Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith Silva.
Hi Keith, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
The story of how I got to where I am today as a professional storyteller is long and full of pitfalls and detours. It started with accidentally stumbling into stop-motion animation as a child with my toys, to way too much schooling, then to independent animation, and finally to currently working in TV animation. I got here initially by simply making a decision to make films any way I can and never deviating from that goal. Exactly how I have endured making that decision over time is not as simple. It is certainly not a straight or easy path to take, but for those whom the path is for, it is a compulsion. One of my most influential instructors, Alice Carter, would tell us that the artist who does not make art will instead make themselves sick. Artists must create. It is what we are here to do.
Otherwise, it has been other people who have helped me get to where I am and where I continue to go. Family, teachers, peers, mentors throughout my entire journey have added so much to my life and perspective. The path is arduous and we cannot make progress alone.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Many of the struggles I have faced are those of expectation and realization. As a teenager, animation appealed to me as a way to make films by myself, without the need to schedule time with people to be my actors or crew and so that I could have total control of the end result. The reality of course, is that animation is the most collaborative artistic medium, and ironically the collaboration became my favorite aspect of the medium.
The decision to first attend junior college seemed like a detour, but I met my wife there and being an artist herself, she is the person who has taught me the most about what it means to be an artist. Moving into art school, I believed that the knowledge I obtained in my high school animation classes would put me above the skills of the students around me. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I had to work twice as had as some of my peers. After college, the transition into the professional world brought many challenges that did not meet my expectations. The timing, consistency, and quality of jobs or projects I worked on varied wildly. I learned that leaning on expectations is a fool’s errand and to rather take opportunities as they come. It’s good to have a direction and a goal, but it is best to stay open about the different ways to reach that goal.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a storyteller. The current ways I’m telling stories are in directing and storyboarding for animation. I love all genres of storytelling, but most of my experience is in animated comedy. I’ve been very fortunate to work with some of the best animation artists in the world on projects such as SpongeBob, Let’s Go Luna, Tiny Toons, Middlemost Post, Fairly Odd Parents, and others. I love working on shows intended to make people laugh. Bringing laughter and joy to an audience is needed now more than ever, and selfishly, it’s also just fun to do. You are your first audience, so the best days are when I’m making myself laugh all day, then I get to share it with the rest of the crew and hopefully the world!
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I’ll be honest; I had to learn to love LA. There is a lot of disorganization, homelessness, and smog. But having lived here now for seven years, there is so much life happening in every corner. I love that it is a hotbed of creativity and that so much of American culture is created here and sent all over the world. It’s hard to leave LA or even the country and not see or hear something that was somehow touched by or outright created here in LA. That can be a little weird when you’re trying to go on vacation, but I kinda love it. Also, being into film my whole life, the history of movies here has got to be my favorite thing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.keithsilva.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ksilvaanimation/
