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Ex-Team Bondi animator makes it big in Hollywood

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Philip To has worked on some of the big animated features to come from Hollywood. The Dreamworks animator is working in San Francisco on titles such as The Golden Compass, Madagascar 2 and Monsters vs Aliens.

He's a former Sydney College of Fine Arts student and had a stint as an animator at Sydney's Team Bondi working on L.A Noire. He's spoken to Whereilive.com.au about his humble beginnings, and particularly the uncertainty of his chosen career path as a student, however he credits Team Bondi for making him realise that hey, you COULD make a devent living as an animator. From Whereilive.com.au...

After finishing high school, To decided to pursue a career in the arts, even though he thought it would mean a life of poverty. “I didn’t realise I could make a buck out of animation until a couple of years into working,” he said.

“I was so green I was even working for free a lot. It wasn’t until I started working at Team Bondi when they actually paid me a decent amount of money I was like, ‘Wow, I might not be poor doing this stuff’, and it was pretty cool.”

Submitted by Brawsome on Fri, 09/04/10 - 8:50 AM Permalink

Nice one mate! I tell ya, if it weren't for family and the hurculean effort of picking up sticks I'd be heading to the states too... destination, TellTale.

But hey, if a few people buy Jolly Rover, maybe I won't have to. Australia is an awesome place to live after all, but we don't tend to get the same opportunities (or salaries) here =0).

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 09/04/10 - 9:22 AM Permalink

Great to hear this. Team Bondi is a hellhole to work in but it's definitely a springboard into worthwhile positions like this.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 10/04/10 - 10:06 PM Permalink

Yer he certainly knew how to network. It's not talent alone and I have seen so many others equally talented and probably more deserving shattered by the industry here in Aust. Good on you To maybe put in a good word for the poor bastards who legged u up!