The Spark Cast

Growing up the youngest of five in rural Illinois, Brenda Chapman's passion for drawing was encouraged by her mother. Working her way through school, Brenda began her formal studies at Illinois College before applying and being rejected by CalArts. Brenda did eventually make it to CalArts where she met Joe Ranft, an encounter that changed the trajectory of her career. Over the course of this conve...

Math always came easily to Alain Chesnais, something he partially attributes to genes. That ease has lent itself well to his career, helping him navigate studies in math, science, and eventually computing. Working with groundbreaking computer scientist Henri Gouraud greatly impacted the trajectory of Alain's career, in part by introducing him to computer graphics. Alain has devoted his career to i...

Elizabeth Baron fell in love with computing at an early age, a passion that led her to study computer science at Eastern Michigan University. Hailing from a self-proclaimed "Ford Family," Elizabeth began her career at the car manufacturer shortly after graduation and over the years moved around various departments, eventually running Ford's Immersive Virtual Environment Lab, a lab she also helped...

Ron Clements's animation career began while he was still in high school and working part-time at the local television station in Sioux City, Iowa. An ill-fated trip to New York changed his career, leading a young Ron to Los Angeles and a job at Hanna-Barbera before landing his dream job: Disney. In this conversation, Ron talks about his early passion for drawing and experimentation with film, the...

Karissa Valencia spent her youth travelling between the bustling metropolis of San Diego and the peaceful Santa Ynez Chumash Reservation. Growing up with a foot in both of those worlds deeply affected both the stories Karissa tells and how she tells them. In our conversation with Karissa, she shares insights into what it's like to craft stories for young children, the process of "indigenizing" her...

Growing up with his grandmother in Rhode Island, Kevin Lima doesn't remember a time when he didn't draw. That passion for creativity led to puppetry and, eventually, CalArts. A successful career at Disney followed, working on Disney Renaissance classics The Little Mermaid , Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin , later transitioning into directing a trio of cult favourites: A Goofy Movie , Tarzan and t...

Peggy Holmes is proof that a career in animation can start at any age. Before animation, she had an enormously successful career as a choreographer for film and stage, even going on the road with Michael Jackson on two tours. So how did she get from choreography to directing? We spoke with Peggy about her first career, the transition into animation at Disney, her move to Skydance Animation, and th...

Henry Selick's artistic talents were noted at an early age but he shied away from the attention, turning instead to another creative outlet: music. While in college studying math and science, he rediscovered his love for art and eventually found himself at CalArts. Unable to keep up with the ferocious pace at Hanna-Barbera, Henry went knocking on Disney's door, a relationship that eventually led h...

Sometimes being a studio founder means doing the work no one else wants to do: from cleaning toilets to finding the work that keeps the studio lights on. While it's been some time since Cartoon Saloon co-founder Nora Twomey, had to clean a toilet, she’s not below doing what needs to be done to stay creative and independent. We had the opportunity to speak with Nora about her early love for drawing...

Tracey Goessel's first passion was medicine. Inspired, in part, by Star Trek , and with a goal of financial independence, she attended medical school and had a successful career as a clinician and trauma doctor before becoming an entrepreneur. Her success as an entrepreneur allowed Tracey to pursue her other passion: silent film. Her love for Douglas Fairbanks Sr. led her to write First King of Ho...

The movies have always been a part of Leonard Maltin’s life and while a career as a critic and historian was never "the plan," he's been reporting on film for nearly 60 years. From fan zines to television, Leonard has been a part of the cultural film conversation for decades and he continues to share his knowledge and passion for the medium on a weekly basis. We recently spoke with Leonard about h...

Carla Patullo always knew she wanted to make music. Her parents insisted that if this was the path she wanted to pursue, she needed to go to school, which is how Carla found herself at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, one of two women in the music program. Beyond earning a degree, Carla left Berklee with something else: a passion for new and unique music that she hadn’t been expo...

James Curtis didn't set out to become a biographer but his interest in film and his passion for research led him to the job while still in university. What began with curiosity and a bit of luck, eventually resulted in his first book, a biography of director James Whale. Though writing never came easily, James continued to pursue his love for research and truthtelling while also developing a caree...

Vancouver-native Maisha Moore has always been creative, dabbling in everything from sculpture to music. For a time, she was convinced that she’d be making music for Disney movies before finding that her passion lay elsewhere, notably in animation. After graduating from Capilano University’s 3D program, she spent a year working outside the industry before landing a job as a shader and eventually ma...

If Matthew Celestial has a life mantra, it’s likely “Focus on the wins.” A shy kid who came out of his shell in public, Matthew often found himself at the centre of the group, uniting friends under a common love for tv and film, but it was his passion for the stars that led him to attend university to pursue astronomy. The cosmos had other plans for him. An encounter while on a practicum led him t...

Growing up in Apartheid South Africa, Nosipho Maketo-van den Bragt recognized that there was something “off” about the world around her, but it wasn’t until her family moved to Zimbabwe at the age of 10 that she saw what life could be like. Becoming a lawyer was an act of rebellion, a way of fighting for herself and for her community, but it was the creation of Chocolate Tribe, the studio she foun...

Mike Lasker always knew that he wanted to make things no one had ever seen before. Curious about early VFX and inspired by Jurassic Park , The Abyss and Terminator , Mike found himself at Syracuse University, studying computer graphics. He eventually landed in New York City, working on everything from medical animation and architectural previsualization to commercials before deciding that he wante...

At 14, Nagin Cox knew that she wanted to be a space explorer but being an astronaut was not her main goal. Keenly aware that the true early explorers were robots, Nagin focused her energy on becoming an engineer with a dream of working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). How does an Indian girl from Kansas City find her way to being a systems engineer at NASA? With a lot of hard work, perse...

Isabel Bailin always knew she wanted to be a creator, but it wasn’t until she arrived at Barnard College, and had the opportunity to intern at various networks and studios that she discovered her passion for finding independent voices. Now the Director of Development for Frederator Studios, the company responsible for such hit shows as Adventure Time and Castlevania , Isabel finds herself in a pos...

Like many animators, Ere Santos discovered his love for animation at a young age but rather than wait until he was “grown-up” to pursue his dream, he started on it immediately. With a copy of Blender, an animation school syllabus, and a dream to work at Pixar, eight-year-old Ere was on his way. A decade later, Ere found himself standing at the gates of Pixar for his first day of work. The journey...

If you were to ask David Burgess about being involved in two of the three films that are considered “game changers” in modern animation history, he’ll chalk it up to luck but in reality, it’s a combination of hard work and a willingness to take chances: moving to Toronto after college without a job lined up, moving to LA without a job lined up, leaving Disney for the new world of CG. David has alw...

Amir Nasrabadi’s love for animation grew out of watching cartoons as a child: Peanuts, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and pretty much anything else he could find on TV, but he never imagined that he’d one day find himself working in the industry that sparked his creative passion. A career in finance seemed like a great idea; it was stable and as a career counselor told him, “there will always be a need for a...

Growing up in Mongolia, Munkhtsetseg “Muunuu” Nandigjav, wanted to be a fashion designer or a lawyer. Though she didn’t ultimately pursue either career, they both influenced her career choice as an educator: she works in a field that mixes the creative and technical and she commands audiences. Muunuu’s passion for learning and education led her to teach, preparing future creative professionals bot...

Donald Mowat’s love for film started early, but it was seeing Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon at the age of 12 that sparked his love for make-up specifically. Today, Donald is one of the industry’s most sought-after makeup artists working with some of the world’s most notable directors including John Carpenter, Guillermo del Toro, Martin Scorsese, Sam Mendes, and David Mamet among many others. Over...

As a child growing up in Burnaby, British Columbia, Prem Gill knew she wanted to work in TV, but she never imagined she would be helping to shape the mass media industry in British Columbia and across the country. As CEO of Creative BC, Prem leads the organization responsible for maintaining and growing BC’s diverse creative sector — from films and TV, to magazine and book publishing. It’s a huge...