The Spark Cast

Before stepping into the role of educator, Larry Bafia was an animator with a love for stop-motion. His passion for the form eventually landed him at Will Vinton Studios working on such iconic commercials as the California Raisins. Larry eventually made the move to feature films and after his first project was cut short, he found himself at Pacific Data Images where he was at the forefront of a ne...

Sharon Taylor is proof that passion, determination, and curiosity can take you anywhere. Sharon’s career at Animal Logic started more than 15 years ago when she answered a newspaper ad for the position of assistant accountant. She eventually moved from accounting to production and today, she’s the studio’s Group Chief Operating Officer, a position that has included expanding the studio’s operation...

Michael Fukushima spent the majority of his career fighting for improved diversity and inclusion behind the scenes of the National Film Board of Canada. This wasn’t an accidental role: Michael saw the advantage of working for change from inside an organization and dedicated much of his career to advancing minority voices within the NFB. The road was not always easy but the fruits of his labour are...

Jinko Gotoh’s love for animation began as a child in Japan. But as someone who didn’t draw, she could never have guessed that she would go on to produce some of the largest animated blockbusters of all time, from Finding Nemo and Fantasia 2000 to Mortal Kombat and Space Jam, among many, many others. The realization that animation could be a career path didn’t come until she studied engineering at...

Marv Newland didn’t plan to be an animator but after a career that spans over half a century, more than twenty films, and some of the industry’s most notable prizes, it’s safe to say that he’s done alright for himself. Especially when one considers that the film that launched his animation career almost didn’t happen. From his first project Bambi Meets Godzilla , to last year’s Katalog of Flaws ,...

Michelle Grady’s career in the CG industry started small: an unpaid job working in the equipment room of a post-production facility. Determined and in need of a paying job, she soon found herself as the receptionist. Michelle has come a long way since that first receptionist job, all the way to Executive Vice-President and General Manager of Sony Pictures Imageworks, and her career has grown along...

In his dayjob, Tibo Charroppin is a director and video editor for the ACLU, but in his spare time, he’s a visual effects wiz who, with the help and support of his partner Olivia Boone, edits their beloved cat Lizzy into famous movie scenes. With a passion for problem solving and learning, and maybe out of a little bit of boredom, Tibo posted the first video with Lizzy on Reddit. Eventually, that l...

Ann Marie Fleming is a prolific filmmaker, visual artist, and storyteller who has spent the bulk of her career exploring themes of history, family, and memory — both her own and others’. Be it her powerful short film You Take Care Now , which explores the trauma she experienced as a young woman, or The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam which explores the life of her great grandfather, or the adventure...

Denver Jackson has always wanted to be a storyteller. In 2012, he began his journey by creating a 9-minute short film titled Cloudrise . Nine years later, Cloudrise is an independent studio, and Denver has made three short films, a webseries, and now an upcoming feature film titled Esluna: The Crown of Babylon . We recently spoke with Denver about his creative process, working as a solo animator,...

One might assume that as a three-time Oscar nominee and one of the co-founders of the celebrated Cartoon Saloon, Tomm Moore might be an aloof figure. Instead, he’s warm and fathery wth a rebel streak and a spirit that bucks popular trends. It’s this outsider spirit and willingness to follow their hearts that has put Cartoon Saloon on the map, and though it hasn’t always been easy, the studio has f...

Mindy Johnson is an award-winning author, historian, educator, and filmmaker. She is a leading expert in women’s roles in animation and film history. Her work in the field has garnered her a number of prestigious awards, including the 2020 ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Educators Forum Faculty Grant and the 2019 Academy Film Scholar Award. But, did you know that Mindy is also a Grammy-nominated musicia...

If you attended a Spark festival in years past, chances are that you’ve seen DaCosta Bayley’s work. A self-taught, award-winning illustrator, DaCosta has been creating professionally since 1995. Working under the studio name CHOCOLATE SOOP®, DaCosta has produced designs across various media, has launched the popular “MARCH of ROBOTS” drawing challenge on Instagram, collaborated with artists around...

A number of years ago, Taylor K. Shaw was looking to staff her project with black animators, people who looked like the characters that she was creating, but the task proved to be more difficult than she anticipated. Eventually, she did find one black female animator, but the search led her to think that there had to be a better way to find these creative individuals, and to create a space for bla...

Joseph Hodges’ first passion was flight, but after a failed attempt at the pilot’s exam, he opted for his second passion: architecture. His designs were always seen as too big and ambitious for real buildings, but when Joseph found himself working on the set of Hook , his passion for design found an outlet, and over his career he has worked on everything from period dramas, and sci-fi, to contempo...

How do a Broadway star and a VFX executive come together to create an animated short film? The story behind how Cops and Robbers, a new short film from Timothy Ware-Hill and Arnon Manor, came to be, is inspiring and speaks to the power of Ware-Hill’s writing, performance and conviction. We recently spoke with Ware-Hill and Manor about the inspiration for the film, the challenges of working with ov...

Jennifer Twiner McCarron has always known that she wanted to create safe spaces for artists and creators to create, innovate and excel, and in her tenure at the helm of Thunderbird Entertainment, she has done just that, growing Atomic Cartoons from 25 to more than 450 artists, and leading the company into a new era of award-winning original works and content. We spoke with Jennifer about discoveri...

In part two of our conversation, Nilo talks candidly about that time he quit the business. We take a deep-dive into Johnny Mnemonic, his career shift into video games, and how he stays creative, motivated, and inspired.

Nilo Rodis’ career spans such iconic franchises as Star Wars, Raiders and Star Trek. In fact, his career is so epic, we couldn’t fit it all in onto one episode! In part one of our exclusive conversation, Rodis discusses his early career working in Detroit’s once-booming car industry, how he came to work with George Lucas, and his unlikely friendship and colaboration with John Hughes.

A Conversation with Simon Barry

A Conversation with Sean O'Reilly

A Conversation With Gordon Durity

A Conversation With Brenda Gilbert

A Conversation With Takeshi Furukawa