Meet our mentor Cal Brunker, Director/Head of Creative at Red Rover Studios. His credits include Horton Hears a Who! and 9.
Animation Mentor:
What inspired you to learn character animation?
Cal Brunker:
Originally, I just wanted to get out of working a real job and loved to draw, so I hit up Sheridan for their classical animation program. When I bounced my first hand drawn ball I freaked out. At that point drawing became a means to an end, I found that my only interest was in entertaining an audience and connecting with people.
Animation Mentor:
What were the most important steps in your animation training?
Cal Brunker:
For me, the most important part of my training was self-directed. I had a bunch of rage against the establishment and how they taught animation while I was there. A lot of the teachers hadn't been in the industry for a long time and I found that frustrating. This led me to scour books and old photocopied Disney notes trying to find the secret. Truth be told, I had way more anti-establishment feelings than necessary, but they fueled my fire to really push myself and open my eyes to some really important stuff. There were a couple teachers there that really inspired me and encouraged me to question them and push back, they're the ones that made the biggest impact.
Animation Mentor:
If you could do one thing differently on your journey to becoming an animator, what would it be?
Cal Brunker:
I'd have started making my own short films sooner, even really rough ones. I found that understanding the plight of the director made me infinitely more valuable to the ones that I worked for. Really thinking of the scenes in terms of their objective as part of the whole was turning point for my work.
Animation Mentor:
Where do you currently work and what are the projects you've worked on in the past? What role did you play in those projects?
Cal Brunker:
Now I'm directing at Red Rover Studios in Toronto, mostly commercial work, but a few pilots, music videos and some original content. The team is awesome, and we're raising the bar on every new spot, it's a great place to be. I still do feature story work with Blue Sky, and lived/worked in New York for Horton Hears a Who! More recently, I did story work on Despicable Me, and 9. I worked in 2D and 3D as an animator right out of school, but really found my calling in directing, as it combined all the things I loved to do, from story to animation, to sound, to editing, and working with actors.
Animation Mentor:
Who is your favorite character that you've animated and why?
Cal Brunker:
Hmmm. I'm going to answer the question I want to answer. My favorite character/sequence I've ever worked on in story would have to be sequence where Jojo goes up to his hideout through all the crazy contraptions in Horton. It had a great vibe to it, was completely silent, and was the first time I got that movie buzz from watching my own work on screen.
Animation Mentor:
What was your first animation job?
Cal Brunker:
I worked on the Silly Rabbit, Trix Are for Kids commercials at Chuck Gammage Animation in Toronto during college.
Animation Mentor:
Who would you consider your mentor to be in animation?
Cal Brunker:
Ricardo Curtis. He's like the godfather to me, he took me under his wing when I was only a couple years out of school, brought me to Blue Sky with him (he was head of story on Horton), gave me my first directing job for House of Cool, and now I run the studio he owns. I learned a ton from him about staging and composition, picking my battles, and working with a team.
Animation Mentor:
Describe a typical day at your current job.
Cal Brunker:
The nice thing about a boutique studio is that it's never typical. The best part of my day is working with the guys in the back (as the artists are known), sitting down with each of them, going over the work, finessing the edit, etc. Outside of the actual directing, there's a ton of pitches to do, which involves boards, designs, and conference calls. I still love to get my hands dirty, and will happily comp, animate, or edit on a spot. From time to time, we find ourselves eating pad thai at four in the morning trying to hit a deadline, those are the nights you make lifelong friendships. You pretend to hate staying up that late, but what would you rather be doing…sleeping? Borrrrring.
Animation Mentor:
What do you enjoy the most about teaching at Animation Mentor?
Cal Brunker:
I love when the class gets fired up, when the Q&A's are electric with questions and collaboration. I love watching students get the buzz from pushing themselves past where they thought they could go. I'm proud to be part of a team of staff who are all at the top of their game. I hope I can be like the handful of teachers that I've had that made a real impact on my life and my art.
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