Simon Wilches Castro is the Creative Director at Titmouse Studio. Born in Popayán, Colombia. He Studied Visual Arts in Bogotá, Animation in Cuba and an MFA in the United States. Back in Colombia he used to do political and social satire and cartoons and got himself in trouble because of it. Now he’s a director at Titmouse Studios Los Angeles. Other work includes TBS in Japan, directed projects for Disney TV, Starburns industries, Netflix, Apple, Universal and Adult Swim. His films have screened in festivals around the world like Annecy, Hiroshima and Ottawa and has won awards including a double Adobe Design Achievement Award, an Annie Award Nomination and two Student academy award semifinalist nominations. He was awarded the FULBRIGHT Fellowship for artists in 2011.
(Be sure to watch the video interview below!)
Simon Wilches Castro started very small in Popayan, which was a small town with barely any computers available. When he grew he applied to Visual Arts in Bogota and got accepted. Later he went to Cuba to get more classes and become better at animation. He started doing a lot of political satire in a web show as that was present a lot in Colombia. Eventually he won an Scholarship to do a Masters in Animation and Digital Art USC School of Cinematic Arts at Los Angeles.
You can check his work here:
His Vimeo
His Linked In
His Blog
His Twitter
Interview with Simon Wilches Castro:
(Click the play button to watch the video interview above)
Click here to watch in a new Tab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkJtJ-Uvmgc
In this Episode, You Will Learn:
- Simon Wilches Castro’s Story
- How to find your own uniqueness in art
- How to learn animation with few resources
- How to work in a team
- Work Ethic in Animation
Actionable Steps
- Trying to do what’s popular rarely works if ever. The magic is finding your own uniqueness, stay true to your own stuff.
- It’s always good to know other skills like classic art, I draw weird but I also know how to draw normal if I need to.
- When you’re in a job it’s about doing stuff in time, and if you want to do great things you need to find a way of how to do both
- Before you didn’t had resources to learn, but now you can go to YouTube and check for Czechoslovakian animation and you’ll find something, yet most people don’t take advantage out of this.
- All the things you see today that are crazy and edgy, they’re probably have been done already in half of the past century in Eastern Europe, knowing the story will allow you to be more creative in the use of your resources.
“YOU’RE ALWAYS LEARNING, YOU WILL GET BETTER AND FASTER IN YOUR WAY OF THINKING.”
Did You Enjoy This Interview? Let Us Know On Twitter!
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Now it’s Your Turn!
Got questions or any advice or thoughts you want to share about this interview or anything you learned that helped you on your way to freedom? What’s one thing you can take from Simon Wilches Castro’s Journey? Please feel free to share in the comments section below!
Thanks so much for watching the interview with Simon Wilches Castro, I truly appreciate YOU!
Until Next Time!
Rodrigo
