- September 23, 2024
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- Greg Bowdish is a novelist, screenwriter and BlueCat Screenplay Competition semi-finalist. His novel Love’s Naked Nature will be out this summer.The Ringling College of Art + Design has been getting a lot of attention lately in the computer animation industry. This year, Ringling students took both the Gold and the Bronze medals at the Student Academy Awards®, and the college has consistently ranked as one of the top computer animation schools in the world. But probably the biggest news regarding Ringling graduates in the past few years was the 2011 Oscar win for Best Animated Short Film by Moonbot Studios.
Because of the nearly anonymous nature of animation and graphic design work, it is difficult to comprehend the impact the graduates of this little art and design college are having on the world. But if you want to get a handle on what Ringling students are capable of doing after they graduate, Moonbot Studios is the place to look.Founded in 2010 by film producer Lampton Enochs, author and illustrator William Joyce and Ringling alum Brandon Oldenburg, Moonbot's original staff included 18 other Ringling graduates. Their first short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, was released with the official launch of the company in February 2011 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Morris Lessmore would go on to win the Oscar that year.
Since then, Moonbot has grown to be much more than just a computer animation studio. It is now a multimedia story laboratory, blending cutting-edge computer graphic design with old world, pen-to-paper artistry to create everything from films to games to apps to ebooks. They even work with traditional printed books to put a Moonbot spin on things. The print version of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore interacts with a specially-designed app called the “IMAG-N-O-TRON.”
Among many other projects, Moonbot artists also created a Webby Award-winning app called the The Numberlys, and worked with the band The Polyphonic Spree on an interactive music video app called Bullseye. The studio has grown considerably since its Oscar win and now has a staff of over 40. Ringling College remains the go-to place for the company when looking for new talent.
Oldenburg, one of the three founders and creative partners, and Christina Faulkner, a Technical Director and Generalist, answered a few questions for me regarding Moonbot and their experiences in the industry.
What do you like most about working at Moonbot?Brandon - Freedom. We've created an atmosphere and structure where an idea can be given birth to and delivered without having to go through other channels of approval besides our own. Technology has enabled us to self-publish our work and scratch our itches sooner rather than later.
Christina - I love the broad range of things I’m able to do here at Moonbot. I graduated from the computer animation program at Ringling College of Art + Design and was hired on as an illustrator. But since then, I’ve been able to do a lot of CG-related tasks as well as art. My goal is really just to help out in any part of the production I can. And a lot of people here wear many hats during any given part of a production.
How has the Academy Award changed the future for MoonBot?Christina - Winning an Oscar was validation that a small studio like Moonbot is capable of great things. But we always strive to maintain our philosophy of staying hungry, venturing into the unknown and never becoming complacent.
Brandon - The Oscar was an insanely ambitious goal. To have achieved such a wondrous milestone has been affirming. We now have the confidence to move forward with more crazy ideas, which is good because we come up with them every day.
What made Shreveport an ideal location for the studio?
Brandon - It's where we call home. Our commutes are under 10 minutes and the cost of living is drastically different from living on the East or West Coast. And they throw you parades. What other town would throw you a parade?
Christina - Shreveport is a charming place; it’s not over-saturated with studios and it has the opportunity to blossom in the coming years.
What kinds of changes do you see up ahead in the film/animation world?
Brandon - We have to figure out a way to do things cheaper, more competitive, with less people, and retain quality without burning out our workforces. Sounds like an impossible equation, but we believe we can do it and pull it off in the U.S. and even in Louisiana with incredibly talented people without having a budget balloon to some kind of ridiculous number. Studios will start to look and act a little less like Versailles ... and that's okay. No one is saying we can't have a little cake.
Christina - I think the industry is going to return to smaller studios and smaller-scale projects. It takes a large studio way too much money to make a CG feature film, and the artists working on them, while greatly talented, often face too many obstacles to create a pure experience.
Nowadays, films have to be based off a franchise or sequel, they have to guarantee a certain return, they have to factor in marketing and they have to make such-and-such in profits … Sure, a lot of large-budget projects today are successful following these practices, but more often than not they’re not meaningful, and they won’t stay in the minds of kids for years to come. I believe films should be determined by artists who need to convey something, who need, more than anything else, to tell a story. They should come from the source, specific and powerful. And this is something I feel is far more doable at a small studio.Do you have any advice for graduating Ringling students who are interested in film and animation and are about to go out into the world to seek employment?
Christina - It’s a tumultuous industry and job prospects can be really scary at times, but ultimately you determine your own success. Be nice, work hard and stand up for what you believe in. It’s the best advice I can give.
Brandon - If you feel like you are having to compromise what you are able to bring to the table creatively just so you will have a job, you don't have to. Some of the best jobs out there are the ones you have to invent for yourself. You are young. Now is the time to take chances and be adventurous. Bet on yourself!
Learn more about The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore: http://morrislessmore.com/
Vist the Moonbot website: http://moonbotstudios.com
Take a studio tour: http://vimeo.com/24569664
Learn more about The IMAG-N-O-TRON: http://vimeo.com/65592684
Learn more about the Ringling College school of animation: http://www.ringling.edu/learn/majors/computer-animation/
