CHRIS BAILEY grew up reading superhero and monster comics in Portland, Oregon. He graduated from the Character Animation Program at CalArts and began working on projects like STARCHASERS THE LEGEND OF ORIN, and spots for Bob Abel and Digital Productions, like the groundbreaking Mick Jagger video HARD WOMAN (1986). Chris became an animator at Disney Feature Animation on The LITTLE MERMAID where he stayed for ten years, animating and directing on a variety of projects.
Chris Bailey supervised the animation and did the character design for Paula Abdul’s video OPPOSITES ATTRACT where she danced alongside a distinctly 2-D Scat Cat. This was done after hours and on weekends during a lull at Disney between The LITTLE MERMAID and The RESCUERS DOWN UNDER. After that, Chris began directing theme park projects for Disney which include IT’S TOUGH TO BE A BUG in Disney Wild Kingdom and Disney’s California Adventure Park and
the It’s a Small World Post Show in Paris Disneyland. He also served as the “Cat Animation Supervisor” on HOCUS POCUS, coordinating the live action, animatronic and animated cat for the film starring Bette Midler. Chris’ direction on Mickey Mouse’s RUNAWAY BRAIN earned him an Oscar nomination in 1995.
After Disney, Chris Bailey became known in Hollywood as a specialist at supervising and directing animated characters set in live action movies. His credits include, DEEP RISING, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, X-MEN II, GARFIELD, FAT ALBERT and GARFIELD II. ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS, ALVIN THE SQEAKQUEL, SOLARIS, INSPECTOR GADGET, and the upcoming film HOP. Also the theme park film, IT’S TOUGH TO BE A BUG, playing in Disney’s Wild Kingdom and Disney’s California Adventure.
DREW TOLMAN
Toggling between four major studios in both film development and production, Drew Tolman has managed nearly every department at one point or another. She has helped build three animation studios from scratch and has reported to some of the most successful Executives and Producers in the industry. Her credits include: Titan AE (2000) and Ice Age (2002) for Fox, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005) for The Walt Disney Company, Curious George (2006) for Universal Studios and Imagine Entertainment, Everyone’s Hero (2006) for Fox and Starz Media; Alvin and the Chipmunks II, the Squeakquel (2009) for Fox 2000, Hop (2011) for Universal and Illumination Entertainment, as well as, many other movies that never made it to the big screen. She served as the Production Manager on a series of CG-animated shorts Warner Bros. made for Africa as part of the President’s PEPFAR project. It was an exciting project as it was more than making entertainment, but hopefully saving lives as well. She had the privilege of going to Kenya, conducting research, taking 2,000 reference photos, recording the voices in English and Swahili and getting chased by a hippo.
A big believer in mentoring and creating opportunities for next-gen talent, Ms. Tolman has hired and mentored over 40 interns on her productions over the years, many of whom now make more money than she does. Ms. Tolman also teaches online for The Art Institute. Vastly different than feature filmmaking, her favorite class is one where she directs 8 students from around the country in creating and completing a one-minute cg animated film in just 11 weeks.
Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Ms. Tolman received her Master’s degree in Film Studies with a concentration in children’s films from the University of Miami, Coral Gables and her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Always writing, she is an avid journal writer, a poet, awarded screenwriter and aspiring children’s book author. Her screenwriting has placed in several contests and has been endorsed by the prestigious KIDS FIRST! Coalition for Quality Children’s Media.
CTAN522 Animation Department Seminar Spring 2011 
Comments on: "Mar 9: Chris Bailey, Animation Director │Drew Tollman, Producer" (38)
It was really interesting to hear about someone who works a lot in animation for live action, especially with its growing use. Chris and Drew gave a lot of useful survival tips for working with live action directors. I thought it was very interesting to learn about live action boards, and that they don’t need to be perfect since the directors, cameraman will only use it as an “idea.” Chris and Drew’s comments made it clear that the director needs to feel like they are in some control. It was also useful that they pointed out getting an “intent” instead of doing what was asked exactly. I also thought it was interesting that live action people don’t like acting in boards, not just because they feel they need to have that in their control, but because they see each panel as a set up and thus more money.
I think it was good to learn the different mindsets of live action storyboarding versus feature animation boarding.
It was also entertaining to see the stuffy passes, since I had heard about them but never really seen any footage of them.
I also thought it was interesting to hear about their Kenyan project, since I’m also working in a overseas collaboration, though with students of course. Hopefully I learned something to better continue with the project.
Chris and Drew’s visit was informative and fun. After a few weeks of highly specialized guests we got to see an overview of filmmaking from a director/producer standpoint. They showed a great variety of projects, from big-budget effects films to public service shorts for Kenyan audiences. I think the PEPFAR shorts were my favorite part of the presentation; they offered a glimpse at animation made for a specific, different audience.
The process for Alvin and the Chipmunks was also great to see, with the stuffy passes to the air bladders and string-pulled blankets all the way through to the finished render.
The key point that really stuck out to me was Chris and Drew’s talk about following the heart of a note. For example in the film, “Deep Rising”, Chris spoke about the constant revision on the monster to make it more slimy and more scaley (as followed by the director’s note). Unfortunately, the director was still unhappy with the revisions. However, once they started to look at the bigger picture (the heart of the note) and looked back at the shots that the director did like, it was obvious he wanted more gross, blood spewing and guts explosion scenes. This concept was such an eye opener since it’s so easy to chase notes without solving the core problem.
I also loved Chris willingness to work with people’s strength. For example, when he would encounter a board artist that had a lot of great ideas but his speed and drawing was not fast enough, he would pair s/he with an artist that did have those strength to maximize their work flow and product. Also Chris talked about his initial struggle with a director but once he figured out that she wanted more work in progress boards versus finished ones, he changed his way of working which allowed for a much more effective working relationship.
Last but not least, I was very inspired by Drew’s initiatives from calling the President of the Fox network (which landed her breakthrough into the film industry) to contacting the Kenya Embassy (for research on the PEPFAR project). Drew is a great example of someone who looks for solution and creative alternatives rather than dwelling on the problem. These mindful acts are the reason why she has become such a successful producer and will continue to be so.
Thanks Chris and Drew for showing us the break down process of CGI + Live action animations and sharing enlightening real world experience. Loved the “Stuffy Pass” materials and reverse play on the Chick from “HOP” slurping slimy worms.
This was a fun and helpful seminar. I’ve just finished a project that was a CG character in a live action environment and seeing and seeing how a professional pipeline works really helps me out in future plans.
From what the duo explained it seems like there is a fairly clear pipeline going for these types of hybrid films and a studio infrastructure that can produce them with a good rate of success. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to put together a reel that panders to these studios.
I regret not being able to make it to this past seminar, but from what I’ve read of Chris and Drew, it sounds as though they offered a lot of excellent insight into film production from the “big picture” point of view.
Although my background is in live action, I do feel sometimes when I’m drawing that I am becoming so focused in individual in-betweens that I sometimes lose a sense of the overall picture. This is especially common when months go by between finishing the storyboard, and finishing the final product. Stepping back and looking at the film as a whole periodically definitely helps to refocus my efforts in the midst of production.
Although we have heard others speak about the differences between storyboarding for live action vs. animation, I think the limitations placed on live action boards, vs. the amount of detail expected in animation boards, are excellent concepts to keep in mind. When I made live action movies, my boards generally included little more than references to blocking, since I had already discussed with the actors how their performance would play out. In animation however, the board artist has to explain absolutely everything, including performance, since everything is created from scratch.
I wish Chris and Drew the best of luck on future projects, and that Hop goes well at the box office next month.
I greatly appreciated Chris and Drew’s discussion of production, animation and life action integration! Thank you for coming to share your experiences with us!
Having worked on the production side of filmmaking, I know there are sometimes people who seem unusually adept at navigating the production process. I truly feel that Drew is one of those people. She shared several little anecdotes about her methods for helping a shoot run smoothly, as well as subtle methods of effecting the creative direction of a project without stepping on anyone’s toes. I appreciated her practical knowledge, and I felt she was able to effectively relay her experience in a manner that enabled me to learn from it. Thank you!
Chris’ talk was particularly illuminating in the way that he discussed the process of working closely with directors. He explained how an animator or any crew person must adapt to the needs of each set. It was also hilarious to hear and see the methods for shooting the live action components that were later comped with animation. There is something so dramatic about static chipmunks laying in bed at night, holding their complex emotions within their unmoving bodies. I am particularly interested in mixed media, so I found Chris’ detailing of live action/animation hybrid shoots enlightening.
Though I must sheepishly admit that (to my continuing compunction) I wasn’t able to make it to last week’s seminar, I did thoroughly enjoy reading the comments of those attendees who heard Chris and Drew’s joint presentation — partly due to the already-intriguing task of pairing live-action footage with character-based animation, but primarily because of the anecdotal lessons (ranging from Drew’s Kenya-bound excursion to Chris’s endless iterations of Deep Rising’s creature-nemesis) the two presenters imparted to the audience. I very much regret missing out on their (doubtlessly entertaining) behind-the-scenes portrayal of organizing and overseeing storyboard artists as well as charting and planning out how to shoot (and then hybridize) live-action footage (to say nothing of the niceties of how a professional pipeline can aid future productions). The respective niches that Drew and Chris managed to carve out for themselves in such a combatively competitive industry both seem uniquely fascinating — like Matt, I hope that Hop fares well at the box office!
One of the most interesting things I learned this week from Chris and Drew was regarding the government: (1) What goes around comes around- if you’re nice to someone, they may exchange the favor (and send you to Kenya. Awesome.) and (2) the government is less hands-on about regulation than studios are. That last bit seemed totally backwards to me. I initially thought that since all studios are risking is money, and the government has a lot more at stake (international relations, image, money) that the government would be way more involved than a studio would be. The fact that it was the opposite and the government didn’t want to touch something they didn’t know much about was interesting. I also think that a lot good work came from the fact that the government was lax in regulating the shorts. Without having the constant squeeze of a non-artist looming over their shoulder, Chris, Drew, and the story team were able to insert some pretty clever gags.
I also really enjoyed seeing the start-to-finish sequences of Alvin. It was interesting to learn that people’s eyelines tend to drift up if they didn’t have some sort of target to look for.
It was truly a treat to see Drew Tolman and Chris Bailey’s work. I really enjoyed the shorts they did for the Kenyan project. The films were thoughtful, touching, and humorous. It is refreshing to see how inventive artists can be when given free reign on a project.
I also really enjoyed watching the Chipmunk movie at the various stages of development. I learned from them that it is beneficial to do a first past on the entire scene or animation, however rough it may be. Seeing the scene as a whole gives insight on the next best move and leaves the animator open for revisions. I am going to attempt to apply this process to my own work!
I must say, this presentation got me quite excited for Hop! The quality of animation looked so good in that clip. Very full of character and life. 😀
A big thank you to Chris and Drew for coming to speak with us this time around. They were both entertaining, and I loved all of the media they shared. My favorite part was looking at the footage from Chipmunks, and seeing the stages of animation. It’s always impressive to see it transform from blocking to full animation. And those tests with the stuffed animals were priceless. Straight out of a scary movie.
Chris and Drew were quite the tandem, each bringing their own views of wisdom regarding how to survive in the industry of motion pictures. Their camaraderie really showed as they complimented each other during their discussions, a reflection of their tight-knit working relationship. Cinematic arts is wonderful in that it not only requires technical artistry, but also a special blend of personalities working creatively together on the same page; Chris and Drew’s experience in the business exemplify the results that come from hard work and dedication to the art form.
Chris and Drew were great in directing a team of people to work in movies. I was really interested when they would talk about how they had to keep re-working ideas and whatnot to get the right shot and dialogue in each scene. They were so laid-back and really intent on getting the work done that they knew how to keep everything organized on every film.
They really stressed how important it was to be reliable and hard-working in this industry. They outlined how important it was to keep everyone in the loop of what was going on so that nothing was behind in schedule.
Their short clips for the Kenyan government were really entertaining and to be able to use your skills for all sorts of causes was really inspiring.
Thanks
Chris Bailey’s lecture was filled with independent demonstrations of his work as a director. He spoke briefly about going to CalArts and working for Disney as an animator, but his work has evolved to the point where he has more control of the projects he works on. He and his partner, Drew Tolman, were very formal and the clips they showed were targeted towards big budget markets that mostly pertain to feature films.
It was an absolute thrill having Chris and Drew come to seminar. I can honestly say that they provided perspectives and insights on the film-making process that I never heard before. I especially appreciate Chris bringing in and discussing the shorts he did for Africa. It added a lot of color to the presentation and it so drastically different. I respect the fact that even though it was a much smaller project, he was just as proud of his work there as he is for the big budget projects. I really took to heart his point about you not being your work. I think many times I have experienced the feeling where a critique on my work felt like a critique on myself. Being able to separate myself from the things that I do will better enable me to take and appreciate feedback while not internalizing problems people may notice in my work. Drew also offered fantastic advice in learning how to manage being in the studio system and staying employed. Communication is always key and understanding the importance communicating early, whether that information is good or bad is beneficial to everyone. It was an overall great presentation and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Chris and Drew were great! I’ve said this about more than one guest but I really appreciated their candidness. Drew had some great insight to offer into the business and that’s what most of us hope to be getting into after all. Chris’ work is quite impressive as well. I was most impressed by his ability to cross stylistic boundaries without suffering a loss in quality or craftsmanship of his directorial work. The live action integration was quite interesting too. I never would have thought that a stuffee pass could really demonstrate the purpose of a shot but watching the shot progression really showed me how one step built on the foundation of the previous ones.
I’m not going to lie, there is no part of my heart that particularly enjoys live action mixed with CG animated movies. But after hearing these two talk, I’ve gained a bit more respect for it. It was especially cool hearing about the pipeline; I’m always interested in that stuff.
And like others have said, the “you are not your work” thing is always helpful to hear. Too often we judge ourselves as people based on what we produce, because that’s what seems to happen in the industry. Separating ourselves from our work will be useful in the long-run, though difficult I’m sure.
I enjoyed hearing from Chris and Drew. I found it interesting hearing more about the process of putting 3D characters in a live-action environment and the problems that you could come across while doing so (with actors, directorss, cameras). It was also nice to hear Drew’s story of how she got into the business. She gave us some great insight on what some one in production for animation does and tips on how both animator and production manager can better work together.
I also found the story of the government funded educational videos they created for the PEPFAR project very interesting. The outcome of the project was also very entertaining for something that was supposed to be educational – which I thought was great and pretty inspiring that they were able to get together the right team and really bring it to the next level.
Chris and Drew’s seminar was great. I only wished they had more time to talk to us. I would have liked to have seen more work. It was very interesting to see and hear the dynamic between Chris and Drew. The seem to have a great short hand when working together in order to get the job done effectively. It was interesting to hear Chris talking about how to make shots work and where to place the pressure to sell the shot. It was also great in the series of spots how they brought in the right people for the job and made each spot work individual and stay cohesive. They seem to have a great energy that they bring to there work and maintain a great spirit and product.
I’ve always thought that the integration of 3D ‘toons’ to an otherwise live action film was super cool, and it’s something I’ve always had a dabbling interest in myself.
Watching the clips from “Chipmunks” it was cool to see how they did match moves, and other cool effects to make it look like the characters were really matching and moving within the scene- as well as moving and interacting with actual object like blankets and what not!
I also liked the PEPFAR shorts a lot- it’s fun to see what other cultures are like portrayed in animation – but it seems like its difficult to be able to get in the mindset where you can write an honest lampooning that is not offensive since you come with an outsiders perspective to the subject matter.
Over all it was a great presentation, I just wish we could have seen more! 😀
It was really interesting to hear Chris and Drew’s experience in professional industry. Especially, it was informational and helpful to watch a making process of a movie mixing live-action and animation. I also want to say deep appreciation to Chris’s detail feedback about my works.
It was very cool to have Chris Bailey come visit us today. Normally, I’m very turned off by the live-action/animation crossover films like Alvin and the Chipmunks and Hop, but after seeing the process of making the films, I found myself more interested in it. I especially enjoyed how stuffed animals are used for pre-visualization. Very funny and creative stuff going on there.
I also really liked the shorts done for the Kenyan government. Very cool styles and colors, and it exemplifies how animation can be used for so many different causes.
It was very good talk. I learned the process of merging CG animation into Live-action, and the possible problems when shooting on the set. I also learned that the creative process in VFX always involve the understanding of the real life. Christ gave us a very good example from HOP, where the chick is trying to swallow the worms, and the animator used his understanding from eating spaghetti. Imagination always comes from the reality, and the experience, especially in animation.
Chris Bailey is such a great animation director. It is such an honor to be in his lecture. When I saw the angry Mickey mouse, I thought Chris Bailey is such a talent artist. And the live action scenes he showed, grabed my eyes as well. I felt we can really do something here as students ~! It is such an inspiration for me . And the disney rabbit 3D animation is good too. The movement and the character design impressed me as well.!
As always, I learned so much from this week’s speakers. Being a director and or producer were never roles I particularly aspired for, but these are some of the most important people on a production, and being able to take direction and get along well with them are essential to a successful working environment. I have so much respect for Chris and Drew and what they have accomplished. They are clearly great leaders and partners, and I admire Drew’s generous commitment to mentoring others. I don’t know a lot about CG and our live-action compositing, but watching some of the process work gave me a new appreciation to all the skill and time that goes into perfecting these shots.
Chris and Drew’s seminar was entertaining, informative, and very insightful. Getting insider information from such an accomplished duo with so many credits to their names was a real treat! It was clear from their presentation that they compliment each other extremely well and they have learned to play to each other’s strengths over the years.
I especially enjoyed hearing about their individual experiences on set and learning about what their job titles really meant. Up until their presentation I was still really unclear on what a producer actually did in the industry, but thanks to Drew’s open, candid demeanor I now know exactly what role a producer plays on an animated feature.
Thanks Chris and Drew for sharing your expertise and professional insights with us! I look forward to seeing Hop.
Thanks for visiting, Chris and Drew! The behind-the-scenes look at the Chipmunks movie showed how challenging and fun it must be to integrate animation with live action and make it look real. I also enjoyed seeing Chris and Drew interact and function as a team, even in a relaxed environment like seminar! Lastly, both Drew’s and Chris’ experience shows how important versatility can be in our industry — Chris, for example, coming from a 2D background, has made his name working in a completely new type of animation.
Thanks again!
I really enjoyed Chris and Drew’s presentation. I found it interesting how the animation director has to negotiate the pipeline between animation and live action, since they are so different. The storyboards issue was particularly interesting, and the different reactions to the boards was very telling. For example, when Chris recounted how the DP was practically offended that everything had been so meticulously laid out! I also really enjoyed Drew’s recounting of her career beginnings, I found it very hepful!
I really enjoyed the PEPFAR shorts that Chris and Drew screened. Animation has such a great potential to educate and it’s inspiring to see a director who works for major studios do a project like that as well. I really enjoyed the stylized designs of the backgrounds and characters in the shorts. I’m a big fan of CG when it doesn’t try to look to real, when it goes for the more graphical and colorful style.The look of the PEPFAR shorts was very refreshing in that sense. Thanks for sharing them!
Chris and Drew’s seminar was very informative. I liked Chris’s segment on how character animation is integrated in live action film. While appearing both fun and challenging, it was nice to see the step by step process from on set puppet role playing to the final rig. Both provided interesting advice in terms of achieving success. I liked how they pointed out that since so many people in the animation industry know each other, it is essential to maintain a polite demeanor as well as be punctual in terms of deadlines. It made me realize that you need to stay on your toes not only to break into the industry but to stay there as well.
This was a really interesting seminar talk! Drew and Chris are obviously season professionals and it was fascinating to talk about their real world experiences with directors and crew. You can tell they are both very successful in their careers. In particular I loved Chris’ story of adding more “slimy goo” and the danger of following notes to the letter from a director. It’s a classic forest for the trees mistake, but one that is really easy to do. It takes confidence and intelligence to look at the bigger picture. This is story is a great example of their obvious professionalism and their success.
I also liked their PEPFAR shorts! It’s cool to see they can do such cool and “small” projects along with their massive blockbusters they made their reputation on. This is an example of why I think animation is absolutely the place to be right now. The opportunities are far ranging and diverse, and if you can work to do as much of them as possible you can find success like Drew and Chris have.
Chris Baily describes some of the challenges working creatively for a director. As the director might not known exactly what they want, they have an easier time rejecting your ideas. In this situation, he recommends against chasing notes and details. An effective solution would be to look at the heart of the overall intent of the director.
Chris and Drew’s visit was very fun. They were both very eager to share information with us. And in speaking with one another, they bounced off a lot of humor that is apparently in the animation industry.
I really enjoyed seeing Chris’ early work all the way up to Hop and I found his advice on how to get into the industry and how to stay there very informative. It was also very interesting to learn a little more about the producer’s side. I never realized just how close the producers were able to work with the animators. It makes the dynamics of the industry all the more exciting.
Thanks Chris and Drew!
Whoops, guess I missed this one, too…
Drew and Chris, they really have that rhythm of people who work together a lot, and bounce off each other. Oddly enough (though not entirely unexpected, considering all of the integration work that they do) they really stood out to me as having a live action vibe to me, the feel and the speed with which they get things done. They did give one excellent piece of advice to me, one that I’m already trying to put into practice: To be professional, and a courteous professional, is to tell the people who want you to meet a deadline that you’re going to be late the second you realize that you’re going to be late. Being honest with your colleagues and yourself about your deadlines, even when you miss them. Seems like a good definition of professionalism.
Drew and Chris’s talk was very eye opening. It’s always interesting to hear about the industry from people in different positions in the beast. Both were refreshingly frank and personable the entire seminar. I also really enjoyed watching the passes up to a final shot in a cg/live action film like Alvin. I’ve always found myself wondering how they prepare some of the shot for those types of pictures.
The first most important thing I learned from Drew and Chris’ presentation is that storyboarding approaches in live action versus animation are so incredibly different. While in animation, storyboards need to be tight, live action is different because the director of photography will most probably disagree with you. Storyboards in live action are a “spring board,” with the exception of films that are intended to be tight, like the Matrix, or an Alfred Hitchcock film. But even with that being the case, live action story panels are more set-ups than action sequences.
Also when shooting for live action / animation shots, it’s common to shoot as much as possible. In the digital age, one can more affordably shoot more film, to get in more shots than necessary than in the past. That’s a really great element to this day and age, and a great example of how digital film is more efficient than regular 35mm, especially in circumstances like these, and other digtal effects-bound shots.
I think my favorite advice that I took away from this presentation is that a good goal in both life and a career is to be the “-est” in something. To either be the fastest, funniest, etc. Being the “-est” of something is what is going to drive one forward. It’s definitely great advice.
Oh my, sorry, I thought I completed this one!
Chris and Drew gave a great presentation. It was a nice difference from the presenters that we usually hear, because we got to get a detailed look into the production pipeline for a feature length CG film. It was almost like an in-class version of Disney Day!
The pipeline breakdown also gave me tons of ideas on how I can improve on my own projects. Simple concepts, like using to-scale puppets are so clever and useful. I also took note of when Chris said it’s just as important to know what NOT to worry about, like when he was doing the “blender scene”. When lights and blurs are going by at 90mph, you really don’t need to worry about setting up unnecessary details. It’s more important to set up the scene and move on.
I really appreciate having this seminar as it was about mixing live action and animation. Even though that’s not my focus in animation I appreciate the information about different techniques and mediums.
Chris’s job is interesting and thank to him that animated characters in this kind of animated-character-in- live-action genre is usually one of the few things worth to watch! Chris also revealed a new path of career to me which is transition from animation to live action and contribute his animation knowledge into live action films.