Originally from Daejeon, South Korea, Seungbin Ahn contributes an international perspective that blends his experience and knowledge from both Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Although he is crafty with electronics and is multilingual, art has always been his passion. He graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of New Orleans through which he experimented with different media. A fast learner with excellent drive, he decided to pursue a Masters of
Leonel Alvarez
Leonel Alvarez grew up in Valencia, northern Venezuela where he hoped to become a paleontologist. This love for dinosaurs drew him to the movie Jurassic Park, which ironically killed his dreams of becoming a paleontologist. Why play with dead dinosaurs when he could bring dinosaurs back to life? He is now an animator and filmmaker in Atlanta GA, where he brings to life dinosaurs, British space gorillas and smoky nightmare spiders for films and video games. He is currently attending graduate school at the Savannah College of Art and Design for his Masters in animation.
Karen Chesney
Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Karen moved to the Atlanta area at aged 6 giving her perspective from both sides of the Sweet Tea Line. She earned a Bachelors degree from the University of Georgia in Studio Art and Scientific Illustration. She began her graduate career at SCAD Atlanta in Animation, but switched to Visual Effects because it is the look, feel and atmosphere of a story that drew her more than character development. In the extensive interim between undergrad and grad school, Karen worked in non-profit agencies, usually working with underprivileged or abused children. In addition to a career in marketing, Karen has taught painting to children and adults for the last 20 years. Drawn to hyper realism and the old Masters' painting styles, Karen's digital work tends towards the same traits of chiaroscuro and dramatic lighting. You can see a variety of Karen's digital as well as traditional fine art work HERE.
Melissa Cordova
Melissa is currently in her last year to complete her BFA in Animation at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta. She was born in California, but later moved to Georgia at a young age. She lives on the move while attending school. Moving from house to house to be close by school and close by her part-time job. Packing quickly has become natural for her. She is a mixed media animator, enjoying all mediums of animation especially Stop Motion animation. This short film is her first collaborative film. She believes this will be a great experience.
Davonne Dupart
Davonne Dupart is currently a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta campus and is getting her Masters of Fine Arts in animation. She is from the bay area in California where she received her undergraduate
David Hixon
David hails from sunny California originally, although he spent the last 24 years in the Northern Virginia/DC area. There, he earned a BA in Digital Art at George Mason University, and spent several years working at the National Geographic Society as an imaging specialist. He later went freelance, working with photographers and artists, doing everything from layout to web design to image editing. However, his true passion was always in animation, and so he and his wife decided to move to Atlanta so he can attend classes at the Savannah College of Art and Design's Atlanta campus. While he is currently working toward a B.F.A. in Animation with a minor in Technical Direction, he hopes to achieve an MFA before diving into the field.
Tamarind King
Tamarind is a freelance animator and graphic artist from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She spent most of high school hanging out on forums and learning Flash, and is currently working towards her Master of Fine Arts in Animation at SCAD. She hopes to one day help bring more interesting female-led narratives to television, and promote media literacy among high school and middle school students.
Jeff MacDonald
Jeff is currently a second year M.A. student that hails from Westford, Massachusetts. He graduated with a B.F.A. in Industrial Design and worked in toys for several years before returning to school to follow his dream of becoming an animator. He enjoys character sketching and easily gets lost in digital painting.
Ammar Nassri
Ammar is currently an M.F.A student with a year left to graduate. Born and raised in Damascus, Syria, a place described to be very conservative and bound by stereotypes. Ammar decided to abandon a career in Computers and Communication Engineering to pursue a career in Animation. Ammar enjoys storytelling, directing and filmmaking, he also enjoys breaking stereotypes. With everything going on in Syria, Ammar decided to be part of the revolution in his own way. He makes films to help support the revolution every now and then. Ammar aspires to build a digital media empire in the Middle East after gaining enough experience from industry professionals in the USA.
Andrew Payne
Andy is currently in his last year as a B.F.A in Animation student. He lives in Acworth, Ga. He is an animation generalist, switching between 2-D and 3-D on most projects. Dark, visual, and emotionally moving projects are where he draws most of his inspiration. This is his first group project, but he hopes it will be a great learning experience, and a chance to network with his peers. His current plan is to find a job at a small studio where he can be involved in different aspects of production, and eventually move to LA to pursue a relationship with Emma Stone.
Yu Ueda
Born and raised in Tokyo jungle. I lived in Moscow for 4 years and got away without speaking Russian (Shame!). I am interested in both Japanese and western style of animations and looking for an opportunity to combine the influence from both. I have some experience working on pre-production for some animation project however I would like to learn how to actually animate characters in 2-D, and stop-motion.
Colin Wheeler
Growing up in an itty bitty town in Kentucky, cartoons had a sort of religious significance for Colin Wheeler. Gábor Csupó and Arlene Klasky offered momentary relief from the agony between second grade elementary school math tests and second grade elementary school math homework. Hoping to provide the same relief for his generation, Colin dedicated his life to storytelling. Graduating with a Bachelor of Art in Theatre at Hamilton College, Colin now works to acquire a Masters in Fine Arts in Animation at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He wants to work on a team to incorporate old and new aesthetics to create existential romantic operas for six year olds, but he could settle for being “that guy who makes cartoons for a living” too.
Jenna Zona
Jenna Zona was born in 1987 and grew up in the northeastern suburbs of the United States. She began exploring the unknown parts of our universe through the pages in her notebooks thanks to an overwhelming love for comic books and animated films. She earned her Bachelors in Fine Arts from Hartford Art School with honors and concentrated in illustration and art history. She still yearned to see her creations come to life which led her into the world of animation and to the Savannah College of Art and Design. She is currently earning her Masters in Fine Arts.
Jim Hunt
