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Animated Dreams Director Roberto Ramirez is on top of the world-he's QV, he's Latino, and he's directing a feature film! The "Prince of Egypt!" Of course, you've heard of this Dreamworks animated film. Well, in spring 2000, you'll be able to catch the "Prince's" prequel, "The Story of Joseph" which is being directed by Roberto Carlos Ramirez, a 28-year-old Latino, who also happens to be QV. qvMagazine talked to Robert about how he got started in animation, and how he got to be a director of this animated feature film. Furthermore, we also asked the director what's it like to QV and open at his work place. Here's what he had to say. How did you know animation was what you wanted to do? At the age of 3 or 4, I knew I wanted to be in film and primarily in animation. I've always liked storytelling. I love to write and to draw-but not drawing for the sake of drawing a pretty picture-I like to draw to communicate a story idea. I like telling stories with pictures. How did your career get started? In high school, I animated commercials. They paid me maybe $15 an hour, which was a hell of a lot of money when you're in high school. And I was getting work experience. I was able to walk out of that with a video tape in my hand and say, "Look, I animated this." After high school, I went to Cal Arts and then to Film Roman, which is a big studio owned by a Latino guy named Phil Roman. Phil produced "The Simpsons" and "Bobby's World." After that, I went to Universal where I was a character layout artist. From there, I got more into storyboarding, which is basically taking a script and giving it the most dynamic visual representation possible. Once you become a decent storyboard artist, you're practically directing. Afterwards, I storyboarded at a Glendale studio called Hyperion, which did a film called "The Brave Little Toaster" that Disney ended up buying and distributing on video. Hyperion then asked me if I would like to direct two sequels to the movie and I said, "Sure." And now you are directing, "The Story of Joseph?" What has been the biggest challenge in that? The biggest challenge was that, in some ways, I felt extremely underqualified. There were some instances in which I would be asked to direct people into doing things that I, myself, had never done. That made me feel like I wasn't qualified and fake. Sometimes, I wouldn't know some technical terms, but because I knew enough about storytelling, I could tell the background painters, "Make the scene feel like this one character is feeling. Make the scene feel warm and pleasant as if this character is on top of the world." In other words, I'd direct them emotionally, and they'd translate it into a painting. So, basically, for lack of a better term, it was just directing from the heart. A self-portrait. When you were growing up, did you ever dream that you would be where you are? I kind of did know. It's kind of the concept of visualization. When you know you're going to have something, you see it in your mind over and over. I don't know if it's the visualization that made me reach my career goals or if it was my goals from the visualization. It just happened. What are some of the biggest difficulties about your job? The toughest thing is that there are some times where I'll be working anywhere from 85-90 hours a week, and I just can't take it. Sometimes, if I think about the work I have ahead of me over the next year to get the film done, it's staggering and overwhelming. If I think about it too much, I'll just stop dead in my tracks because I'll think, "I can't do all that." But if I take it one meeting, one assignment at a time, it'll get done. Has the heavy workload been a strain on your relationship? Sometimes, yeah. I'm seeing this guy named Lee. I've been with him for two years. I call him maybe 3-4 times a day. Sometimes, it's just a 30 second conversation. We set aside a time that doesn't get messed with. The nice thing about our relationship is that there are certain rituals that we've done since we met, and when we do them, everything else gets pushed aside. For example, there's a beach that we like going to in Santa Barbara. We'll go there, and when we're there, we are like two kids-we'll even fly kites! Are you open about your sexuality at work? I'm pretty open about it. Of all the people who work with me, I'd say about 90% of them know. For me, to work anywhere, I have to like and have fun with the people. Maria, who is one of my assistants, will boss me around all day, "Robert, get your ass in swing, Robert you're late..." But we'll leave work, go have dinner, see a movie, or go dancing. Other people find out I'm QV through hearsay, and if they're interested in talking about it, they do. Sometimes, they'll say something-letting me know that they know and they're cool with it. There are some people at work that I told and they were shocked. They just didn't know what to think. I usually try to get to know people and work with them first so that when they find out, they're in a better place to make a judgment. How has being a Latino affected you in a positive way? One of the wonderful things was the coming out process because I realized, "Wait a minute, I've been denying myself this truth that was inside of me. I've been denying myself because of certain restrictions that society has put upon me." After the dust settled and the coming out process happened, I thought, "How many other things in my life have I not been doing or enjoying? How many things have I been denying myself-not because I'm right or wrong, but because society has a negative opinion about it?" Coming out opened my eyes. It made me realize that there could be so much more to me than meets the eye, and that my sexuality is just the tip of the iceberg. What do you have in mind for the future? I want to go more towards being an independent film maker because I want to see how self-reliant I can be in making a film. I've outlined a story for a live-action independent film. That's my next step. I want to do a small project completely on my own. I want to see how far I can go and push myself. What advice would you give to other Latinos, who want to get into your line of work? It really doesn't matter what you do, it's what your attitude is. You have to do it with passion and you have to focus. When things get tough, you have to reach within yourself. Always listen to your heart and your instinct. Any last thoughts? There are so many people that, as they get older, they look back and say, "If only I would have done this, if only I would have written that book, if only I would have painted that beautiful painting I have in my mind." Having regrets sucks. You want to make sure that as time goes by, you will accomplish things-or at least try. If you finish it, you will feel so much better. It takes courage and discipline to finish something. BY ESTEVAN GONZALES & TREBOR JACQUEZ   <<Previous Article<< | >>Next Article>> qv10 Table of Contents | Main Menu