April 11, 2024 Two Film/Video Faculty Named 2024 Guggenheim Fellows On Thursday, April 11, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced the 2024 class of...
April 8, 2024 Passage of the Spiral by Natalia Lassalle-Morillo Premieres at REDCAT On Thursday, April 11, CalArts Center for New Performance (CNP) presents the world premiere of...
April 3, 2024 In Memoriam: Lou Florimonte The CalArts community mourns the loss of beloved teacher and alumnus Lou Florimonte (Film/Video...
April 2, 2024 Yaloo’s Solo Show Opens at Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art School of Film/Video faculty Yaloo imagines a near future that explores a world shaped by...
March 26, 2024 CalArtians Win Women in Animation Scholarships At the 2024 BRIC Talent and Innovation Summit held in Los Angeles, the Women in Animation (WIA)...
Daron Nefcy Character Animation BFA 09 Creator of Disney Channel’s Star vs. The Forces of Evil Daron Nefcy I was pitching ideas for shows while I was still a student at CalArts. My first job out was on Warner Bros.’ MAD. It ran on Cartoon Network for many seasons and was cool because I got to make my own mini films. Then, I worked at Nickelodeon as a storyboard revisionist on Robot and Monster. I pitched Star to Disney and, eventually, it went into development. It took a year to make the pilot, and when that was done, I took a job on Wander Over Yonder at Disney, a Craig McCracken show. Now, I’m full-time on Star, which is in its second season. I think the reason so many alumni are running shows, is that all animation students at CalArts have to make their own films every year. Producing a TV show is like making a bunch of mini CalArts films—except that you have a whole team helping you—and you have to make them extremely quickly. But the experience of learning every part of the process is so important. While you’re learning to write and storyboard, you’re also animating, finding actors, getting music, and editing. You graduate with four films, and, of course, your final film is much better than the first. It’s inspiring to be at CalArts. Everyone’s artistic style is different. You’re pretty much living with these people; working in cubicles that are open all night. It’s like being in the trenches with all these wonderful artists with whom you form close relationships. It’s really a special, special place.