Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Mattos.
Hi Ryan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi! I am currently a Director on the animated series Bob’s Burgers. Though I suppose since I started my career as an “Animator” I mostly still consider that to be a good descriptor of my interests professionally.
I’ve since forgotten the exact inciting incident for my leap into Animation (probably some behind-the-scenes DVD extra on a Disney movie) but by my late teens, I had taught myself (poorly) how to animate digitally and knew I wanted a career telling stories in cartoon form. I was fortunate enough to attend Loyola Marymount University and earn my bachelor’s degree in Animation. There I gained the tools necessary to tell stories using techniques new and old; essentially learning the “Language of Cinema.” I have to give credit to my storyboard teacher Jay Oliva whose class was instrumental in this process and I still use many techniques he taught me to this day. As he and many others in the Film industry have said: You have to learn the rules so that you may break them.
After college thanks to a good friend and colleague Kyrsti Schwarz, I landed a Production Assistant gig for (at the time) an up-and-coming Animation studio: Bento Box. I am forever grateful for this opportunity as it allowed me behind the curtain to see the production of a little-known show at that time: Bob’s Burgers. Quite the luck, I know! In 2011 when I joined the team, Bob’s was just starting its second season and was (and I feel is still) kind of an underdog show. We had no t-shirts or merchandising deals and were always cowering in the shadow of juggernauts like The Simpsons and Family Guy, which we shared an airing block with. As someone who grew up as a Simpsons fanatic, glued to my tv set every Sunday night, I never even fathomed I’d wind up working on a show that could be considered of the same caliber.
Fresh out of college with my student reel ready and hosted online, I was eager to get my foot in the door. I think the thing that helped most was volunteering for the HR department to draw inter-office announcement posters. I saw that these posters would be placarded around the office periodically and hoped I could improve over the clip-art versions that seemed to be the norm. Someone must have liked a poster or two because after 6 months I was given an Animation role (thanks to that handy reel that was already online). For anyone looking to also get their foot in the door, I would say don’t just wait for an opportunity to come along, try and create your own opportunities! Being gracious, hard-working, and optimistic makes you someone that people want to be around and to work with. Armed with that attitude and a willingness to put yourself out there (and yes suffer failures!) I think anyone can make it in Animation.
Since then I have been an Animation Supervisor, Storyboard Artist, Assistant Director, and now currently a Director for a few shows at Bento Box, mainly Bob’s Burgers. At this point, these fictional characters actually do feel real to me and those of us that work on the show. I think it’s the love we have for Bob and his family, the ornate way that we have built this world from ferris wheel down to lamp post, that keeps us (and hopefully the audience) coming back year after year. I always knew I wanted to tell stories and I am beyond fulfilled to help tell them about the Belcher family.
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?
Animation is a very insular world, like, I imagine, working in Theatre or Comedy. Everybody knows everybody, careers cross paths, people come and go from shows. I have been very fortunate in that the people I work with are as pleasant as the characters we create. I think there is love in the hearts of the people I work with, otherwise it would be impossible to tell stories as heartfelt as we do.
That said, there would be no sunshine without rain! I’d say my struggles have been mostly personal, such as managing anxiety, maintaining a social-slash-family life with such a crazy job, and things like that. There have been many relationships and opportunities I have put on the back burner because I chose to prioritize my career, and while I don’t necessarily regret those decisions, I do wish I had learned how to find balance sooner in life. Who’s to say I’ve even found that balance now, but it has definitely become something on my mind the longer I’ve gone in my career.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I think the proudest I’ve ever felt was seeing some of my work screened for fans at Comic-con. Hearing the laughs and cheers from an audience is such a rare treat for us Animators who typically live and work like troll-people.
In my spare time, I like to doodle and make silly videos, if you’re interested you can check out my website: ryanmattos.com
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
As a kid, I didn’t quite know what an Animation Director was, but I always knew I wanted to tell stories. Whether that be comic books, short stories, home movies or any other medium, I was constantly creating in my free time. I was inspired by people who could use the medium of Film and Television to tell deeply personal stories that were somehow simultaneously subjective and universal.
Contact Info:
- Website: ryanmattos.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/ryanmattos
Image Credits
The ensemble photo is (from left to right): Mauricio Pardo, Mario D’Anna, Ryan Mattos (myself), Ryan Shaw, Ken Laramay, and Daniel Lim The skateboard lineup was a limited edition run from Habitat Skateboards, the art of which I drew
