Pitching and Producing in an Industry that Won’t Stop Changing
Brad Graeber is an animation executive, writer, producer, and all around human who lives and works in Austin, TX. Brad is currently Supervising Producer on Netflix’s CASTLEVANIA, Showrunner and Co-Creator of SEIS MANOS, Executive Producer on BLOOD OF ZEUS, Executive Producer on MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVELATIONS and Executive Producer on the upcoming TOMB RAIDER and SKULL ISLAND animated series. Brad has also been the studio Executive Producer on projects for Nickelodeon and Disney. Brad attended the esteemed Visualization Sciences (“The Vizlab”) graduate program (MS) at Texas A&M and started his career as an animator and animation software programmer.
In 2001, Brad co-founded Powerhouse Animation Studios, an Austin based traditional animation studio, where he currently serves as CEO and Chief Creative Officer. Through Powerhouse, Brad has helped produce and develop projects for companies including Netflix, Disney, EA, Sony, DC Comics, Marvel, Old Spice, Coca Cola, Miramax, Microsoft, the USO, and more.
Brad also has served on several film and education committees and advisory boards. He was on the advisory council for the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy at the University of Texas and serves on the Industry Partners council for the Visualization Sciences program at Texas A&M. Brad is also a member of the Producer’s Guild of America.
Brad is an animated fight choreography enthusiast and has trained in Kendo, MMA, Muy Thai, and Boxing. For 20+ years he has studied 7-star praying mantis and Hung-gar kung-fu. He has written fight choreography bibles for several animated series and video games.
Evolving Skillset and Mindset: My Journey in Animation
Hi, I’m Ryan Magno, concept artist and art director at Warner Bros. Animation. I graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 2014 and have been immersed in the animation industry for the past 11 years. My professional background spans various roles including art direction, visual development, background painting, color keys, and FX. Outside of my professional work, I like to paint traditionally and participate in gallery shows in New York.
Dragons, Demons, and Beyond: Evolving as an Artist
Dan Katcher is a renowned Los Angeles-based creature designer for television, video games, and film. He is best known for his design of the dragons on HBO’s hit, Game of Thrones, which earned him Emmy recognition for three straight seasons. In addition to Game of Thrones, Dan has worked on creatures for a number of DC Comic productions, including The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. Dan is currently working on a variety of freelance projects and teaching courses in ZBrush character modeling.
Dan’s previous work includes the dinosaurs on Fox’s Terra Nova, alien designs for the Green Lantern film, creature designs for MTV’s Shannara Chronicles, and sculpts of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” for Sideshow Collectibles, as well as many other works both public and private. Dan got his start creating collectibles in wax for Todd McFarlane Toys in New York.
Dan was trained in New York City at the School of Visual Arts, where he majored in Animation, and at the Art Students League, where he learned clay figurative sculpture from experts in the field. Dan later trained in both Maya and Z-Brush, and is considered a leader in his utilization of the latter platform. Dan credits his traditional art background for his depth of understanding of anatomy that sets his work apart. His ability to capture a character’s full range of human emotions gives his creations a signature, unmatched vitality.
From Stuart Little to Kpop Demon Hunters: Finding Yourself in Animation
Clara Chan has been in the VFX/Animation industry for more than two decades. Before that, she worked at Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a software engineer for a few years. Her love of art and creating imagery eventually led her to a different path. She started her vfx career at Sony Pictures Imageworks in the lighting department on Stuart Little 2. Since then, she has worked on 19 films, including Academy Award®-nominated SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, OVER THE MOON, and the first three HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA movies. Most recently she was VFX supervisor on KPOP DEMON HUNTERS and the short film, THE SPIDER WITHIN: A SPIDER-VERSE STORY.
Clara earned a B.S. in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a M.S. in visualization sciences from Texas A & M University. Clara has been a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the Animation branch since 2021. In her spare time, Clara has also written and directed a multiple-award-winning animated short film, HAVE I SWALLOWED YOUR DREAMS, which is touring in film festivals around the world at the moment.
Animating Villains and more!
Kathy Zielinski has worked in the animation industry for 43 years as an animator/ Supervisor on many animated feature films. She began her career at Disney studio’s in 1981 straight out of California institute of the Arts and worked on many famous traditionally drawn animated films such as “The Great Mouse Detective”, “The Little Mermaid”, “Aladdin”, “The Rescuers down under”,” and The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and the CG feature “Frozen”. After over a decade of working at Disney Feature animation, she then began working for Dreamworks animation studios where she worked on several traditional animated films there and then in 2001 was trained in 3D computer animation where she worked on many memorable films there including “Kung Fu Panda”, “How to train your Dragon” and “The Croods”. Other skills related to her job included creating character Concept design, model sheets and sculpting maquettes of the characters she worked on. Other studio projects over the years included designing and animating “Hexxus” for “Ferngully, the last Rainforest”, live action CG animation for the television shows “The Flash”, “Super Girl” and “Legends of Tomorrow”, “Evil”, “Umbrella Academy” and the long running television series, “The Simpsons”.
In addition to working for the studios, Kathy had won a student Academy award and Focus Film award for her student film “Guess who’s for Dinner” which is about a Spinach monster who attacks a kid at dinner time. Kathy also loves to sculpt characters in Zbrush and has an independent Computer animated film she is working on in her spare time called “Hide and Seek”.
Kathyzielinski.com
Instagram : kzinkball
