Angie Jones

Hi, my name is Angie Jones and I work at Sony Pictures Imageworks as a Digital Character Animator. I am currently working on the production of Stuart little 2, which is to be released in April 2002.

My production credits are for the following - Video Games & Television: Oddworld:Abe's Exoddus, Smuggler's Run 2, TW Surf, Reality Check Television Series, and Various Educational Titles -- Mars Moose, Quaddle, Jingle, Counting Fair, The Castle, In the Tower, Under the Ocean, The Submarine, Party Isle, Toy Isle, Midways, Cosmic Quest - Math, Cosmic Quest - Lang, WalkAbout , Stay & Play 2, Stay & Play 3, Scarce Scarab, Cosmic Cookoff, Fair Games - Math, Fair Games- Lang, Kazmania, Liquid Books, Timeless Math, Argopolis, Amrita's Trees, Lunar Base.

I have also done technical writings for: 3D Studio MAX 3(r) Professional Animation and Inside 3d Studio MAX 2, Volume III: Animation.

I started as a graphic designer, moved into motion graphics and multimedia and eventually into computer animated production. It never was a set path for my career that I created. It was more evolutionary than that. Initially out of school, I just wanted to get paid to draw in some capacity. The work in Atlanta and most of the east coast was pretty dry and corporate. As I strived for more creative work, I moved into more animated and motion based graphics production. Soon the move into character animation became a natural progression, since it is so creative. I have been involved in computer visual media for seven years now, since '94.

According to our Art Dept. Manager, Robin Linn, we currently have 6 women working in production out of 80 on all 3 shows at Sony - (i.e. Spiderman, Harry Potter and Stuart Little). 4 of these women are now working on Stuart and 3 of those are character animators, including myself. This is pretty much the norm. My first 2 months at Sony, I was the only female in production on Stuart until a couple girls from Harry Potter moved over here. In games, the ratio is a little higher, but still very low in the character animation arena. Mostly females occupy producer, texture painter and modeler spots. I have no idea why this is?

Over the years, the women work force has grown some but -- it's still very small, especially in animation. I have a collegue Liza Keith www.cinegrfx.com/resumes/liza/ who has been working in CG since 1986. She would be one of the true female pioneers in this field who worked and still works in CG production now. She was practically the only woman in 1986 that wasn't a producer and was actually creating graphics.

As far as benefits…hmmm, definitely in the areas of: never having a line at the bathroom at conventions or in the office; the novelty of having a woman in the office tends to bring a smile to most co-worker's faces; and I think I bring a different aesthetic and perspective to shots that doesn't normally filter in there, sometimes. Setbacks? I feel bad when everyone is always holding the door open for me as we travel cross the street to dailies, but originally being from the south I definitely appreciate it.

The only thing I have found to be tough is in games the mentality is a bit different. The people you work with are much younger and have a bit of a different perspective on women as illustrated through most of the content in video games. The folks I have met in film tend to be older, married and very intent on creating the best work possible and the deadlines are a little more reasonable. This in turn, lowers the stress level and makes for a little more pleasant working atmosphere. The guys in film seem to be really willing to share ideas and talk about our shots and how to improve them which I really like and appreciate.

I think more women in the games arena will start the beginnings of breaking into the "pink market" or games for girls that are not insulting. As far as film, more CG movies are using even more female LEAD characters now (i.e. Jesse in TS2, Princess Fiona in Shrek, etc.) and it always helps to have a female perspective animating those characters. At the same time however, a good animator can create a great animation no matter what the sex of the character as long as they stay honest to who that character is.

My first SIGGRAPH was in '95, so I guess about 6 years, but only when it has been on the west coast. I plan on attending SIGGRAPH...here in LA in August. I didn't go last year because it was in New Orleans, but the last one I did attend the ratio from women to men is obvious. One of the benefits I mentioned of being a woman is no lines for the bathroom at a convention like SIGGRAPH.

2 years ago the technology was really moving forward, with Maya at the forefront in character animation. SIGGGRAPH seems to be getting smaller though, in comparison to other shows like GDC (Game Developers Conference) and E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) which are geared towards the game industry.

I'd like to see a meeting that is generally focused on some of the great CG films that are coming out this year. This is a really big year for CG films. They even added a category to the Oscars now for animated features. It would be excellent to have a day of behind the scenes of films like Monsters, Inc., Final Fantasy, Shrek, Atlantis, Stuart Little, Harry Potter, Spiderman, etc. And after presentations meet some of the folks from production.

In my spare time, I like to do anything that is not on the computer. I like to be active and use my hands; like gardening, drawing, rollerblading, play guitar, surfing, etc. No family, just little ole me. My future goals are to produce some truly impressive animation for Stuart Little, and maybe buy a house in LA? ...who said that?

Be persistent, learn what you like to do, perfect that craft and only show what you want to do on your reel. If you want to be an animator, don't show modeling or lighting on your reel...just pure animation on simplistic characters. Also, it helps to have a good attitude and perspective on life..."don't sweat the small stuff".