Julie Pantoja (Sets and Characters)

"I loved to draw as a child and after picking up my husband's Beginners Maya book, I was hooked. With no portfolio or formal art background and with 10 years experience, drawing blood from patients at a lab (yep that makes me a daytime vampire!), I seriously had my work cut out for me. I took classes everywhere I could to build up my portfolio and eventually landed at BCIT in a 1-year program. At the end of the program and a lot of hard learning later, I had my demo reel. I applied (to Pixar Canada about six times I think) and am so excited to work with such a talented and supportive team! I'm extremely grateful for this awesome opportunity."

Michael Cacciamani (Lighting)

"Why Pixar Canada? Well it is Pixar! Pixar Canada is brand new so I have the chance to be a part of something that is going to grow and develop, where we can build relationships, like a family of people. I think my favourite part is the people I work with, everyone here is fantastic at what they do and it is just amazing to be considered part of that group. Aside from the that, I am so happy to be working on something that I will be proud to show family and friends both now and for a long time to come."

Joel Beaudet (Animation)

"Everyday I try to go to bed a better artist than when I woke up in the morning. Being at Pixar Canada has more than allowed me to do this. The open teaching/learning environment has been amazing. There is such a great feeling of collaboration around the studio. Everyone is so open and willing to give their time to teach and share new things with each other. There are so many other learning resources, classes and guest lectures available to us and I get to do this with such a great group of people, it is a lot of fun!"

Daniel Floyd (Animation)

"Being a part of Pixar is already exciting, but getting to join this new Vancouver studio in its early days is an awesome opportunity. We get to be a part of a new studio as it grows and defines itself, AND at the same time we get to be part of one of the world's greatest animation companies. It's the best of both worlds. Of course, Pixar is known for quality, and that is a big reputation to live up to. You're animating characters that are beloved around the world and that's not something you want to screw up!! It is an amazing challenge."