Fortiche: What is your role on the project or at Fortiche?

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As Animation Lead at Fortiche, I lead a team on various sequences throughout each episode.

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As their lead, I work with the Animation Supervisor : Alexis W. and Animation Director: Bart M., to help the Animation team in many ways throughout the process.I assist and review their acting reference, keeping the acting choices genuine and giving the animators a clear road map as they move forward with their animation. I review their animation, (blocking to final pass) giving draw-overs, suggestions and insight to maintain the director's vision as well as the notes from my superiors in an effort to keep acting choices consistent, characters on model and polish at a sophisticated level.

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In addition to leading the team, I also animate shots within each sequence in an attempt to set the tone for the standard of quality that is expected. As part of my duties, I handle things such as casting the team shots that both challenge their current level as well as keep their inspiration and morale high. At the start of each sequence, I discuss with the team the director's intent, show storyboards and often present visual inspiration from movie references or other sources which helps unify the vision as we begin our work.

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After our work is done, I follow the sequences as they go through the pipe, giving notes to downstream departments related to Animation's intent for FX or CFX.

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F: Can you tell us about your career ?

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Before coming to Fortiche, I was a supervising animator in London, leading several sequences and multiple characters on that film including the title character, RON. Before that, I was an animator at Dreamworks S.K.G. for ten years. Before moving to Dreamworks, I was a character animator at Disney Feature Animation for three years and graduated from Disney's Apprentice Program in 2006. Prior to Disney, I got my start in the film industry working as an animator on an independently made, VFX film.

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F: Why did you choose this career path?

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I've always loved animation, having drawn and created characters since I was a young child. I did not study Animation in university, I majored in Fine Art and Media and Film Production. But while at university, I took a class that dipped its toes into 2D animation and I discovered I loved bringing characters to life through animation. After college I moved to California and sought out a 3D animation training course and began to teach myself the software to begin my journey.

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F: How long have you been working with Fortiche?

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One year.

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F: What is your best memory at Fortiche or do you have an anecdote to share with us?

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I very much enjoy working with my old friend from Dreamworks, Alexis again. He's the main reason my family and I moved to Montpellier and we love it here. I also love that Fortiche strives for high quality and supports the animators in that goal. After moving to Europe, I missed that aspect about Dreamworks and Disney, which I had previously taken for granted. I'm happy to say that I feel I've found that culture again here at Fortiche in a series that we can all be very proud of.