Max Alley
Story Artist
Storyboard Revisionist at Nickelodeon, The Loud House
It was a chilly Sunday night of the last NFL playoff game. Max and I had not watched the game at all and we immediately bonded over that inexperience. When there isn’t a pandemic, Max is more of a baseball guy, Red Sox, to be specific. He’s from Rhode Island, the smallest state in the union but mighty in it’s green and coastal beauty. He grew up a Sox fan with a dad as a children’s book illustrator, which undoubtedly had some influence on Max’s artistic inclinations. From Max’s bright, silly and very clever portfolio you can tell that his earliest influences had a major effect on his personal style. Sure 90’s kids read newspaper comics, but not quite like Max. When asked what influences his art, the immediate reaction was, “every newspaper comic.” Calvin and Hobbes, Asterix and Obelix and even comics that are so old they have deep wrinkles like Tin Tin, and Pogo, fed his creative brain.
Much like Michelle Obama, Max graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology. After graduating from Clark University, he took an animation class over the summer with a friend for fun. From there he was hooked.
Off to the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, aka RisD, to pursue an Animation Certificate. This is where he chose a career path that would enrich the lives of children and audiences across the world, also much like Michelle Obama. But Max would overstuff audiences with entertainment where Michelle encouraged a balanced diet. This rich and decadent entertainment value is evident in his brightly colored artwork, primarily seen in his art prints and comic book, “Emile in Space and the Perilous Planet”. “Emile” is an odyssey of silly adventures with peculiar friends in space, which Max hopes to continue in his next comic book.
Clearly Nickelodeon took a liking to Max Alley’s adorable sense of humor and style because now he works as a storyboard revisionist for their show, The Loud House. Landing a position with an animation powerhouse like Nickelodeon is a dream come true for Max. As he’s quoted himself on his website, “My six-year-old self eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch while watching cartoons would be so happy!”. The biggest dream come true is to become a full fledged story artist working alongside others in the studio. From what this writer can see, that is a future guarantee.
If Max could tell fledglings one thing about entering the industry it would be this, “Whether you want to work as a storyboard artist in tv/film/live action etc., try to really feel/understand what the characters in the stories are feeling. Once you put yourself in their shoes, the job gets a lot easier because you're relating and using your own life experiences to help further sell the story. Without this, you may become disconnected and the story can feel flat. But mostly importantly: have fun with your work, and for the love of god don't forget to K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)”. Great advice from a great young man who used to watch the best shows ever like Hey Arnold, Rocket Power, Fairly Odd Parents and shows from Hanna Barbera. Watch these shows and you could work in Hollywood too, someday.
Before jumping on a plane to pursue his dreams in the city of angels, Max stumbled across The Creators Society in it’s infancy. He watched The Creators Society grow from a seed of 12 members into a stocky sunflower field of 250. He met new creators, worked on fun projects and found an awesome creative base in Los Angeles. Podcasts like the Animation Network, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Comic Lab, and the Creators Society Podcast enrich his every day in sunny LA. Shows like What We do in the Shadows and Barry keep him laughing and intrigued. He finally got around to watching Back to the Future for the first time this year which is almost as incredible as having never watched The Matrix. Incredible shows and movies like these churn his inspiration from images in his head into visually enchanting stories. Perhaps one day we can meet in person, and on that day we can shake hands. I’ll congratulate him on his prolific career, and he will thank me for writing this momentous article.
To see more of Max Alley’s awesome art and storyboard work, head to his website: https://maxalleydotorg.wordpress.com/
