#pgbc cubes

[piggoatbananacricket]

PGBC Cubes with background designer Eric Haddad!

1. What makes a comfortable workspace for you?

I like my workspace to be clean, organized, and close to nice folks that I enjoy spending time with!

2. What tools/software do you use the most?

I use Adobe Photoshop when drawing backgrounds for Pig Goat Banana Cricket but then I spend a lot of time drawing frames of animation in Flash for projects of my own.

3. What’s the one thing you love the most in your cube?

My Loop de Loop Local Hero Award! I appreciate being a part of that community of animators and the award reminds me that people enjoy my cartoons!

4. What do you like most about your job?

Cartoons!

5. How did you start in animation?

I took a long time and a very winding road to get here but the short answer is some really cool people noticed me animating away in the corners of the internet and gave me a chance to draw for cartoons!

6. What advice would you give to someone who wants to be an artist?

I’m not sure I can give any real advice in a sentence or two to a whole group of individuals with unique hopes and goals. Just try to have your own kind of fun and don’t stress out about trying to model your career after anyone else.

7. Are you more like Pig, Goat, Banana or Cricket?

That’s a tricky one... I guess maybe Cricket but only because we have the same eyes!

For more of Eric’s work see him on Vimeo and Instagram!

[piggoatbananacricket]

PGBC Cubes with our dynamic director Cosmo Segurson!

It’s Monday, and we’ve got another installment of PGBC Cubes. Cosmo Segurson is one of our fine directors responsible for the look and feel of each episode. See how he does it below!

1. What makes a comfortable workspace for you?

Close to the coffee machine, far from the bathroom, and as many fluorescent lights as possible.

2. What tools/software do you use most often?

Storyboard Pro for the most part, but paper and a rock solid, high quality Tombow B pencil also. And coffee.

3. What’s one thing in your cube you like the most?

My favorite thing in my cube is my Casiotone keyboard. It’s a great way to attract and/or repel my coworkers.

4. What do you like most about your job?

I never imagined I’d be able to make a living telling stories. I like that Im actually getting paid to doodle up ideas and see them through.

5. How did you start in animation?

I started out drawing backgrounds for cartoons, then decided I needed more stress in my life so I started storyboarding.

6. What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a storyboard artist?

Just keep drawing stuff that makes you laugh, or makes you feel weird.  Drawings that express real emotions always win out, no matter what your drawing skills are.

7. Are you more like Pig, Goat, Banana or Cricket?

I’m more of an incidental background character. Like a dog with a hat, or a raccoon with a briefcase seen in crowd shots. But if you ask my Mother, she'd say I was a main character. I love you Mom!

You can keep up with Cosmo and see more of his work at his website, http://piscespictures.net/

[piggoatbananacricket]

PGBC Cubes with storyboard artist Phil Jacobson!

Phil jacobson - @storyboredartist - is one of our talented storyboard artists. Learn about him and his workspace below!

1. What makes a comfortable workspace for you?

I love my dual monitor setup. It lets me watch Netflix while I work, which is great because now I can be super distracted all the time. I also have a space heater that is always on because I’m constantly cold.  

2. What tools/software do you use the most?

I almost exclusively use Storyboard Pro. Sometimes Photoshop. In a few cases my team director and I will rough [sketch] out some panels on paper too, like our ancestors apparently used to do in the dark times.

3. What’s your favorite thing in your cube?

I have a pretty awesome dead plant over in the corner. He’s been dead for about a year and a half now. I should probably throw it away, but the shape the plant makes in the cube really adds to the ambiance. Also, I have a giant inflatable deer head. Absolutely a pro essential.

4. What do you like most about your job?

There’s a free cereal bar up in the kitchen that’s pretty rad. Jokes aside, I work with a lot of great people. (Except Matt. Matt if you’re reading this, go away. This is MY page. GO.)

5. How did you start in animation?

A series of accidents turned into a career, honestly. I went to college for comics, did some work on a few series, and then randomly applied to Nick. About a month later I was really excited to get a phone call. It was a loan shark asking me to pay back my student loans. Then I got hired at Nick.

6. What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a storyboard artist?

The number one rule is to always have fun with whatever you’re doing. I think anxiety can really show through in drawings - you can tell when someone is overthinking or nervous. Draw what you love. Draw it often. Make dumb jokes. They are the spice of life. And the spice must flow...

7. Are you more like Pig, Goat, Banana or Cricket?

I want to say Cricket. I pretend like I’m Pig, but behind the scenes I’m pretty neurotic and anxious. I’m also a pretty big planner, and I like having everything organized. He even gets my hat and hair during one episode (Underpants-palooza), but that’s another story...

To keep up with Phil follow him on social media:

Twitter: @offbrandlink - www.twitter.com/offbrandlink

Website: http://www.philjacobson.us

[piggoatbananacricket]

PGBC Cubes with script coordinator Ryan Harer!

As script coordinator, Ryan keeps track of the recording schedules and writing deadlines and materials. Find out what it takes to be a great script coordinator below!

1. What makes a comfortable workspace for you?

Since I spend most of my day in my cubicle, I love feeling at home with reminders of my favorite things in my workspace. For me that means colorful toys, movie posters, personal photos and notes, and a fun desktop wallpaper to top it off (currently Star Wars: The Force Awakens).

2. What tools/software do you use the most?

As a script coordinator, I work primarily in Final Draft, the industry standard screenwriting software. I also use Microsoft Office applications like Word and Excel, to take notes in meetings and prepare record session materials.

3. What’s your favorite thing in your cube?

I have a lot of the toys in my cubicle that I love. One of my most recent additions is a collection of Joy, Sadness, and Bing Bong figures from Inside Out. There is also a Russian-doll-like figure of Stefon, one of my favorite old recurring Saturday Night Live characters that I received as a gift. I also have a lot of mini-posters that have fun quotes from some of my favorite movies and TV shows as well.

I get a lot of questions about my pen cup, which is actually a reused (but washed) ice cream pint container from Ben & Jerry’s. It’s Jimmy Fallon’s “Late Night Snack,” an absolutely delicious flavor that sadly no longer exists.

4. What do you like most about your job?

I really like how I get to interact with the show at so many stages. From the initial premise discussions with the writers, I follow an episode from its first day by taking notes and tracking the writing process. But I also have tasks that go all the way to the final animation, like final dialog records and conforming the final script for broadcast. I’m able to get to know so many people on the team because of my unique role.

5. How did you start in animation?

I have always been with Nickelodeon, since my internship with the company in 2011. After getting my start on Spongebob Squarepants, I was hired onto shows like Sanjay & Craig and Wallykazam! in production roles, before moving to Pig Goat Banana Cricket where I’ve worked for about two years.

6. What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a script coordinator?

I would make sure to always be vocal about what you want to do. I’ve been lucky to meet so many people around the studio, and it usually comes up that I want to get into writing. When the script coordinator position opened up, my Production Manager recommended me for the position since she knew it would be a step in the right direction for me.

7. Are you more like Pig, Goat, Banana or Cricket?

While I lack the scientific knowledge and lab space, I like to think I am like Cricket. Cricket always wants to do what’s best for his friends, and he’s always willing to try something new to help, no matter how tragic his experiments turn out.

To keep up with Ryan follow him on social media:

Twitter: @rharer​ — www.twitter.com/rharer

Instagram: @rharer — www.instagram.com/rharer

[piggoatbananacricket]

PGBC Cubes with storyboard artist Zach Smith!

Here’s another installment in our series PGBC Cubes, this time featuring storyboard artist Zach Smith - @zachattackary. See how he makes great boards below!  1. What makes a comfortable workspace for you? The least amount of privacy and the most amount of fluorescent lighting.

2. What tools/software do you use the most? On Pig Goat Banana Cricket we do everything in Storyboard Pro, but at the start of every board I still do a thumbnail pass on paper and post it notes.  Tombow Mono 3b [pencils], baby! 3. What’s your favorite thing in your cube? My favorite thing in my cube is the old coffee cups; if I throw any of them away I could lose the priceless memory of the time I drank out of that specific cup.  Hey, if you think the amount of trash in my cube is bad, you should see my house! It’s actually just a dumpster... 

4. What do you like most about your job? I am still really appreciative of the fact that I get paid to make weird drawings all day. I grew up in the middle of nowhere in Michigan and assumed I’d have to 3D model mini-van ads when I got out of school.  So this is working out nicely so far. 5. How did you start in animation? As a kid I figured out how to make stop motion movies, comics, and really bad SNL-style skits with my siblings and friends.  I went to art school in Detroit to study animation, then eventually I ended up doing an internship on a Cartoon Network preschool show called The Mr. Men show.

6. What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a storyboard artist? Keep making funny drawings.  There will always be some older, grumpier, more classically-trained-than-you artist hanging around to tell you how bad you draw, but you should ignore them. Keep drawing with the funny and original voice you had when you decided to make cartoons for a living. I think that’s what matters, not the ability to draw a perfect hand, nobody cares about that.   7. Are you more like Pig, Goat, Banana or Cricket? I’d say that I’m more of a Clerk McGuirk type!