Growing up near Yosemite, in Coarsegold, CA, Laci got an early start in animation. Her dad produced music for games, and Laci always tagged along. She grew up wanting to be an artist.

Michael C. Pizzuto is a full-time actor based in Los Angeles, California. "I was a child actor for the stage many moons ago, and started getting a paycheck for acting at age 16. My mom was involved with theater when I was young, and that sparked my interest. I would later go to university for a theater degree and have never looked back!"

Conlon graduated from Chicago’s DePaul University animation program. It's a fantastic program that allows first-year students to begin training in animation. He says the professors and labs are great, and the program includes 2D and 3D training.

“Storytelling is a team sport,” according to our Spotlight Creators Society Member and undercover mermaid, Development Branch Councilor Ariel Freeman.

“I grew up drawing before I could write and it was something I did before bed every night. I would draw little comics!!  When I was very young, my family and I went to Disney Orlando, and I started doodling stories and experiences in my Disney Princess journal. While my family was touring the studio, my Father, without my knowledge, talked to one of the animators. This was back in 2001 before the Florida studio was dismantled. He told the animator that I would get into animation someday, and they gave him a pencil. When I got into college with pursuits to study animation, my Father surprised me with the pencil. He knew before I did that I would be getting into animation!”

‘Twas early afternoon on a Tuesday when Malik O. Smith and I spoke. The morning chill was shaken off the burgeoning sun, birds were chirping, and flowers outside were dripping with dew, reminding us that Winter will soon be an afterthought and Spring is upon us. Just kidding, we both live in Southern California where it’s always sunny and people freak when it drizzles. Malik O. Smith is an animator, storyboard artist, character designer, and illustrator. This Jack-of-All-Animation-Trades was drawn to Hollywood, where animation opportunities are abundant, from a city that is far more prepared for drizzle weather: Bronx, New York. 

The focus of this Member Spotlight article is Diana Lansleen; voice actor and Creators Society VO Branch member with a creative upbringing like no other. She is a person that has truly made the most out of the tools and circumstances from which she comes. On top of that she is really nice. I mean super nice. When we had an initial chat on the phone regarding this article, my four year old son was talking very loudly and non-stop, as he tends to do.

This subject of this week’s Spotlight is none other than the head of the Creators Society Diversity Branch himself, Jourdan Barnett.

Jourdan attended Columbia College in Chicago where he studied writing and producing for television. After graduating in 2015, he started doing freelance work as a character illustrator. He founded his own Youtube Channel, Madtownstudios, where he uploads his original animation projects.