Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Briggs.
Hi Paul, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been an artist my entire life and at a young age, fell in love with animation. In college, I was drawn to ceramics and sculpture but there was always a deep-rooted love for making drawings move. In 1996 I was accepted into an animation internship at the Disney Feature Animation Studio in Orlando, Florida. After completing the internship, I was offered a job to work on the animated feature film Mulan. It was amazing to be 20 years old and surrounded by some of the top artists in the World!. While there, I was lucky to animate on films like Tarzan, Hercules, Lilo and Stitch, and Brother Bear. In 1996 I moved out to Los Angeles, CA. I freelanced for a cou-l elf months for Warner Bros. Animation and Nickelodeon before being hired back at Disney Feature to work as a storyboard artist. I got to work on some amazing films including Princess and the Frog, Bolt and Tangled. I was then offered the role as Story Supervisor on Frozen and after that Big Hero 6. A Story Supervisor works closely with Filmmakers, Writer, Editorial and the Story team to build the story reels and help get the Directors vision up on screen. In 2016, I began Co Directing Raya and the Last Dragon which was just released on Disney+ and Theaters! I’ve been in animation for 25 years and I’m incredibly fortunate to have worked with so many amazing people.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Life is never a smooth journey – but I think it’s important to recognize/celebrate when things are going really well, as well as try to anticipate the rough roads ahead. I’m trying really hard to find more and more balance in my life so that cycle is smoother.
I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my career and tried to learn from them. I’ve always tried to treat others with respect along the way.
I remember I reached a point early on in my animation career when I was really frustrated with an early story screening of a film. I found myself full of anger and I thought how do I channel this into a positive. What can I do to change the situation – So, I made a choice to become a story artist. If I didn’t like the way the story was being told then I felt I should directly try to impact and try to improve it myself. That started a long journey of learning and growing as a storyteller.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I love filmmaking and the power of emotional storytelling. There’s so much power to connecting and empathizing with others through storytelling. It teaches how to live, how not to live, how to love and to grieve. I think finding that emotional connection is one of my favorite parts of filmmaking – It’s so hard to capture true emotion in a drawing but incredibly rewarding when it works. I always appreciate it so much when I see it done well in other art forms like dance, music and painting.
I’m really proud to have worked alongside so many artists telling stories that are so full of heart that will have a lasting impression on generations.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I’m constantly trying to absorb information through books, movies, figure drawing, art and film but often I think the most important lessons just come from observing and listening. I’ll often find myself just observing people and relationships and watching pose, emotion, gesture and mannerisms. Disneyland is a great place to do this! You can learn a lot about someone’s character just through their body language. If you listen to someone’s story pay close attention to the major choices they’ve had to make. It’s never easy but again, it shapes character and may help you with choices in your own life.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: briggspictures.com
- Instagram: @tiki_tum
- Twitter: @_paul_briggs_
