Derek Gladen:
I’m from northern Minnesota where I have spent much of my life around large machinery, pushing dirt and mud for a living. My father owns a road construction company, and I worked with the crew as a dozer operator since high school. When I wasn’t building roads, I would keep myself busy following a passion for fine arts. Drawing, painting, sculpting - anything that involved a creative process appealed to me. I’m specifically drawn to printmaking and ceramics. After cramming four years of college into five (What can I say, I love to learn), I graduated with a BFA.

Recently, I moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, with my wife and my new inspiration – my four month old daughter. Here I began my exciting journey to become an animator.

Derek Gladen:
The idea to pursue animation was something that had been cultivating in my mind from early childhood, though I never thought it would become a reality. As I watched Disney animated films in my childhood, I thought it would be fun to do something like that someday. However, the desire to pursue animation really took hold of me the first time I watched Toy Story. Something about that medium captivated me. By the end of the film I had decided that I wanted to do that; I wanted to animate like that. I didn’t really know how to get into CG animation, so for several years I thought it would just be a pipe dream. Then I discovered Animation Mentor, and here I am.

Derek Gladen:
My experience at Animation Mentor has been phenomenal! Really it has! The lectures have been outstanding. When I first came to Animation Mentor, I didn’t know anything about animation, not even the fundamentals – anticipation, overlap, arcs, etc. I now have several notebooks full of notes from the lectures. There is so much info packed into them and that is just the lectures. Then there are the forums, the Q&A’s, the mentors and fellow students to pull knowledge from. My mentors have been outstanding. I’ve learned so much from each of them and owe them all for getting me to where I am in my animations today. The school site, scripts, and rigs have been great! The staff at Animation Mentor are personable, fun, and very helpful. The student work here at Animation Mentor is inspiring and keeps me pushing to improve my own work.

If you can’t tell by now, I am definitely satisfied with my experience here and could say so much more, but I’ll move on…

Derek Gladen:
My best memory of Animation Mentor would have to be the last BBQ they hosted. I was reluctant to go because of traveling costs and details and – okay I’ll say it – I can be a bit shy when it comes to these big outing things. I’m glad I went. It was great to see mentors, staff, and students face to face and develop friendships. Another highlight of that trip was dropping by the Animation Mentor office and meeting the staff in person. They are just as fun and friendly in person as they appear on the weekly video news!

Derek Gladen:
As I progress up in terms and the projects become more difficult, time management has been an important lesson to learn for me. It is one that I still work at. I’ve learned to spend a significant time planning each animation. Setting progress goals for each week has also helped me from becoming completely overwhelmed.

Derek Gladen:
When I first started attending Animation Mentor, I would have said that my dream job would be to work from some place like Pixar or Dreamworks. Though my interest still lies in animated feature film, through time my idea of the ultimate dream job has shifted from focusing on particular studios to focusing on content. I would love to be a part of an epic film, one that keeps people talking or deeply impacts them.

I was inspired recently when I watched the One Man Band short at the theater.  Mostly younger kids were attending and watching how much they laughed and really got into the characters on the screen made me want to be a part of something like that. It would also be great to get beyond just entertaining and be a part of something that really impacts people. Another side of me, the adventurous side, thinks it would be fun to be a part of an up and coming studio, or a smaller studio where I feel I could get more deeply involved. Most importantly, I want a job that keeps me growing as an artist and challenges me to keep moving forward.

Derek Gladen:
My favorite animated scene seems to change with each new animated film that comes out. If I was to pick one, I’d go with the dinner table scene toward the beginning of the Incredibles. There is so much happening in that scene, with each character in different states emotionally, yet it reads so clear.

The audience can read how each character is feeling right from the start just by the poses of each character. The interactions between each character seem so sincere as well. It is a very inspirational scene.