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Share your story on how you became an animator that you are today.
I have always known that I wanted to work for film as an artist since I was five.
I watched the movie Cinderella and just knew.
It was one of those things that I knew, “That’s what I want to do for life.”
And I keep focusing on that goal til now.
Being an animator is very competitive…more so for a Deaf person.
How did you climb to the top?
Being Deaf does make life harder and yes, having a career in the hearing world harder
however I don’t let that stop me. I try to work through it and
I grab my opportunities to show how I can prove myself.
How I can show that being Deaf is not an issue. How do I do that?
I worked hard by showing good attitude, work, and most importantly, be reliable.
When we make a promise, keep that promise no matter how small or trivial the promise is.
Keep it because that will show your character and carry that through life.
People know you can keep your promise, they will trust you.
That’s how I keep getting called back to different film jobs.
You have worked on many amazing films such as Bolt, Fantastic Four, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Now...I am curious - What is your next project?
The film I am working on right now is called “30 minutes or Less.”
It is about two bank robbers that kidnaps a pizza catering guy. Their job is to force him to rob a bank in 30 minutes or less.
So, I’m working on the special effects for that. There are parts such as car chases, explosions,
green screen compositing. My job is to arrange all the computer-generated elements with real life action plates.
I know you are only just an animator, but have you met some of the movie stars?
Yes. When I worked on, “Sky Caption and The World of Tomorrow,” one of the producers was Jude Law, an actor.
So yeah, he was my boss. Jude was at the studio observing, evaluating all the shots…
giving out his opinions. So, yes that is one of the actors.
Yes, I’ve met George Lucas and he was my boss as well for The Pirates of the Caribbean.
He owns a company called “Industrial Lights and Magic” in San Francisco. I worked on that project.
So yes, in my career I do meet celebrities occasionally.
You’ve worked on numerous of films, what is your favorite project of all time?
My favorite project from my experience is Fantastic Four.
It was, ironically, a pressure corker. Our time was short, so much work had to be done
we were pulling an all nighter. We were putting in 18 hours shift for weeks.
Why did I enjoy that? I think it was because it was the first time
they promoted me as a lead. I felt so honored – wow, they trust me,
a deaf person, to lead a team of 12 hearing artists.
My responsibility was to lead them and complete the film. For that, I feel honored that they trusted me.
Out of all the 20 Deaf Women, who do you admire the most?
Probably Ashley Fiolek. Why? I tried motocross riding once and it was tough.
Well, maybe I was really klutzy. I wiped out three times and ended up having bruises.
I did it once and it was my first time and last time. So, I looked at her and applauded
I wish I could do that!
Should The Pearls happen again, who would you like to nominate and why?
I would pick a wonderful English teacher at CSUN. Her name is Barbara Boyd.
The reason why I picked her is because she has shown so much as well as guided so many of us.
We have learned so much from her not just about English or public speaking, but about LIFE.
She has shown so much humor even in the most direst times, she shows that there are
positive things to everything. I feel she has touched millions of hearts out there - mine was one of them.
What does the word “Pearl” mean to you?
A Pearl symbolizes something that requires time to develop and grow
into something beautiful. To me, it is almost like a metaphor of me
as a person growing. I started with nothing – like everyone else.
But over the course of years, we developed our own personalities, attitudes, talents
and things that help us in life such as intelligence, stamina, wisdom, and wit.
To me, that is how we grow as a person.
A pearl is the same as Deaf women and people that we are today.