Shabrayia Cleaver
Production Manager at DreamWorks
Throughout many of our favorite animated films, both classic and new, we often enjoy a story centered around a theme involving a young hero or heroine. They embark on an adventure due to a push by fate, or a destiny that incessantly pulls the main character to discover more about themselves and the world around them. They discover who they were meant to be. This all too familiar theme, is what came to mind the more I learned about the subject of this Member Spotlight. Shabrayia Cleaver, member of The Creators Society, is a production manager at DreamWorks Animation, and the path that saw her arrive where she seemed almost destined.
Ms. Cleaver is a Los Angeles native, and as such I wanted to know if she had any family members or close friends growing up that influenced her path to animation. “I totally didn’t even know roles like the ones I’ve been in even existed in animation,” she says. “I knew I wanted to be in film but I was completely unexposed to the animation industry. Starting in college I was all over the place. I wanted to be a dancer, I wanted to be a therapist, I wanted to be a photographer. All things that I realized I really wasn’t that great at! As I started to think about my love of movies, I explored ways I could be involved in the creation of them. When I changed my major to film, I needed an internship to graduate and it just so happened DreamWorks had a posting for a production internship. I applied, having no experience and somehow landed an interview with 5 of some of the most lovely people at DreamWorks. They were my first introduction to Animation, and from this interview alone, I knew this was somewhere I wanted to be.”
As with many aspiring professionals seeking to embark on their careers, Shabrayia started out as an intern, but even at that ground floor level, her path seemed to lead in interesting ways. “I feel very fortunate to have had all of my internship opportunities. Each one of them has contributed significantly to my career. Internships are a perfect way to get real world experience and discover what you’re passionate about. My first internship was with Dick Clark Productions as an office intern. Part way through, So You Think You Can Dance, needed interns so they transferred me over. That was my first live action on set experience and really what set me on the path to being in this industry! Even now being in animation, I still find myself referencing the nuggets I learned as Production Assistant in live action. When you’re on a set you’re limited on time, so when you’re faced with a problem you have to work quickly on your feet. I have brought that same sense of urgency to my experience in animation.”
Image © Dreamworks Animation
“My internship at DreamWorks was a perfect introduction to the animation industry. I did two semesters on How to Train Your Dragon 2, where I worked in Crowds, Effects, Lighting, and Matte Painting. I covered such a range of departments that this was a great overview of the pipeline. Because I had such great supervisors, they gave me way more responsibility than usual, which really prepared me for my future roles. Now as a production manager with my own production staff, I often refer back to how my supervisors mentored me and how they made me feel.”
Learning that Shabrayia seemed to find such a great fit in production, I wanted to know if that was always where she felt most comfortable, or if she wore other hats in the animation world. She said with great conviction that, for her, it was “always production!” “As I was trying to analyze what aspect of the industry would be the best suited for me, I was thinking about all the things I loved doing. Planning, planning, planning. I have always been the person in my friend group who plans our vacations, events, hangouts decked with excel spreadsheets, pivot tables, and conditional formatting! I loved organizing the logistics of how something would play out or being the person who jumps in to problem solve when things go awry. This is production in animation, completely. Tracking, organizing, problem solving, all things we do every day. Although, my excel spreadsheet game has elevated significantly.”
To help me with some of my ignorance, I asked Ms. Cleaver if she would explain what the differences and duties are of the various positions that she has held on the production side of animation (lighting production assistant, production coordinator, production supervisor, production manager). “The great thing about being production staff is you get to jump around to different departments on each film. You get such a wide range of experience on each project. After my internship, I started as a production assistant in the Lighting department. In that role, I was really in charge of managing our department calendar, running our dailies review, and planning all morale events. As I continued in the lighting department on various shows, even as a coordinator, my role was more or less the same just with more responsibility. Managing our agendas, managing our tracking, and working with other departments to make sure our team had what they needed.
Image © Dreamworks Animation
I then got the opportunity to go all the way to the front end in Story and Editorial on Abominable. As Production Supervisor, I was responsible for tracking changes in the script, scheduling and facilitating our production records, while also managing all of our editorial review sessions with directors. Now as a production manager, I still get to be involved in all of those departments but I have a broader view of their impact on the schedule. I work with our production team to make sure we’re staying on target week to week. I’ve really enjoyed this role because I get to be involved in every aspect of pulling the film together.”
‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’, ‘Kung Fu Panda’, ‘Home’, ‘Trolls’ - Shabrayia Cleaver has her name associated with some very impressive titles. I wanted to know if there were any unique challenges that arose from working on these movies. “Do you find that you take anything away from each project that you are a part of,” I asked, “whether it be creatively or in finding better ways of accomplishing tasks?”
She explained that, “Every show and every role is so, so different because at the end of the day it’s a different collection of people. The challenge is always to produce a beautiful film within the constraints of the schedule and budget, but you gain so much knowledge in the range of perspectives of the people pulling it together. No one experience I’ve had has matched the other. Were these films difficult as hell, absolutely, but the camaraderie and teams that we’ve built in the making of them is so rewarding. There will always be challenges on every show, but the fun of that are the unique solutions that come out of it. I can’t tell you how my tracking documents has grown from show to show!”
Being a rising star at DreamWorks isn’t the only focus for Shabrayia Cleaver. She is an active mentor in the organization, Women in Animation. I wanted to know what sort of guidance she offers to young, aspiring animators. She said that, “Being a Black woman in the animation industry, I often struggle with imposter syndrome. A feeling of not belonging or feeling like the success I’ve had is undeserving. It’s a terrible feeling but I think this is fueled by the lack of representation in the animation industry. It’s sometimes difficult to feel confident being in your skin and being yourself when you don’t see other people who look like you in this industry. So I go out of my way to support women and women of color in this industry, to help them see that they are valued, appreciated, and so needed. My guidance is, don’t ever let the lack of representation stop you from breaking in. If the space does not exist, be the creator of that space; break in and make opportunities for those who come after you.” She added that she is very fortunate to have had some “Kickass mentors” herself. She has had, “So many bosses who have believed in me, more than I have believed in myself. I speak about imposter syndrome, but these are the people who help me combat that. Whenever I talk about feeling undeserving of an opportunity they are there to knock me right back into place. Most of my mentors have been women and seeing their fearlessness alone is what drives me to be better. There is so much importance in having mentors who invest in you. Advancing your career is not always something you can do alone.”
However, Shabrayia does offer a dose of caution if you are thinking of using her path as a template for your own career, “I would say don’t follow in my footsteps! Forge your own path! Don’t be afraid to stand out, and be unique. Don’t ever feel like you need to fit a cookie cutter mold. I wish I would have told that to my younger self. I was always trying to identify someone to be like, not realizing the power that I held by just being myself.”
When I asked Ms. Cleaver if she had any upcoming projects that she could share, and of course, she did. “Spirit Untamed,” the movie feature I’ve been working on for the last year and a half, releases in theatres June 4, 2021. This is my first film as a production manager and I am so, so proud of it and all that we have accomplished from our homes in the last year. Here’s a link to our trailer”.
Image © Dreamworks Animation
Whether it be fate, destiny, or just good old hard work (probably a combo of all three) Shabrayia Cleaver is someone that we can all expect many more great things from. And through her guidance and mentorship to those starting out in animation, her influence will be felt for quite some time to come. I, for one, will now look to Ms. Cleaver as a truly inspiring figure in animation...even if she advises against it.
