I have worked at every major studio you can think of, including small and international studios. I’ve now been in the industry for almost 15 years. After two months, Nickelodeon gave me my first revisionist spot on Spongebob. And right away wrangled my way into an internship with Nickelodeon, on Spongebob Squarepants, which I parlayed into a production assistant job. So I went to a fully accredited university where I did a double major in illustration and animation. I’d heard from many adults about jobs they clearly hated, and I didn’t want to risk that. When it came time to focus on a career in college, I decided I needed to at least give the arts a try to see what I could make of that kind of career. I kept my passion for animation alive purely in my spare time. Throughout high school, I didn’t take any courses in the arts, or do extracurriculars that involved art. But unfortunately, I didn’t have tons of support from my family in pursuing my animation dreams. The pace of television, with its fast turnover of characters and stories attracted me.
#TOON BOOM HARMONY STUDENT TV#
Between seeing that video and watching animated shows, I knew I wanted to be an animator.Īs I got older, I figured out specifically that I wanted to work in animation for TV rather than feature. In it, she’s dancing around with an animated cat. It was the Paula Abdul music video for Opposites Attract. In fact, I remember the exact video that sparked my interest. I knew I wanted to do animation since I was probably 4-years-old.
Hello Kris! To begin, could you share with us a bit about yourself and your career, work, and background in animation? We caught up with Kris to learn how he and his brother came up with the concept behind Studio Smokescreen, their vision for the studio, and the craft that went into Tent Sale. The goal is that new animation talent will have the opportunity to leverage their experience at Studio Smokescreen as a means to break into the “big studio” circuit.
Led by co-owners, and siblings, Kris and Chase Wimberly, Studio Smokescreen is an animation studio built with the mission of discovering, supporting, training and preparing animation talent from underrepresented and marginalized communities. The studio serves as a training ground for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds to hone their craft while providing mentorship from industry professionals. This comedic film is the first animated short produced entirely by Studio Smokescreen the only Black-owned animation studio in the Los Angeles area. He and his supervisor, Hilary, are in for more than they bargained for when they confront the most impressive tent on the sales floor. In Tent Sale, Josh takes a job at Camp-orium.