www.nickvallinakis.com
My interest in creating artwork goes back
as far as I can remember. I was born in Athens, Greece and moved to Canada
with my parents at the age of two. I grew up in the West Island area of
Montreal and, like most kids, started to draw as soon
as I could hold a pencil.
A reputation as a
budding artist followed me throughout my years in school. When it came time
to choose a career, however, I veered into the sciences, earning a Bachelor
of Science degree in Geology with honours from McGill University. As a geology student, I worked
in the Gaspé Peninsula as well as in the arctic
tundra region of northern Canada.
When I next decided to
enroll for a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Concordia University instead of pursuing a Master’s
degree in science, it was to follow my heart and not to heed the dire
predictions of starvation that ensued. “How can you switch from science to
art?” was the all-pervasive question.
My view on the
matter was simple. The perceived dichotomy that separates art and
science is largely due to the different paths the two have
taken in the exploration of the natural world. Each began as a direct
observation of the universe, with science being mainly
interested in how nature worked and art in how it looked.
Any serious involvement with either should require some understanding
of both.
I left the art
program to begin a career in animation after a year. Moving from Montreal to Ottawa with Kim, my wife-to-be, was the first
step in a journey that has led to more than twenty years in the animation
industry. I've since lived and worked in cities across the country. As well as
directing, supervising and animating at many of the major studios, I've also
taught drawing and animation at the Vancouver Film School where I ran the classical animation
department as Program Director and Head Instructor.
Until
recently I was dividing my time between directing animated series for
television and doing animation storyboards. As for the near future, I plan
to soon begin to paint and teach again with a series of my own drawing
classes. I also hope to do storyboard work for live-action
films.
At present I am
returning to the geosciences by studying and working in GIS (Geographic
Information Systems). Using a variety of software packages,
this provides the opportunity for me to combine visual elements with
statistical data to describe and analyze mineral mine geology.
-
Nick Vallinakis
-
ANIMATION EXPERIENCE
Director - Series
What’s With Andy? -trad TV series/Season III,
CineGroupe (2005-06)
Postcards from Buster
-trad TV series/Season I, The Cookie Jar Company (2004)
Pig
City -trad TV series/Season II, CineGroupe (2003-2004)
Director - Animation
Walter -digital 2D TV series/Season II,
Oasis Animation (2009)
Storyboard Artist
Space
Knights -digital 2D TV series pilot, Fatkat Animation Studios
(2008)
Arthur -trad TV series/Season
V,XI & XIII, Cinar/Cookie Jar (2000, 2006 &
2008)
Zeke's Pad -3D TV series/Season I, Bardel
(2008)
Punch! -digital 2D TV series/Season I, Kiwi
Animation (2007)
Edgar and Ellen -digital 2D TV
series/Season I, Bardel (2007)
The World of Quest
-digital 2D TV series/Season I, Mercury Film Works
(2007)
Tripping the Rift -3D TV series/Season
I, II, & III, CineGroupe (2005-07)
Ed, Edd 'n'
Eddy -digital 2D game elements, A2M
(2005)
Bratz -trad feature DVD/video,
CineGroupe (2003)
What’s With
Andy? -trad TV series/Season I & II, CineGroupe (2000-01
& 2003)
Pinocchio 3000 -3D
feature film, CineGroupe (2002)
Seven Little
Monsters -trad 2D TV series/Season I, II & III, Nelvana
(2000-02)
Pig City -trad TV series/Season I,
CineGroupe (2001)
Bob & Margaret -trad 2D TV
series/Season III, Nelvana (2000)
Redwall
-trad TV series/Season III, Nelvana (2000)
Anne of Green Gables
-trad TV series/Season I, Sullivan Studios (2000)
The Pink
Panther -trad TV series/Season I, Bardel (1993)
Senior Animator
The Little Mermaid II: Return to
the Sea -trad feature DVD/video, Walt Disney
Animation Canada (2000)
Mickey's Once Upon a
Christmas -trad feature DVD/video, Walt Disney Anim Canada
(1998-99)
Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine
Special -trad feature DVD/video, Walt Disney Anim Canada
(1998)
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
-trad feature DVD/video, Walt Disney Anim Canada (1997)
Beauty and
The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas -trad feature DVD/video,
Walt Disney Anim Canada (1996-97)
Animator
Peter Pan: Return to
Neverland -trad feature film, Walt Disney Animation Canada
(2000)
The Brothers Grunt -trad TV series,
Natterjack (1994)
The Forgetful King’s
Festival -trad personalized video, Interactive Video
Systems (1994)
Rocket Rescue -trad/3D feature
video, Interactive Video Systems (1993)
Here Comes
Mumfie -trad TV series, Bardel (1993)
The Ren
& Stimpy Show -trad TV series/Season II, Carbunkle
Cartoons (1992-93)
The Little Flying Bears
-trad TV series, CineGroupe (1990-91)
The
Raccoons -trad TV series, Hinton Animation (1988)
Dennis the Menace -trad TV series, Atkinson
Film Arts (1987)
Assistant Animator
Bebe’s Kids -trad feature film, Bardel (1992)
Ys the Magnificent -trad TV series, Atkinson Film
Arts (1988)
Exposure Sheet Director
The
Tofus -trad TV series/Season I, CineGroupe (2003-2004)
Arthur -trad TV series/Season V, Cinar (2000)
Seven Little Monsters -trad TV series/Season II,
Nelvana (2001)
Stunt Dawgs -trad TV series, Gordon
Stanfield Animation (1992)
Problem Child -trad TV
series, Gordon Stanfield Animation (1992)
Layout
Supervisor
The Pink Panther -trad TV series,
Bardel (1993)
Dog City -trad TV series, Bardel
(1993)
Layout
The New Adventures of Felix the
Cat -trad TV series, Studio B (1995)
The Magic
Schoolbus -trad TV series, Bardel (1995)
Tales of
the Cryptkeeper -trad TV series, Bardel (1995)
A
Bunch of Munsch -trad TV series, Gordon Stanfield Animation (1992)
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin -trad TV series,
Atkinson Film Arts (1986-87)
Design and Story Development
Punch!
-digital 2D TV series using Photoshop photo montage/Season I, Kiwi
Animation(2007)
The Forgetful King’s Festival
-trad personalized video, Interactive Video Systems
(1994)
Rocket Rescue -trad/3D feature video,
Interactive Video Systems (1993)
The Pink Panther
-trad TV series, Bardel (1993)
Television
Commercials
Various including: Rolo, Chips Ahoy, Canada Savings
Bonds, etc. -Michael Mills Productions (1988-90)
Nike -A.K.A. Cartoon (1996)
Illustration
Grocer Today
-spot/cover illos, Canada Wide Magazines (1993-94)
Going
Places (BCAA) -spot illos, Canada Wide Magazines (1993-94)
BC Home Digest -spot illos, Canada Wide Magazines
(1993-94)
Current -spot illos, Pacific Trollers
Association/Alpine Press, B.C. (1996)
TEACHING AND MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
Senior Animator
Walt Disney Animation Canada
(1996-2000)
-leading and mentoring animation team during feature
production
-preparing and presenting drawing seminars on project specific
characters, human anatomy and perspective
-supervising weekly 3hr life drawing sessions
Program Director/Head Instructor
Vancouver Film School
(1994-96)
-developing curriculum, courses and schedules
-planning and implementation of departmental expansion
-staff
management
-instructor: Animation, Animation layout, Storyboard, Film
production, Life drawing, Perspective, Color, Light&shadow,
Composition
EDUCATION
Concordia
University -toward Bachelor of Fine Arts /
Drawing and Painting (1985-86)
McGill
University -Bachelor of Science (Honours) /
Geological Sciences (1982-85)
Vanier
College (CEGEP) -Diploma of Collegiate
Studies / Pure and Applied Sciences (1980-82)
COURSES
Introduction to
Animation with Maya -Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
(2004)
C Programming -BCIT, Vancouver, British
Columbia (1993)
Graphic Art and Photography I &
II -Algonquin College, Ottawa, Ontario
(1987)
Getting Started with GIS -ESRI
Virtual Campus training (2008)
Introduction to Gocad for
Mining -Gocad Mining Users Meeting, Mira Geoscience
(2008)
3D-GIS for Drillhole Targetting -Gocad
Mining Users Meeting, Mira Geoscience (2008)
COMPUTER
EXPERIENCE
Graphics
& Animation -Toon Boom Harmony/Digital Pro & Storyboard Pro, Photoshop, Maya
6.0, CorelDraw, Excel
Web Design -Trellian,
HTML
Computer
Programming -C Programming, Fortran
GIS -ESRI
ArcGIS
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