Today we’d like to introduce you to Mahshid Sadoughi.
Hi Mahshid, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. I always loved watching animated movies and when I was in high school, I started learning about the process of making movies and visual effects from behind the scenes features and it fascinated me. I became so inspired and interested to learn more about it. I became so in love with it that I would re-watch my favorite animated movies over and over again.
Even though I didn’t go to art school back home, during my undergraduate studies in computer science, I attended many art and animation classes and I did a lot of self-education by reading and watching a lot of behind the scenes. I decided to pursue this more seriously and that’s when I moved to San Francisco and majored in Animation and Visual Effects at Academy of Art University in 2014. I was always very driven and passionate about animation and films, I used to stay until midnight in the school’s lab working on my projects until they would kick us out. After graduation, I applied for the Apprenticeship program at one of the major Visualization companies called The Third Floor and I got hired. After only a couple of weeks there, I got casted to be on the previs team of Disney feature Jungle Cruise movie. That was my very first project and it was a big one! It was very exciting for me to work on a Disney film so early in my career. After that, I continued to work for different studios and projects and I got to work on some of biggest movies I always dreamed of like Avengers: Endgame, Lady and the Tramp and Space Jam.
In 2018, I moved to Austin to work at Rooster Teeth where I was a character animator working on two very fantastic TV anime series: RWBY and Gen:Lock. It was a great experience living in Texas for a while and the production was very fast and efficient there. The pipeline and workflow for the TV animated series was very different from pre-production of movies and pre-visualization, but I learned and benefited a lot from that experience. In 2019, I moved back to LA to work at my current company: Day for Nite. My first project there was Lady and The Tramp which was so amazing and special. I grew up with that movie and it felt very nostalgic to work on the remake. It’s been a great journey so far. Being a visualization artist is about visual storytelling and bringing the script to the screen. From camera composition to blocking, animation and lighting and effects. This career has so much to offer and we get to be the first people to lay the grounds for the production to move forward. Previs is like a detailed blueprint of the movie that the director and producer need to take on set to shoot the film. I love my job and as a result of this career, I have become an even more keen observer toward my surroundings. Being a visualization artist and making movies is also very collaborative, and it cannot be done without teamwork, and I love that fact about my job as well. I look forward to making more awesome movies and meeting more talented artists along the way.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. In order to become successful in this indusry you have to work really hard and be very flexible to the changes. I moved three times in the past 3 years for work and the job itself has had its fair amount of challenges. This is a very competitive industry with very little job security. Our work is mostly contract-based and freelance in the beginning. At times it can become very unpredictable and pushing through the first couple of years is very very tough, but it will pay off eventually, you just have to be patient and not give up. When people hear about working in the film and animation industry they just think of it as a “fun” job, and it honestly is. We work on some of the coolest movies and we get to meet many wonderful artists, but what people don’t know about is the struggle that goes behind the production.
For instance, there may be times when you and your team have been working days, weeks or even months on a sequence and it just keeps coming back. You put hours of effort and in the end, it may change completely or even get completely deleted from the movie (like when you find deleted scenes on the bonus features). Those instances are tough, specially if you have to pull overtime and crunch time, but you got to roll with the punches. Crunch time usually happens towards the end of the pre-production. It can be a bit stressful but It is part of the job and it happens all the time. I have been very lucky to be in one the greatest studios surrounded by amazing co-workers and supervisors, because that really makes a difference. Your team becomes like your family and it goes a long way to have a caring and understanding team of supervisors by your side, so I feel very grateful about that. Given all these challenges and struggles, I still feel incredibly fulfilled doing what I do and I love creating art and making movies.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a visualization artist and an animator. I have worked in film and animation industry and have specialized in previs and postvis. I have worked on multiple movies, tv shows and commercials. The ones most known are Avengers: Endgame, Lady and the Tramp, and Jungle Cruise. I have also worked as an animator on TV shows RWBY and Gen:Lock which was a very fun experience. As a visualization artist I focus a lot on creating cinematic and appealing shots with good composition and camera. And as an animator I make sure the characters are staged well and the the performance is good and believable. I have always been noticed as someone with a very good eye for detail and an excellent visual memory, which I am very proud of. I take notice of even the smallest things that change or are off in a scene. I also get along with people very well and have always made great friends among colleagues. I think those are the qualities that set me apart from others in most instances.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I have an undergraduate degree in computer science from the most prestigious university in my home country. A lot of people get very surprised when they learn about this. They immediately expect me to know how to code or do programming which is totally not the case anymore. It’s been years since then and I don’t remember anything. Plus, I really didn’t enjoy that program and never really learned much as a result. It wasn’t for me, I wanted to be an artist and create art. I can still read some codes and understand them, but that’s pretty much it. Although having a degree in science and learning math has really helped me think critically and get better at problem-solving. Having a good understanding of physics is also very helpful in animation because it’s all about physics and timing as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mahshidanimation.com
