Animation

Eric Walls has had a career in animation for over 30 years, with an extensive and versatile background in both traditional hand-drawn and CG animation for animated & live-action film and theme park attractions. His animation has been featured in many projects for Disney, DreamWorks, and Warner Brothers, including The Lion King, The Prince of Egypt, Meet the Robinsons, Bolt, The Princess and the Frog, and the Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi theme park. His scope of work includes character animation, effects, illustration, digital cut-out animation, and a considerable list of previsualization projects.

Through his career, Eric has had the opportunity to teach and mentor new artists, including serving in Disney Animation’s prestigious Apprenticeship Program, training several artists now in prominent roles in the field.

Eric’s goal is to help students become clear communicators with their art, while building on their skills to reach their career goals.

Jerry Beck is a writer, animation producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon Movies and Disney, was instrumental in launching Animation Magazine, co-founded Cartoon Brew and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He has curated cartoons for DVD and blu-ray compilations and has lent his expertise to dozens of bonus documentaries and audio commentaries on such.

Rachel Bibb has 30 years of experience in the animation industry, primarily working for Walt Disney Animation studios in Florida and Burbank. Her first credit was the original Lion King as a cleanup inbetweener. She worked up the ranks on Pocahontas, Tarzan, Mulan, Lilo and Stitch and Brother Bear, culminating with supervising her first princess, Tiana, on Princess and the Frog and finally, Pooh and Christopher Robin for Winnie the Pooh. Since the end of traditional features being produced at Disney, she’s worked on dozens of shorts and smaller projects for the studio.

Beckett Mikel is a traditional 2D animation Laguna College of Art and Design alum and has returned to
the school to teach animation. With much of her previous work focusing on illustration through providing
work for charities, band posters, logos, and the like, since graduating college, she has utilized the
teachings to shift her work to focus on 2D animation. She was brought onto Anachronaut Productions as a
character animator for the short film ‘Submersed’. In addition, Beckett has worked with notable
musicians such as bbno$ and JVKE in creating animated ad campaigns. Her contemporary experience as an
online freelance artist gives a fresh perspective on the independent artist landscape.

I was born in France, and it is where I started my career as a traditional animator. I moved to California in 2000 and transitioned to 3D animation. I have been animating in the game and vfx industry for various studios such as Playstation, MPC, Framestore, Blur Studio and Weta Fx. My style ranges from cartoon style such as Goldfish commercials to more photo real live action films like “Transformers” or “The Flash”.

As an instructor I hope students will find passion in their art, without forgetting the fundamental… FUN.

Mucci Fassett has worked in the animation industry for 30 years as Director, storyboard artist, and as a visual development artist. MucciÕs sensibilities tend toward humor mixed with meaningful emotional storytelling and gravitas.

With his vast experience and artistic virtue, Mucci will lead storytellers and artists into creating stylish and visually compelling worlds. Students will discover and cultivate their own artistic strengths and sensibilities, and thus build confidence in having a hand in later shaping content in their own professional careers.

Kim Diaz is a veteran talent leader with 20+ years of experience recruiting creative and technical talent across animation, VFX, games, and sound.

She has held key recruiting leadership roles at Pixar Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound and 2K Games, contributing to iconic franchises including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Avengers, Toy Story, and Inside Out. With additional experience in retail recruiting and higher education, she brings a well-rounded perspective to building inclusive, high-performing teams.

Originally from Guam and raised in the Bay Area, Kim studied Computer Animation and is deeply passionate about fostering inclusive, innovative, creative, and high-performing teams that drive the success of creative talent across the entertainment industry.

Ana Meraz graduated from LCAD with a BFA in Animation and has a versatile 7+ years’ experience in cutting edge industry standard softwares for 2D and 3D animation. She has experience tutoring students at LCAD about the animation pipelines and softwares and has a high standard for her teaching methods. Her motto is “I am only a teacher if my students are learning”.

Throughout her career, Ana has built up her LCAD community, serving them as President of Student Government, and is eager to advance her students’ careers by fully employing her connections, skills, and knowledge about the ever-changing entertainment industry.

She continues to develop her animation career through BRIC Foundation, LCAD Alumni Class Audits, and CTNX Career Advancement Programs to have the most up-to-date knowledge of what the entertainment industry demands are, with the guidance of industry veterans and new talent.

Her goal is to set up her students for success, regardless of their creative visions, with special attention to their student life experience.

Henry Sato is a veteran 3D Character Animator with over 30 years of experience bringing animated characters to life on the big screen. HeÕs worked at top studios including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Sony Pictures Imageworks, contributing to beloved CG features like Wreck-It Ralph, Open Season, and SurfÕs Up.

In addition to fully animated films, Henry has also worked on a number of live-action productions that blend CG characters seamlessly into real- world environments, including Stuart Little, Stuart Little 2, The Smurfs, and Spider-Man 2. His work combines a strong sense of character, acting, and physicality, honed across a wide range of storytelling styles and animation pipelines.

With a passion for animation and mentorship, Henry enjoys sharing his industry knowledge and encouraging students to find their own creative voice. HeÕs excited to join the LCAD community and looks forward to helping students grow as animators.

Dave Bittorf has a BA degree from the University of Wisconsin, 17 years as a CG instructor with Platt College in San Diego, and an additional 3 years teaching for the Art Institute and the Digital Media Academy. In 2010 Dave was awarded “Teacher of the Year” and in 2012 he won a world-wide competition and was named “CG-VFX Instructor of the Year”. He is currently working as a 3D modeler on a children’s cartoon series and several apps have been developed using his complex 3D anatomical models. He has also worked with a team that created the box cover art to PS4’s “The Order 1886”. Dave has worked professionally doing CG modeling and rigging for almost 20 years. He is one of the ZBrush instructors at LCAD.

John Dubiel is a graduate of The California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in Character Animation and extensive studies in the School of Theater, having previously studied Film and Animation at the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts). He has several years of Animation Industry experience and has worked at Warner Bros. Animation, Universal Cartoon Studios, Film Roman, Hyperion, Mike Young Productions and Rich Entertainment, primarily as a Storyboard Artist. Projects worked on include: Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, The Mummy: The Animated Series, Family Guy, Toddworld, Chloes Closet, Care Bears, Life With Louie, HBO’s Happily Ever After, American Heroes: William Bradford, The Swan Princess and The King and I. He has done Live Action Storyboarding on a couple of projects for Generation Entertainment and Development work for The Disney Channel. He has also done Illustration Work on
Collectible Pin Designs for Disney.

John has been part of the adjunct faculty of Mt. San Antonio College for 20 years, having taught classes in Figure Gesture, Figure in Motion, Storyboarding, Character Development and Drawing Fundamentals among others. He has taught Fundamentals of Story and Storyboarding at Laguna College of Art and Design. He has lectured at California State University Northridge and Information Resource Systems. He has been a guest artist at The Haggin Museum in Stockton, CA.

John is also a Screenwriter and Playwright. He has written for Steven Spielberg / Warner Bros. Animaniacs and done script work on the animated feature, My Little World. John is a member of The Company of Angels, the oldest repertory theater company in Los Angeles where he co-facilitates the Playwrights Group and has worked as a director. He has had several theatrical plays produced.

Focusing on caricature and editorial Illustration Richard Ewing has been illustrating professionally since 1987. His black & white work is done in ink using a range of tools from various quill pens to brush; his color art is Acrylic, or Acrylic and Brush & Ink and various other media. His clients include: The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, Time Magazine, AARP, BBDO(LA)-[Blue Cross], Ogilvy & Mather-[AmEx], Wells Rich & Greene-[Ford Motor Co], Merkley, Newman, Harty-[National Thoroughbred Racing Association], The Orange County Register, and Los Angeles Lawyer magazine among others.
Richard’s original artwork is kept in private collections of notables such as Kurt Vonnegut and Englebert Humperdink. Richard Ewing is a native of Southern California receiving his BFA and MFA in Illustration from C.S.U. Long Beach in 1987 and 1998 respectively, studying under Richard Oden. Richard is currently living with his family in Long Beach.

At LCAD, Richard teaches figure drawing and anatomy in both the animation and drawing & painting department.

Rick Farmiloe has been animating childhoods for over 30 years, and is best known for breathing hilarity into iconic Disney sidekicks Scuttle, Lefou, and Abu in the beloved Academy Award winning films The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.

During his 11 years at Disney, he animated on seven features and one short, which included The Black Cauldron, Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol, The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver and Company, and The Rescuers Down Under.
Beyond his work for Disney, Rick’s feature film credits include The Swan Princess, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Shrek, Rugrats Go Wild, Curious George, The Simpsons Movie, Boxtrolls, The Iron Giant: Signature Edition, and four Tom and Jerry DVD features. He also animated on numerous Snoopy commercials for Bill Melendez.

In 2011, Rick was an animator on two Annie Award productions: Adam and Dog, and Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five. He animated on yet another Annie Award winning commercial, Coca-Cola’s Man and Dog in 2015. Recently Rick has been working with director, Henry Selick, on his new project, Wendell and Wild.

Peter Ferk is a 37 year veteran of the animation industry having worked with Disney, Discovery, Warner Bros. Film Roman, Universal, and Sony among others. Peter’s career started with studies at the Ontario College of Fine Art in Toronto and Florence, Italy. His beginnings as a layout artist in Canada for “Teddy Ruxpin”, Nightingale and “Meerkats” led to advanced responsibilities with My Pet Monster and “Care Bears” and setting the show style for “Babar”. He also served as overseas supervisor for “Chipmunks Goes to the Movies”, “Beetlejuice”, “Batman The Animated Series”, “Wheres Waldo” and “Hero 108”. During his time overseas, he taught drawing and layout classes. Back in the U.S. Peter assumed directing responsibilities on “101 Dalmatians the TV Series”, “Sabrina The Teenage Witch the Animated TV Series”, and “Pigs Next Door” as well as “Camp WWE” for the WWE. Thus far he has worked on many animated series and direct to video projects including: “Superman”, “Freakazoid”, “Tutenstein”, “Pinky and the Brain”, “Animaniacs”, “Dorothy of OZ”, “Disenchanment”, “Scooby-Doo”, “The Jetsons” and “Tom and Jerry”, and most recently background design work for Minnie Bow Toons. Peter also produced the animated title sequence for the Christmas hit, Elf. Since 2019, he has been an adjunct professor for LCAD Animation sharing his knowledge and work experiences in Layout and Storyboarding. Peter has received three Emmy Nominations for his work on “Pinky and the Brain” and won his first Emmy for Discovery Networks “Growing Up Creepy”.

Born in Gardena, California, James Fujii attended Santa Barbara City College majoring in Biology. During his time in college, James Fujii found his passion for Animation and decided to change majors. He attended CalArts and graduated from the Character Animation Program in 1983 with a BFA degree.

In 1984, Fujii started his first union job at Filmation and has been working in Animation ever since. James worked as an inbetweener at Filmation working on She-Ra and He-Man, and finishing his time there as an animator on Brave Star.

Fujii’s resume includes working on prop and character models for Muppet Babies at Marvel before going to Disney Feature Animation, where he started again as an inbetweener on Oliver and Company, The Little Mermaid, as well as Beauty and the Beast. He finished his story training working on Aladdin, Mickeys Runaway Brain, Fantasia 2000, and Hunchback of Notre Dame.

In 1995, James moved to Dreamworks to work on Prince of Egypt, Antz, and Shrek. Since 2000, Fujii has worked at studios like Warner Bros TV Animation, Universal, Stars, Imagi, Paramount, and Netflix Animation Studios. As a result, James Fujii has contributed to over 40 theatrical features and over a dozen shorts, direct-to-video animated features, and numerous TV series. James is currently working for Netflix Animation Studios on one of their feature productions.

Industry Veteran 3D Animator – https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0719799

Tim is an art director, visual development artist, and background designer with over 25 years of experience in the animation industry. He received a BA in Studio Art from St. Olaf College and also attended the Kansas City Art Institute. Tim started out as a traditional animator in Minneapolis before moving to Los Angeles in 2000. In 2010 he transitioned from animation to design and visual development. Notable projects include Cosmos, Mortal Kombat, Injustice, Bojack Horseman, Elena of Avalor and Teen Titans Go to the Movies. In 2015 he was hired to art direct Bunnicula and two Lego DC Superhero Girls films at Warner Brothers. Freelance clients list includes Disney, DreamWorks, Fox, Cartoon Network, Bento Box, Renegade, Oddbot, Six Point Harness, Titmouse, Nickelodeon and The Mayo Clinic. Currently he is doing visual development and design on a new series for Disney Junior and teaching background painting at LCAD.

Leonard Lee is a Los Angeles based Character Designer in the animation industry for more than 8 years, working with studios like Sony Pictures Animation, WB Animation, Nickelodeon and more. While instructing character design and animation teams on shows like ‘Tiny Toons: Looniversity’, Leonard found a love of sharing his passion for a classic, tried and true approach to draftsmanship and comedy in character design.

Jack Hillin is a Visual Development Artist with recent roles as Lead Character Designer and Lead
Colorist at Warner Bros. Discovery. His recent contributions include work on animated projects Get Jiro
and Watchmen Part 1 & 2. Jack earned a degree in Illustration with a focus on Entertainment from
ArtCenter College of Design, graduating in Fall 2020.
Outside of studio work, Jack exhibits indie comics and art at conventions including San Diego Comic-Con.
In his free time, he enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons, reading fantasy books, and traveling.