuances of when, where, and why, as opposed to hitting a button on a computer and saying, animate this. There's so much more going into that. Yeah, there's, there's really no such thing. Just the computer does it. There's not, I mean, there is, there's, uh, the Adobe reps are going to hate me. There is that motion capture animation.
00:53:00
Speaker
where you can actually film some character animator of character animator. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Which is well, which has its space somewhere in animation for a episodic television show. Maybe not so much just because the animation is so fluid and it can get it can it can get a little bit clunky at times. I believe that Renegade is actually working on. Renegade has worked with Adobe actually.
00:53:29
Speaker
in regards to that actual software package. But to use it in our main pipeline isn't necessarily a consideration, just because it's very different from what we do and the look we want. It's just a tool that you understand how to use if need be. It's another tool. One of the things that popped up in my mind when you were asking that question, it's what tool is right for the right job?
00:53:59
Speaker
Well, there's not an easy transition to pivot to my next or my final prepared question here.
Relating to Animated Characters
00:54:06
Speaker
It's going to exercise the creative side of your brain a little bit more, a little more avant-garde, but I wanted to know if there is an animated character that you relate to the most.
00:54:15
Speaker
And if so, which one that is, for example, I myself growing up, I was a Nickelodeon kid. So I saw, you know, Doug, one of the original Nicktoons voiced by the great Billy West. And that was a character that I always related to a lot. He liked to draw. He was a little timid, but had an act of imagination. So with that in mind, do you have any characters that come to mind for you? Well, I'm going to have to deflect on this one. Hey, I met Billy West once. He missed with that. Yeah.
00:54:45
Speaker
He was Chester Cheeto. Oh, was he? He was Chester Cheeto. Wow. Yes. Yeah, at that time. At that time. And he was coming off the Howard Stern show, and it was just a delight to spend five minutes with him and talk to him about stuff. And the thing that always sticks out in my mind about him is we did an oodle amount of takes. And of course, it was take one that we went with because the guy is so freaking talented. Right.
00:55:11
Speaker
He nailed it. He nailed it on the first take. I really got to get back to you on what that's a good one Yeah, I put you on the spot there. It's all good. Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna call mulligan on that one. No worries Took that one out of left field. I didn't have an answer either I Was literally thinking I'm like all the shows these don't watch I was like, what would I go with? Yeah, I should ask you know what I'll get back to you. I'll ask my daughter. She'll know immediately. She'll tell me
00:55:43
Speaker
I graduated from the Art Institute of Virginia Beach in photography, but while I was there, they have a great animation department. My appreciation for the nitty-gritty of animation came from watching them burn their eyes on the Cintiq tablets.
00:56:04
Speaker
for whatever class that may be just the amount of effort that went into it, the projects that they came up with, just seeing it go from pre-production and production to post and their presentations and stuff and just that whole process. What advice do you have for people who are pursuing this field for something that they could be doing, whether it be in their off time or just kind of like how to get in the industry of animation or film as a whole?
00:56:33
Speaker
There's, you know, I like to say that just carve your own path. I don't know. That may not sound helpful at first, but it's, it's, it's, it's really immersing yourself in the genre or the sector of the business you want to be in. If you want to animate, immerse yourself in it. Apply as much time as you can. Internship somewhere.
00:56:57
Speaker
see if you can find someplace that a company that needs an intern and you may you may be running getting coffee. I don't know what that is, like post post apocalyptic lockdown COVID world. But prior to that, prior to that, it's it's, it's, you know,
00:57:17
Speaker
especially if you're a student, go volunteer somewhere. Go, go internship somewhere. And because it's not just about the software, the software is a tool, right? It's the old saying, you know, anyone can grab a paintbrush, but it learn how to paint, right? It's also understanding every company is going to have a different culture, but it's also understanding the industry's culture and understanding, understanding workflow and how things work and kind of, you know,
00:57:46
Speaker
kind of understanding in a broad brush how things work and what you can bring to the table, to the team, to the collaborative effort. And again, immerse yourself in it. And I think
00:58:02
Speaker
as I was saying before, carving your own path, there's not one way in. I started in advertising. Most people would have took an internship at an editorial house. So there's many ways in and especially now with YouTube and things like that, I mean, you could conceivably just start your own channel and see if you can get traction that way.
00:58:25
Speaker
and just start doing it, just start doing it. Because one of the things that, you know, at the end of the day, in the industry, you'd be so surprised, like you'll talk to somebody and like, very rarely will somebody be like, hey, I went to school for animation. Well, animation's a little bit different, but there's a diversity because you talk to some people, what did you major in? I majored in history. Oh, what are you doing in entertainment? You know, people find a circuitous route into entertainment.
00:58:54
Speaker
So again, there's not one way in. Right. I feel like the post-apocalyptic coffee, I think it's just door dashing now. Yes. To get everyone's order on the phone. For my friends who I went to school with that listen to this podcast, I'm sure they'd be very grateful for the insight that you gave. I hope so. I hope I'm answering your questions due diligently.
00:59:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's awesome to get this insight from someone that's actually done it and done it so successfully for such a long time. Well, thank you. Of course, of course. My next question is not really animation related per se, it's more to the podcasting world. So I open the floor to
00:59:40
Speaker
Andrew and Zuhar, were there any additional questions you wanted to pose? I think, Zuhar, you had more of a tongue-in-cheek question, right? Yeah. You kind of hit one of my core memories when I was looking through your bio the other day.
00:59:55
Speaker
Hi, hi, Puffy Ami Yumi. I totally forgot about that show. And as soon as it popped up, I was like, why does that sound familiar? And of course, as soon as the theme song hit, it has been stuck in my head for weeks now. I love it. The show is great. I was cackling when I was watching it last night.
01:00:14
Speaker
What was the inspiration for that? What was it like working on that? Do you have any fun stories? Do you have a certain attachment with that show at all? Oh, absolutely. It was the first show I worked on for Renegade. I came in very early in season two, basically at the beginning of season two. We had to change a few things and do a few things technically.
01:00:38
Speaker
That show is near and dear to my heart, because again, it's the first show and there was just, it was just a fun
Memories from Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi
01:00:45
Speaker
show. It's very challenging. Going from going from cutting commercials, which was a 30 second format to a delivering a 30 minute format or 20 minutes, it was
01:00:54
Speaker
It was quite a challenge, but incredibly fun. A lot of the memories are just based around the crew and the collaborative effort and all the knuckleheads in the TD department. Just so much fun. So much fun. And that shows also near and dear to my heart because we had all the animators in-house. So I literally could go to an animator and say, what's up with this shot? Why isn't it working? What's going on?
01:01:23
Speaker
whether it be on technical side or creative side. And talk it over with them. If the animator had a note from the director, that show was structured where you had the storyboard artist directing and then Daryl would supervise direct. So it would be the supervision director on top of them.
01:01:39
Speaker
So basically working with the storyboard artist slash director and then being able to talk to the animators too. It's just a really cool, cool workflow and that budgets don't necessarily allow these days because most of the animation goes out of house. Boy, it'd be great to bring animators back in house.
01:02:02
Speaker
The it's just from from that aspect the show the show itself the show itself I mean, I just love the character of Kaz Kaz was just I don't know just I just loved him there was there was one particular episode where they the girls and Kaz go to a they go to a theme park and Kaz is petrified of
01:02:26
Speaker
rollercoasters so he points to the thoroughly non-threatening milk toast ride which that just that one sticks out to me that line sticks out to me. Yeah milk toast is a great word doesn't get used enough.
01:02:40
Speaker
Of the few that I was watching last night, the one that made me laugh the hardest was when they took Yumi to a baseball game for the first time, and she was bored out of her mind, so she wouldn't stop eating hot dogs, which got Kaz to put her in a hot dog eating contest. Yes! Oh, the hot dog eating contest! She was bored by baseball, and just that whole sequence was like, this is incredible.
01:03:07
Speaker
Just the characters and the dynamic between them is just so adorable. Everything about that show is just hilarious. I loved every second of it. I loved watching it. I'm reading different episode tiles and apparently there's one like...
01:03:23
Speaker
called like a parody of Yu-Gi-Oh! called Stupido. I loved Yu-Gi-Oh! growing up, so just reading that description alone. Man, it's great hearing that insight because I was texting a few friends and I was like, do you remember the show? And everyone's like, yes, we love that show. I was like, that's awesome that just triggered so many other people's memories. That particular episode,
01:03:48
Speaker
That was a special one and it's it's amazing that you that you gravitated towards that one that one was so special It led to a hot dog eating contest in the studio. That's awesome There's a true story What was the record
01:04:05
Speaker
You know what's so funny is everyone's like, oh, we're going to kill this. We're going to kill this. And we recruited who we thought would be the best. And I'm trying to remember if we had teams or something and we had like just bets kind of going, not real bets, but just bets you had like teams. I think it was only four hot dogs. Like if people were like, once they got that bun inside them, they're like, oh man, this is not easy.
01:04:30
Speaker
Yeah, it's not easy. So whatever the world record is, I'm only guessing 36 hot dogs. That's absolutely flipping amazing. Try it in real life because about that third hot dog, you're about done. Definitely. To your guys' credit, I mean, Yumi, we're eating tofu dogs. Yes. Maybe that kind of helped with eating them. Potentially. Potentially. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe so. Maybe so.
01:04:55
Speaker
I mean, this kind of leads into one question that I had and one that I've been itching to ask. With the talk of baseball, you've been making a lot of sports references. Do you have a favorite sports team of any sports? Yeah, I don't want to turn off all the LA fans, but I'm a huge, huge NHL fan. I love all sports. I love specifically football and baseball, but hockey is my sweet spot. Go Capitals. Yeah, there you go. Go Caps, right?
01:05:23
Speaker
Ovi's going to get that record. He's going to break Gretzky's record. That's going to be amazing in a couple of seasons. That's just going to be amazing. Yes. The hockey world is so ready for it. I'm so excited. And playoffs are around the corner. It's a great ton of hockey fans. Yeah. I'm excited to see what the Kings do. They've got a young team, but I'm actually
01:05:43
Speaker
I also do fantasy sports, so I'm a little bit agnostic now. You become less of a hardcore fan because you end up rooting for your hated player on the opposition. But I actually go to a lot of Ducks games down in Anaheim. Oh, nice. Okay. Yeah. And they're definitely- That's awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love the sport. It's underappreciated. It's its own worst enemy at times.
01:06:12
Speaker
It's just such an amazing sport. And even if you're not a sports fan, try to get to a live game. It's absolutely spectacular, the speed at what these athletes can do. Anyways, there's my promo for the NHL.
01:06:29
Speaker
Yeah, I won't divert too much but between Mighty Ducks, Letter Kenny and then needing something to do during COVID after like the hype of living close to DC and the caps winning the cup, like I'm just like totally locked in.
01:06:45
Speaker
Um, but the question that I did want to divert towards, um, I don't know if high, high, puffy. I mean, it has anything to do with this, but I am huge into anime and rock and metal music. Are there any, um, anime that you are into?
01:07:01
Speaker
Do you have a favorite? I know you had your talk about over-judging animated content. Did you ever get into anime? Are there any in particular that you're interested in? I did, and I'll tell you the one that sticks out. It may not be my favorite, but my children were young at the time. The Panyu film was just beautiful. Okay. Oh, yes.
01:07:24
Speaker
Just absolutely gorgeous. And that one sticks out in my mind. I think that anime fans were actually a little disappointed in Hihai Puthiamimi because it really wasn't steeped in anime. But we kind of brought, again, what I was saying earlier, we kind of tried to pay respect to it. We would use anime
01:07:50
Speaker
anime eye, crying, you know, things like that constantly. But actual anime, it was more of a traditional, you know, North American style. And I think people, unfortunately, were expecting more anime out of it. But hopefully we won them over with a great show.
01:08:10
Speaker
As I was rewatching it, I was comparing it a little bit to the style of Teen Titans and Avatar, which also have the presence of anime, but have their own North American touch that a lot of people appreciate, and those are very beloved shows as well. I mean, I think you hit the nail on the head of
01:08:31
Speaker
Hitting that that mix of what North American animation Can be mixed in with like what we love about anime so I mean I'm definitely going to be binging the hi-hi puffy on me more throughout the Week cuz it's just it's so good, and it's so funny
01:08:50
Speaker
Yeah, we that that particular show you remind me, I mean, we have Mike Giamo on that show. He is our director for all the Frozen films. Oh, well, I believe I believe he's he's so he's yeah, yeah, yeah, he was this is before Frozen and things like that. But he sure there's a name there's a name to drop. I had I had the pleasure to work with him.
01:09:15
Speaker
Directly because we used to do background passes we come up and he come up into editorial and we just look at backgrounds So looking back on that, you know, it's one of those things that it was so long ago You can easily forget but I got to work with him which was just an absolute pleasure The last the last question that I kind of have that kind of connects everything with this so
Panda Theme and Coincidences
01:09:41
Speaker
I watched a little bit of your material to prepare for this interview today. On your IMDB, you have a short film about a martial artist panda. On an episode of Hi Hi Puffyami Yumi, there was a big emphasis on panda flakes when she was talking about collecting these figures.
01:10:02
Speaker
And when I was watching Tom and Jerry in New York, there was a baby panda at the zoo exhibit that Tom and Jerry were both trying to get home, of course, causing chaos. We, Animation Deliberation, are part of the Stranded Panda Network. Nice. So the connection of watching three of your content and the fact that you were interviewing a show of Stranded Panda was
01:10:30
Speaker
Crazy of a connection and just kind of shows how things are meant to be Did you have any say with pandas being put into so many material and do you like pandas?
01:10:39
Speaker
I love Candice. They're adorable. But it's it's 100% a coincidence. It's just amazing the way the universe works, right? Yeah, because that would be that would be happening ahead of me with the writers. So yeah, just a strange coincidence. But that's a very cool. That's very cool that you're able to put all those together.
01:11:04
Speaker
Yeah, it was too weird to look over. Like, by the time I got to Hi Hi Puffy, I was like, okay, what is happening right now?
01:11:10
Speaker
Yeah, that's so interesting. Obviously, you gravitated to it, but there it is, right? I wasn't looking for it, but it was distinct enough to just be like, wait a minute. Right. Oh, universe. Exactly. Excuse me. Exactly. And just to explain Stranded Panda a little bit, the meaning behind that name is this network was really found a strong foothold and saw audience increase during the pandemic where
01:11:38
Speaker
people that have these niche interests and are really passionate about various fandom entries, whether it be live action, comic book related animation like ourselves, we kind of saw them as like these endangered species. So it's like you take the endangered species of the panda that's very unique and it's stranded, it's on its islands of its own, but we can all be connected through online community interaction and podcasts just like these.
01:12:05
Speaker
With that in mind, I did want to ask, you mentioned this is your first podcast appearance, but do you have any podcasts that you like to listen to that have perhaps helped you in your creative process or even when you just need to take a break from consuming animated content? You mentioned you like sports and whatnot. Are there any podcasts that you're really into?
01:12:26
Speaker
Well, you know, I'm going to feel a little guilty because I need to support these guys, but here's a shout out. Here's a shout out to Crash the Pond. I watch those guys a lot. I think their audiences, it isn't very robust, but they go in depth on the ducks quite often. So I try to jump in on their podcast.
01:12:46
Speaker
I don't I don't listen to a lot of industry stuff on on the podcast if there's sure if there's um If there's something interesting one of the podcasts I loved I have to mention now that you bring it up Uh was gilbert godfrey's podcast listening to all the old-time hollywood stuff uh connecting bringing in bringing in uh actors and actresses and directors that are connected to old-time hollywood Uh that pot that's going to be sore. I don't know if they're going to continue it now that he's left
01:13:16
Speaker
the earth. But that was one of my favorite podcasts. So connection to the industry. For sure. For sure. Yeah. Great call. He will be sorely missed for his talents. I remember him fondly as Iago.
01:13:32
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, he would do that. And then he would do the dirtiest sets. Like this is the same person. And he was always known as the, you know, the comics comic, if you will. So yeah, sorely missed is correct.
01:13:54
Speaker
So what does the future look like for you, Michael? And what upcoming projects should people be looking forward to that we can kind of keep an eye out for your name in the credits?
Upcoming Projects and Recommendations
01:14:05
Speaker
That's a great question. And I specifically asked my boss before the podcast started, and I can't talk about it yet. Oh, OK. Oh, OK. I think I can say we have a project coming up for a big studio. It will be a traditional animation project. So we're excited about that. The content is very, very adult-oriented. So it's different.
01:14:34
Speaker
It's gonna be very different from Sesame Street and Tom and Jerry. Okay, interesting, interesting.
01:14:41
Speaker
Hopefully, does it include either of those characters the way they're described? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Do you have like a timeline? Can you tell us what we literally, literally, literally, I did receive the first sequence this week. So we're looking at we're looking at at least 18 to months to two years out. I think I don't I don't know the release date yet.
01:15:05
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. I don't even sure if I can say the studio. So I'm not to avoid getting into trouble. Yeah. It is a major studio. We're very excited about it. It is going to be traditional. So no CG. It's not even to really be flash oriented. So we're really, really excited about that.
01:15:26
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, hey, as you get more information, if you want to hop up on this podcast and when it comes time to promote it and get the word out of what's going on, we'd be more than happy to host you again to talk about your future projects. Absolutely. Love to. Love to. And hopefully, the Jetson will come around or something. Yeah, we'll keep our fingers crossed. Right, Warner Brothers? Right, Warner Brothers? Yeah. The Jetson. Yes, send this to a higher up. Yeah, exactly.
01:15:52
Speaker
Well, since you can only kind of very cautiously tease the future and kind of keep that close to your chest there, or the vest rather, are there any projects from your body of work that maybe didn't catch on as much as you'd like that you would point listeners that may be hearing your name for the first time that you'd like them to kind of go back into your catalog and check out?
01:16:14
Speaker
Yes. Really enjoyed. We only did the flash segments for it, but there was a little thing called the Book of Dragons based off of the very popular movie series from DreamWorks. I think it was trying to be developed into a series. It never quite
01:16:36
Speaker
you know, got off the ground, but it's a fun, the fun little short to watch. It's really, really cute. And that speaking to a combination that had 2d compositing CG and flash animation all kind of wound into one. It was a really, really cute, cute show. And it's just unfortunate never never really
01:16:59
Speaker
never really lifted off the ground. But it is out there. Um, I'm not sure on the Renegade website, it very well could be Yeah, it must be. Okay, that's phenomenal. Because I watched it before this when I knew you were going to be interviewing and I'm like, this is so cool. Why have I never seen this before? Because I'm a fan of the dragons dreamworks stuff. So to see that it's awesome to know that you guys kind of had a foothold in that early.
01:17:24
Speaker
Yeah, we were lucky. We got to do all the really cartoony flash stuff and it was really fun. Who knows, maybe someone will pick up the mantle on that one. I don't know. There's so much that goes into those decisions. But that was a fun one that was a swing and a miss evidently. Well, hopefully the listeners of this podcast can kind of create a groundswell around that and we'll get some
01:17:53
Speaker
due time in the daylight now. Oh, that would be cool. That would be cool. All right. As we're coming to an end here, I wanted to open up the floor to you, Michael. First of all, thank you so much for being here and lending your insights and your passion. It was really, really exciting for us to have you here and pick your brain a little bit. Are you active on social media? Is that a place you want to direct people to follow you if they like to interact with you on the interwebs?
01:18:20
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good question. I am, I guess I'm on Facebook. I'm on LinkedIn. That's the best way to get a hold of me. LinkedIn. I have a Twitter account. I don't think I've logged in in a couple years. I'm awful. Yeah, I'm awful, awful with social media and that that's part of what this outreach is too, you know, sure. Going along with the anti nomination.
01:18:47
Speaker
is just kind of getting out of my own wheelhouse a little bit and doing these doing podcasts and doing interviews and just kind of outreach for myself and for Renegade. So, LinkedIn. Okay, very cool. And social media for Renegade? There should be.
01:19:09
Speaker
It's a good question See this I'm telling and and you see how I slot really I just fit right in with renegade I don't think there's a heavy social social media presence for renegade either I'll bring it up. I'll bring it up to Ashley to you know, this the next meeting Podcast and they were all wondering Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure there's I I'm positive there's a
01:19:37
Speaker
And I'm not positive, actually. Let me get back to you guys. Invite me back, please. And I'll have all these answers for you. Of course. We would absolutely love to have you back. So again, we're just an email away. Yes. Awesome. Awesome.
01:19:55
Speaker
All right. Well, with that in mind, thanks again so much for being here. Thank you to all our listeners for all the support. Again, I will remind you, if you dig what we're doing on this show and want to increase our listenership and give us more visibility so we can have Michael back as well as other guests, leave us a rating and review wherever you catch your podcast and send us some feedback if you really enjoyed this interview. And maybe the next time we have Michael come on, we can have your fan or excuse me, your listeners submitted questions to read on air. That would be great.
01:20:25
Speaker
That's it for me this week. Again, I'm Jay Scottie St. Clair. Thanks again to Michael D'Ambrosio for being here. Thanks for tuning in. That's T double O N I N. Stay well. Until next time, muscle muscle with a side of milk toast. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure. This is a lot of fun.
01:21:11
Speaker
Dramatic Pause.
01:21:13
Speaker
A dramatic pause says something without saying anything at all. Dramatic pause is a go-to for podcasters, presidents, and radio voiceovers. It makes you look really smart, even if you're not. Feet deserve a go-to like that, like hey do choose.
01:21:38
Speaker
Life, comfy, good to go to. Right here in your neighborhood.
Recycling Initiatives and Innovations
01:21:43
Speaker
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01:22:04
Speaker
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01:22:12
Speaker
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01:22:44
Speaker
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01:23:06
Speaker
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01:23:37
Speaker
Your hard to recycle plastics can be so much more. Participate in the hefty energy bag program happening in your neighborhood today.