Straight Ahead Animation Podcast

Karolyn Schenewark-Moses is a Mexican-American artists working in Development at Nickelodeon. From intern to Production Coordinator, Karolyn tells us about what it's like to work in development, and what crucial role this department does in an animation company. Having been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, we talk about how her disability has affected her life and goals, but also about how the diagnosis gave her closure and outlets for how to manage it. Karolyn's original industry goals were to be a color designer, but after having much freelancing success, her ideal artistic outlet has evolved into something else. Nowadays she happily enjoys the stability of her role in development while being able to focus on illustrations and working towards creating children's books. karolynmoses.com IG: @prismakitty If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ko-fi.com/straightaheadap⁠!

Joining us this week is Nina Robinson, a black background artist! We talk about how she got her start and how she took any role that came her way and learned and she went. Ultimately she just want to make art for the gorls and we love to see it! Portfolio: https://www.neens-world.com/ IG: @nii.naa.bean If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ko-fi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Ricardo Scioville is a Latino character designer, story artist, and creator of Cazadores De Estrellas/Star Chasers. He shares his experience creating a pilot in collaboration with Cartoon Network Latin America, and the project's spontaneous creation. Ricardo chats about his time on Rey Mysterio vs. La Oscuridad, shares some emotional motivations about his inner-child, and we get to try out a new icebreaker game... Portfolio: https://www.behance.net/Rslle IG: @richiscioville Twitter: @RichiScioville Cazadores de Estrellas Pilot If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ⁠⁠⁠ko-fi⁠⁠⁠!

Humble and hungry, James imparts a wealth of knowledge from his career path from production to writer in animation. We also get to chat about his dissertation on the Evolution of the Disney Princess he wrote for his Master's of humanities. And finally, we all give the well-deserved flowers to the significant others in our lives. IG: @rayoflight789 If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ⁠⁠ko-fi⁠⁠!

Tune in as we talk to JohnTom Knight, a Cherokee Native writer working in animation. JohnTom mentions how the book We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy landed him his Script Coordinator Position on Spirit Rangers! We also talk about how on Spirit Rangers he became known as The Lore Keeper! IG: @JohnTomKnight Twitter: @JohnTomKnight If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ⁠ko-fi⁠!

Time for a throwback! This is a recording from 2021 of a panel Straight Ahead hosted during Geek Girl Conline. We hosted a round table discussion with Samia Khalaf, Steph Rizo, and Li Cree. We take this rare opportunity to share some of the many different paths one can take breaking into the animation industry. We talk about personal pitfalls in our early years, and how relatable those experiences can be. Samia tells us about her film she painted in VR, Kteer Tayyeb, and why she chose to tell this story. Steph talks about working on the bluesky phase of feature film. Li tells us the "secret" to how she creates so many personal projects. This and so much more as we take a dive back in time! Many thanks to Alyssa Askew, Alyssa Jones-Comtois, Marina Martinez, and the entire GGC staff for inviting us to host this event. GGC - https://geekgirlcon.com/ Samia Khalaf - @samsoomfull (instagram) Steph Rizo - @steph_rizo (instagram) Li Cree - @li_cree (instagram)

Ashley Chung works as an Associate Animator in the video games industry! In her first job working at Steamroller Studio she was thrown into the deep end working on Mortal Kombat 1! Ashley also talks about taking additional animation classes post graduation really helped her improve as an animator. Tune in and find out more about the world of animating for video games! Portfolio: ashleychung.com IG: @ashthemush Twitter: @ashthemush If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ⁠ko-fi.com/straightaheadap

Sofia is a Mexican-Salvadoran American storyboard artist currently working for a studio based outside of the US. Find out how Sofia's journey in the entertainment industry shifted from live action to animation. Not every journey is a straight path, alot of times its a winding path that goes in several different directions. She worked several non-union jobs before landing her first industry job as an artist at Warner Bros. Animation. Despite the current state of the animation industry, Sofia has not let that deter her and has found career opportunities in Canada. We hope you enjoy this episode! Website: https://www.sofiacanales.com/ Short Film: Mujer Instagram: @moctezumas_nose LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofia-canales-5480321b/ If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ⁠ko-fi.com/straightaheadap

Jose Hernandez is an El Salvadorean-American freelance artist for Visual Development. We chat about how he got his start doing an unpaid internship, how the industry has changed over time, and the reality of getting through the valleys of the industry as a freelancer. He takes us through his artistic journey not being able to go to university out of high school, joining mentorships, and learning on the job. We talk a lot about his time on The Casa Grandes, and sprout a conversation about culture as a Hispanic-American. Instagram: @main3venter_hernandez If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ko-fi.com/straightaheadap

Yanna Casey is a Black artist working as a production coordinator in Atlanta, Georgia! We talk about their position as a PC outside of Los Angeles, and the ID she did for Adult Swim before deciding she didn't want to pursue an art role professionally. We also learn about Yanna's background in music production, and how they incorporate that into their personal art. We also talk about getting in touch with your passions, like creating the art that you want, or collecting black funko pops. Instagram: @supa_flowa TikTok: @supaflowa If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ko-fi.com/straightaheadap

This week we are honored to spotlight Rise Up Animation, an organization that offers mentorship and portfolio reviews to burgeoning BIPOC talent. (fun fact: the idea for Straight Ahead was inspired by Rise Up!) To tell us all about this wonderful organization is co-founder and 16-year industry veteran: Frank Abney. We have such a great time chatting with Frank and listening to his wealth of insights into the Industry. We chat about the history of RUA, its goals as an organization, and some common pitfalls of young artists. Mixed into the interview is no shortage of Frank's own experience as both an animator, filmmaker, and black man bringing his voice to his work. https://www.riseupanimation.org/ Instagram: @riseupanimation Frank Abney Instagram: @frankabney Twitter: @iFrankAbney If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ko-fi.com/straightaheadap

This week we are spotlighting Asian Queens in Animation: an organization dedicated to fostering a community of Asians of underrepresented genders in the animation space. We have the pleasure of talking with co-founders Maansi Sunkara and Shrav Yalsangikar, along with one of their admins, Sanisha Agarwal. We talk about the inception of AQIA, how their built their brand as an organization, and their panel at Lightbox Expo. These achievements are topped by their most successful program, Coffee with a Queen, which pairs-up professionals and those aspiring so they can make real connections. Instagram: @asianqueensanimation https://linktr.ee/asianqueensanim If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices! If you'd like to support us directly, we have a tip jar open at ko-fi.com/straightaheadap

WE ARE CELEBRATING 100 EPISODES! Thank you to everyone who has been following our podcast and giving us a platform to spotlight BIPOC voices. We are so honored to have hit this huge milestone! To celebrate our 100th episode we brought back previous guest that we have had on the podcast. Join us as we catch up with Trilina Mai, Li Cree, Joon Chung, and Rebecca Chan! Also don't forget to support us on ko-fi, every little bit helps! Host Ray Mendoza Landa @raydiosilence Yuki Okamura-Wong @chuudles Guest Trilina Mai @trilinamai Li Cree @li_cree Joon Chung @thejooniverse Rebecca Chan @_rebchan If you enjoy our podcast, please share it and rate us on Apple Podcast & Spotify. We want to expand our platform and amplify these BIPOC voices!