STORYBOARDS
Originally animation stories were written with drawings to explore physical gags and situations better than the written word alone.
At studios today, "story men" or "story board artist" are the secret weapon in terms of writing and physical gag ideas.
My debut as a "story man" was on "The Nightmare Before Christmas", directed by Henry Selick, a great taskmaster. I stayed with Skellington Production for "James And The Giant Peach", where I had the pleasure of brain storming with Randy Newman for the "Eating Peach" song. Returning to Disney’s I story boarded on "Lion King" conceiving the visuals for the "Be Prepared" sequence, finding inspiration in Leni Reifenstal’s "Triumph of the Will”.
I joined my friends at Pixar in 1993 becoming employee #73. I storyboarded, helped design and co-wrote "A Bugs Life", before becoming a story development artist. Later I originated the idea for “CARS”, where I co-wrote the script with Joe Ranft and John Lasseter.
I have storyboarded for Pixar, Walt Disney, Tim Burton, Universal Studios, Dreamworks Animation, Reel FX, Laika, Illumination, Paramount Animation and Sony Studios.