Great
Scott! It's... no wait a minute, yes... it's Emmy award winning
Director Rob Davies!
If
you've seen "The Zeta Project", "Generation
O!", "Pinky, Elmyra and The Brain", or
"The Oblongs", you've already met with Rob Davies'
work.
A
Bit About Rob
 Hailing
from Vancouver, B.C., Davies has done a great deal of traveling
thru Los Angeles and San Felipe, Baja, Mexico; studying at Kwantlen
College (Fine Arts) and Capilano College. He got his first gig working
on the project "BeetleJuice" as a layout artist
for Nelvana. In the nine years rolling, Davies has been (it's
a long list) , a story writer, layout artist, storyboard artist,
layout supervisor, character designer, (phew), story board supervisor,
art director, development artist, (gasp), director and co-creator
of many hot projects. From Atomic Cartoons, Studio B Productions,
Warner Bros. and Disney to BKN, Davies has been a strong veteran
of the animation industry. For the complete list of his endeavors,
check out his full bio at http://www.atomiccartoons.com/flash_rob.html.
In 1999 Rob Davies, co-founded and brought forth to the world Atomic
Cartoons (home of all things wacky) with long time veterans
Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, and Olaf Miller. Atomic does
everything from tv cartoon series to webisodes with brilliant animations
and refreshingly creative design. Some creations of Atomic include
"Atomic Betty" (Davies as development artist and
co-creator), "Ghoul Gang" (in collaboration with
Decode Entertainment), and "Flippo and The Sea Nymphs".
Did I mention Rob won a 2000 Emmy? Davies picked up an Emmy along
the way for Director of "Pinky, Elmyra, and
The Brain" Warner Bros. He also received the Prism
award in 1997 for "Inherit The Wheeze", an episode
from "Pinky and The Brain".
After all his trials, Davies currently runs Atomic Cartoons religiously
out of sunny California and Vancouver, B.C.
 What
did you enjoy about working on the shows you've done in the past?
Davies:
"Throughout my ten-year career in animation I've obviously
enjoyed some projects more than others, but the bottom line is that
drawing pictures is a terrific way to make a living. Some of
my favorites include Beetlejuice, Asterix, Animaniacs, The Mighty
Ducks, Capertown Cops, Milo's Bug Quest, Pinky and the Brain, Pinky,
Elmyra, and the Brain, and of course, the wacky Internet shows
we've created here at Atomic. Every project provides a learning
experience, be it positive or negative. I try to take something
away with me from every show I work on."
What did
you enjoy about your favorite projects?
Davies:
"Sometimes it's the design or style of the show that makes
it enjoyable, or it might be the quality of the writing, or sometimes
it comes down to who I'm working with on the project. It's
not always the show itself, very often it is the 'intangibles'
that makes it an enjoyable experience.
What makes working at Atomic a wonderful thing is partnering up
with old friends and making new friends in a creative environment.
We've got some fine people drawin' with us.
I've have also had good experiences working at various other studios:
Gord Stanfield Animation, Vancouver, Studio B Productions, Vancouver,
Hahn Film, Berlin, and Warner Brothers Television Animation,
Los Angeles.
What I enjoyed most about "Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain"
was the opportunity to work at Warner Bros. with a great group
of very talented people. I made some very good friends there.
It was the hard work and dedication of these artists
and writers that was responsible for "Pinky, Elmyra, and the
Brain" winning the Daytime Emmy last year. Throwing Elmyra
into the mix could have been disastrous but the Pinky and the Brain
crew pulled it all together and created a winning show."
How much
does that emmy weigh?
Davies:
"About as much as a month-old baby. You could say it's my lil'
gold baby. It also works well as a paper weight, door stop, boat
anchor, and grappling hook. Its very versatile."
 What
projects are you currently working on?
Davies:
"Presently I am developing shows with the other Atomic Cartoons co-owners
and our development team that we will be co-producing with other
companies. Once again, I cannot mention WHO we are working with
or what we are working on because of the legal mumbo-jumbo and risk
of public flogging."
What about
those things do you enjoy from a creative aspect?
Davies:
"A bonus of running an animation studio, aside from working
on some really cool contract work, is being able to create
and develop our own shows.
Whether for television
or the internet, our development department is constantly creating
shows to pitch. This really keeps our studio's creativity charged
up."
How has
atomic cartoons changed everything for you?
Davies:
"What has changed for me is that I no longer have the comfort
and security that comes from being employed at a large studio. However, I
can now better control my own destiny by partnering up with some
very talented and like-minded artists (Olaf Miller, Trevor Bentley,
and Mauro Casalese) and starting our own studio.
It has been a very positive experience in what is a somewhat negative
time for the North American animation scene. A lot of people I know,
many who are very good friends, have recently had a tough time
due to all the layoffs in the industry. I believe that things
will pick up again, it is only a question of "when?'.
Atomic has managed to persevere despite the current dry spell by
taking on projects of various styles and sizes. Some shows might
be a very wacky, 'cartoony' style and others a more 'serious' action/adventure
style.
We have also worked
on series consisting of 26, 22 min. episodes in size to the occasional
storyboard that may be only one act in length. We are very flexible."
Do you
have any upcoming projects? Short term? Long term?
 Davies:
"At the moment Atomic is gearing up to work on "The Zeta
Project" (second season) on which I'll be directing. Atomic
is also working on a "top-secret" project for Warner
Brothers Online that is being supervised by fellow Atomic co-founder,
Mauro Casalese. I cannot give you any more info on this internet
project as we risk the death penalty just by mentioning it. I'm hoping
that we'll get "clearance" to talk about it soon.
As I mentioned before, we also have some co-productions in the works.
Our long term goal is to be known as a well balanced studio made
up of a traditional animation/ pre-production division, an internet
animation division, and a co-production/development division. Its
like a unilateral triangle: three equal sides."
If you
could be any cartoon character in the world, which would you be?
Davies:
"I'd be "Sleepy" from Snow White, that way I could
catch up on some Z's. For the last ten years I've been playing
"Speedy Gonzales" and it doesn't look like things are
slowing down! But that's a good thing."
I spoke with Mr. Davies over the phone before this interview. Despite
his busy schedule, he had time for us, and was kind and courteous.
So I give Rob a thumbs up and our thanks for his time and brain
matter.
There was mention of a 'top-secret' project with Warner Bros. Online
and Atomic Cartoons, but it's all on the hush hush until we
get the official geronimo from Rob. Until then, we'll have to spin
dishes on pencils for distractive amusement.
Keep a lookout for an
interview with Mauro Casalese!
Visit http://www.atomiccartoons.com
---Candice
Price |
