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JOEL SEVILLA, CLASS OF 1999

Joel and his best friend Jeremy Butler, were the first two SVA students I met when I accepted the job to Chair the Computer Art Department. To this day they are two of the smartest, hardest working and nicest guys I have ever met. They are both very successful computer animators, working in NYC and Los Angeles.

What I found amazing about Joel and Jeremy is that regardless of how busy they were (Joel was an R.A. at the GW dorm and also a Lab Assistant), if I needed them to make a presentation or volunteer to help on a project, they were always the first students to say yes.

Joel and Jeremy had a computer animation accepted to SIGGRAPH in their junior year. The animation, entitled JOSHUA, was a skateboarder gliding into frame, which then made a jump onto and off of a bench, and  glided out of the frame. A very simple scene but beautifully animated. So nicely animated that both Joel and Jeremy became very well known in NYC by the time they were seniors.

In the interview that follows, Joel very nicely credits me with introducing him to people in the animation industry. While I was happy to help where I could, for every single person I introduced to Joel, Joel would meet a dozen of their friends on his own. This is still a small industry. You cannot be shy about meeting people or be reluctant to help wherever and whenever you can. These are skills that Joel has to this day. It serves him and his career very well.

John McIntosh, Chair  
Computer Art

Interview with Joel Sevilla
by Giancarlo Barrera

1. How is the jump from doing projects in the classroom, to doing projects for big animation companies? And how did you make that transition successfully?

The biggest jump had to be working now with a group people or a team opposed to working by yourself here at SVA, knowing you have to pay dues before you can take control of your own projects again.

Communication and learning how to talk to people is how I made that transition successfully. Don’t keep yourselves bottled in…express yourself freely, keeping in mind you are now working with people who have been in the business longer than you. Be respectful of those you are working with.

2. How did your years at SVA help you develop as a professional in your respective career?

SVA helped me learn the tools I would use for animation. Also the time I spent as a Computer Art Lab Assistant helped me pick up the software and hardware knowledge I needed to know to help me out in my work.

3. What is your advice to me as a senior on how to tackle head-on the responsibilities and opportunities of the "industry" and "real world" outside of school?

The best advice I can give you is: MEET AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLY CAN. It is such a small industry, and everybody knows each other. I haven’t shown my demo reel in years to get jobs, just by my reputation and word of mouth is enough to keep me working.

4. How did you know you wanted to follow in the career of computer animation, and not follow in dynamic or interactive?

For me it had to be the first 3D program I ever used. I just fell in love with it and I knew then that I wanted to follow 3D animation.

5. Did SVA help you in that decision, or did you ever feel at times that you were lost?

Yeah SVA helped me, introducing me to other aspects of the field, allowing me to make a well-informed decision on what I wanted to do. I don’t think I ever felt like I was lost.

6. What classes, in your opinion, turned out to be the most valuable to you?

I would say my Maya class helped out a lot, combined with my drawing class, understanding forms and how it related to animation.

7. How did SVA help you connect yourself to the industry?

John (McIntosh) helped out a lot by introducing me to people in the industry, and through these connections I started making connections of my own. SVA’s career fairs helped introduce me to the growing industry as well.

Giancarlo Barrera, Class of 2004 is a Dynamic Media major. He is also a Lab Assistant and interned at Milk & Honey LLC in early 2003.