When did you become interested in art?

“Well, this might sound a little embarrassing, but it was around the time that Shrek came out that I realized that I wanted to go into film and art. That movie really had an impact on me. I think I watched the behind the scenes of that movie more than the actual movie. It was called, ‘The Tech of Shrek.'”

What was the general reaction from your family when you told them you would be pursuing a degree in film?

“They said, “Good, you can’t do anything else.” My mom encouraged it. She was like, ‘Yeah, you should major in film and minor in art because you’re not really good at anything else.’ I was like, ‘Mom, come on, I can’t do both. I have to get a job.’ She told me, ‘No, this is all you’ve got, ride this out.'”

Were your parents surprised or did they always know of your interests?

“They always knew. I’ve been making movies since preschool, and I’ve been drawing since as long as I can remember. My first movie I made was a Robin Hood movie with my brother; he was Little John and I was Robin Hood. It was on my sister’s Barbie camera. We had little hats and everything.”

When you view art, what’s something that pulls your eye?

“I’ve never been into art-art, where it’s like, ‘what does this mean?’ I’m definitely more into cartoons and stuff that’s easy to understand— dumb stuff like that.”

What is your favorite type of art, either to do or to view?

“I love, love, love animation. Think the cheaper animation, I’m talking like 2D, where I can tell that it was actually drawn, like Don Hertzfeldt. I don’t like 3D animation, if I’m honest. I also really like stop motion. Stop motion and 2D are my two favorites, but both of those are dead. They’re dead mediums that no one uses, except for Wes Anderson.”

Is there a type of art you would like to pursue further that you don’t normally show interest in?

“I would like to get more into painting. If I put more time into it, it could be good. I’m fine with watercolors, and I’ve made stuff that has turned out OK before, but then I’ve also made horrible, horrible stuff. I tried to make that Star Wars mural last year. I got to the very end and I just threw it away. I spent a month on it. I thought if you could add water to regular paint it would make it work but it does not work, it soaks through the paper.”

If you could choose any career path involving art, what would it be?

“If I could do just straight up art, probably animation. For me, the thing is, animation was made to do stuff that you can’t do in real life, so when they do these perfectly rendered faces, it’s like, why didn’t you just do a live action movie? All that pixar stuff that’s coming out where it’s like “oh, they look so real”, who cares? I live real life every day, I want to see more toy story.”

Do you think art is important?

‘I don’t know, I guess. I’m not one of those “I can’t live without art” people. I don’t really care, but some people really need it, and some people never look at it, so it depends on the person. And for me, I don’t really care.”