I’m the co-founder and artistic director of Fantoons Animation Studio in Los Angeles.
For this text, I deal with my journey – my desires, successes, and failures – however extra importantly, how on earth I ended up beginning a studio that now works with individuals like Jack Black, Iron Maiden, Rush, The Beach Boys, and Steve Martin.
I’m initially from Venezuela and have at all times cherished music and animation. My dream, although, was to be a author.
Then we began to get a tiny bit of labor…
We had been employed to create comedian strips to advertise a UK indie movie referred to as Anuvahood. Soon after, I had a good friend that gave me the chance to create an animated net sequence, which ran for 5 years.
Around that point, I began Fantoons´ social media. I didn’t manage to pay for for brand new animations, and being a lover of comics and illustrations, we began to do parodies, comics and artwork primarily based round music…however nothing appeared to work.
The land of alternatives and desires.
We lived in a tiny residence the place my workplace was in a closet.
Things began to occur. Fantoons started producing small print runs of our social media comics, which landed us an exhibit at San Diego Comic-Con! I used to be amazed!
But…
The band and their supervisor cherished the brief a lot that the animation opened every present of their Japanese tour–together with a sold-out, 20,000-seat Budokan enviornment present in Tokyo!
Afterwards, they employed us to do all their visuals. It was a dream come true.
This considerably validated that I used to be not absolutely insane after 4 years of strife.
I needed to work with Rush formally, so I despatched the guide to their workplace in Canada. It was, once more, an enormous danger. The band may have merely mentioned no, however a miracle occurred.
Our unofficial Rush guide turned official!
We’ve carried out seven books with the band, with two extra within the works! We’ve additionally created animated movies for 2 of their greatest songs, one in all which incorporates cameo voice roles from the band themselves!
Our Rush partnership has been the perfect and most satisfying relationship of my skilled profession. Taking dangers and being silly can flip into wonderful issues should you do it for the proper causes.
