Meet Max Winston of RatBat Studios in Mt. Washington

Today we’d like to introduce you to Max Winston.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born in San Francisco and raised in Sonoma, CA. My parents were both artists, Dad a graphic designer and Mom a painter, etc. while doing social work as her profession. Having parents like this meant I was always encouraged to make art; I don’t remember when I “started” making art, it’s just something I’ve always done. Not until I became an adult did I realize that this was an odd way to be raised and that many people I know were actually discouraged from making art by their parents. I feel lucky to have been raised by parents who understood the value of creative expression.

I went to Santa Rosa High School, a public high school that has a program called Artquest, which you can apply to be in. This is what really made my pursuit of creative expression excel much further, because all throughout high school, I had two periods of art a day, which is basically unheard of in public schooling. After high school, I lived at my Parents’ house and worked at a restaurant for a year while figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. The price of private art school was a bit intimidating, but luckily, my folks had no question that this was a route that would be worth taking, and vowed that we would figure out how to make it work.

After applying and being accepted into the Experimental Animation program at CalArts, we used a mix of student loans and money from my Grandma to help pay the high tuition schools like that require. From navigating my way through the weird world that is art school, I eventually discovered that StopMotion Animation is the art form I identified with the most, notably because it blends pretty much every art form out there into one. So, that is what I pursued, and that is what I currently do for both my passion and my living.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Through getting older, moving to Los Angeles and meeting a much wider array of different kinds of people than I grew up with in Sonoma, I’ve learned that my path has been a lot smoother than others, in many ways. It’s not like I was born silver spoon in-hand, far from it actually. But for instance; I was fortunate enough to go to art school. I have met a lot of working artists who for a variety of reasons, that wasn’t an option. But, these are people whom have had to work their asses off beyond comprehension to get to where they are; being a working-artist, and honestly, a lot of times they’re better artists for it.

Growing up in Sonoma, I had it pretty easy. It’s a beautiful town; wine country. Even though there’s lots of money there from all the Wineries and wine-related tourism, it’s a town built by alcoholics for alcoholics, there’s also tweakers, and yes, even some gangs and stuff like that. But besides all that stuff, it’s sort of an ideal place to grow up. You can walk for miles through the town at midnight and only see like a couple of cars drive by. I have found that most my struggle came from when I was older, in the form of creative struggle and trying to thrive in this huge, amazing city. Working in the animation industry, it’s been a challenge at times to find where I fit in. I don’t like run-of-the-mill art, and I don’t like run-of-the-mill animation. To me, animation is the greatest art form of the 20th century, and I want to see it pushed, expanded-upon and celebrated for its strengths. When you work in a creative industry, it’s common to end up using your creative abilities to realize other people’s visions. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that at all, I sometimes find that personally, for someone who has their own visions, it can be a bit draining. Don’t get me wrong, I love many of the people I’ve worked with in animation over the years, I’ve made some of my best friends there and have done some of the work I’m most proud of on other people’s projects. But, I can only do that for so long before I really get the itch to start cranking on my own ideas.

A few years ago, I decided to stop working at animation studios and to start my own, so I could call the shots and get more of my own visions out there into the world; basically become a freelance animation-filmmaker. To say it’s been a smooth-sailing journey of pure bliss would be a lie, ha. It’s truly a rollercoaster. The upside is that now people usually come to me because they want me to do my take on their concept, or even pay me to fully-realize a concept of my own. At that point, I am in charge of designing, directing, lighting, fabricating everything in the way I see best fit. It’s a lot of fun! The downside is that I don’t always have work. So there’s that tradeoff. Either work for someone else and have a more steady income or blaze your own trail on the rickety rollercoaster of freelance-life and see what happens, chasing that ultimate creative-satisfaction. I’ve chosen the latter and I’m not living on the streets yet, so… onward we go!

RatBat Studios – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company is RatBat Studios. We are primarily an animation company that specializes in the unique technique of StopMotion Animation, along with doing some graphic design work here and there. Basically, a client will come to us and say “we love your style, we have this idea, can you execute this for us in your own special way?” If the idea/budget/timeline works out to something that makes sense and would be enjoyable to do, we flash the green light and start on the path of making “movie magic”, as they say. Our work usually ends up in the form of animated shorts for TV or the internet, for the likes of clients like Cartoon Network, VICE, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros Animation, JibJab, Disney XD and more.

RatBat Studios has become known for doing what could be described as “cartoony” StopMotion animation. We’re much more interested in presenting a new look at the possibilities of reality, rather than replicating reality. As I said earlier, run-of-the-mill animation doesn’t interest me, so we try to do things differently, just deliberately do things in different ways than what we normally see, to try and make our lives, and consequently our viewers’ lives, more fun and interesting. Expect the unexpected. I guess that’s what I’m most proud of as a company; that we have our own vision of how to see the universe, and have been able to execute and communicate that in many different ways to show the world.

Some exciting recent news is; I’ve been making moves lately with some friends and associates to expand this small business I’ve built-up over the years into an actual bigger animation studio. Though we’ve done work with “high-profile” clients, we’re currently a very small operation, with only a few people at the most working here at any given time. The prospect of growing the studio into a bigger situation where multiple larger projects are in-production at once is very exciting! Eventually, I would love to make a feature film. I guess I’m trying to figure out how to build the steps to get there, and after ten years of working in the animation industry, growing my studio feels like the natural next big step on that path.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
The definition of success is an interesting question. For me, it seems to change almost daily, ha. At times, I want what other people have. Other times, I take a step back and realize that I already have everything I need to make me happy. I would like to think that success is defined by how you make the world better for other people. Hearing that I’ve inspired someone else to make something cool, weird or crazy gives me great joy; that feels like success. The only reason I am where I am now is because other people inspired me, either directly or indirectly, so doing that for someone else feels like a great success. That’s not to say I’m complacent in where I’ve come so far in my career, though. I want to keep making bigger, better and cooler things, and if that leads to the kind of success where I can buy a cool car and a slick pair of shades, I won’t be complaining about that. But if my personal success ends up at the least leaving a lasting impression on the creative minds of others, well, that’s enough to make me feel like life was worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ratbatstudios.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: instagram.com/madmaxwinston
• Other: maxwinston.tumblr.com

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