CHRIS ALLISON, PART 3

Ahoy there future Titans!

This past week was a busy one! Papers were flying in an animation storm as
I finished up the animation for a project that I am working on for
Nickelodeon Studios. Based upon the sheer talent and performance of CSUF
alumni, Nickelodeon came to our school with a pitch contest. The
competition was to see who could come up with a funny minute long short to
be funded by Nickelodeon. The great folks over at Nickelodeon selected my
idea, as well as the pitches from my two buddies Sean Kreiner and Mike
Williams.

It’s been a great opportunity for me as an art student to see this project
from start to finish. I first had to do storyboards and character designs,
working with network executives to see what they liked, and how their
process works. Now I know the expectations of what they’re looking for in a
storyboard artist and a character designer as well as a director.

I’ve got lots of experience directing from this project. First, I got to
direct professional voice actors Tara Strong, voice of Fairly Odd Parents
and countless other shows, and Conchata Ferrell, who’s in a lot of Adam
Sandler films. Look ‘em up! Also, I got to direct students who helped me
with a bunch of facets of the project, from layouts and painting backgrounds
to animation and cleanup/coloring. And finally this week, I went into
Nickelodeon Studios twice! I’ve worked with one of Nickelodeon’s talented
editors, and a musician who is going to do an original score for my film!
Super sweet!

The funniest thing about going to Nickelodeon was that while I was being
given a tour, I couldn’t go 2 minutes without bumping into somebody that I
knew from CSUF. There are so many graduates there from our program that
it’s just like a continuation of college with all my old friends in the same
place, as well as some new ones too. I can see myself feeling quite at home
working at Nickelodeon! They even have free bagels in the morning, and
classes sometimes during lunch lead by really talented artists!

I’ll keep you guys updated on how the project comes along, and some of my
experiences along the way. This is just one of the opportunities that Cal
State Fullerton has provided me to actively get involved in the professional
world. Stay tooned, and I’ll be talking about a whole lot more!

Oh, and feel free to shoot off any questions you have! I don’t bite (unless
I run out of Easy Mac… then I get really hungry).

Your pal,
Chris
TARA STRONG
CONCHATA FERRELL