The Panda-Monium Crew
Come meet the creative crew who worked together to craft the colorful world of Panda-Monium!
John da Fonte
Director | Animator | Story Artist
Hi! My name is John da Fonte and I’m the director and 3D character animation supervisor for Panda-Monium! I also helped with storyboarding, previsualization, layout, and rendering. With animation, I always strive to create character performances that are pushed beyond what’s possible in live action, which usually leads me to animating cartoony characters like the ones in this film! Some of my favorite hobbies are playing the piano and playing some video games.
Rigger | Animator| Producer
Matt B.
Howdy! I am the Matt in the hat, and for me, rigging is where it’s at! Despite that, I wasn’t just a rigger for the film; I also produced, animated, and even did some visual development work. When I’m not at the computer working on projects, I enjoy watching thunderstorms, learning German, and doodling dragons!
Story Artist | Animator | Producer
Cosette Lanouette
Cozy’s the name, storyboarding and animation is my game! That and character design, background painting, texturing, shot organizing, layout, web design, voice acting and producing. I'm a woman of many hats. Even so, I’m a storyteller at heart! I spend my free time illustrating, playing tabletop RPGS and sewing together stuffed creatures!
Sara Kaufman
Environment Modeler | Animator |Texture Artist
I am a 3D artist who resides in New Orleans, Louisiana. While a student at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) I’ve gained experience in programs such as Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects. I specialize in 3D modeling and was responsible for a lot of the background plant assets in the film. I also applied my animation experience and techniques into some of the shots for the film.
Story Artist | Animator | Visual Development
Courtney Powitz
Heyo, I’m Courtney! I helped take point on storyboarding and character design for Panda-Monium. Embracing my skills as a visual communicator, I also helped with character animation, texturing, graphic design, promotional material design and assembly, and social media coordination. Additionally, I designed our art book! In my free time, I enjoy playing tabletop RPGs, seeing live musical theatre, and dreaming up new stories to tell.
Jovan Singh
Character Modeler | Lighter | Compositing
Hi my name is Jovan, I was the lead lighting artist for Panda-Monium and was responsible for modeling our boy Redd. My focus being a look dev artist and environment modeling, I took the chance to learn compositing for this film. Off the computer, I love watching Pixar films, especially Ratatouille, and playing 2k.
Character Modeler | Animator | Texture Artist
Casey Cannon
Hi, I’m Casey! I was responsible for modeling and texturing Glen and animating several shots. It was an honor to model Glen. The most challenging part of modeling him was capturing his roundness and cartoony elements in the 3D form. I also really enjoyed animating him and playing a part in capturing his kind, sensitive personality. It really tells about his caring relationship towards Redd. Later on, I worked on compositing for some shots in the film to allow us to put focus on our characters.
![profile2[1].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11d3f6_dd636b91fda04b4698fb2c1fabb82355~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_21,y_0,w_508,h_543/fill/w_390,h_419,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/profile2%5B1%5D.jpg)
Andrew Whitesides
Animator | Previzulization
They call me Andrew, born and raised in the state of Maryland. They got me doing the pre-viz and animation. They gave me Redd most of the time, but he always steals my food. I like video games and anime, and seeing new stories always gets my creative juices flowing.
Brendan Orner
Rigger | Animator
Hi all, I’m Brendan and I was a rigger and animator for Panda-Monium. I worked together with Casey to help modify Glen in a way that would make it easier for us to rig and animate with, as well as animate several scenes involving this wonderful panda. I also rigged the butterfly in the opening scene as well as a few pieces of bamboo. Outside of work, I really enjoy playing video games with my friends, and baking for fun!
![20200508_000447[1].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11d3f6_39c464627c684660b1f8edd79681978f~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_0,y_263,w_1980,h_2114/fill/w_390,h_419,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/20200508_000447%5B1%5D.jpg)
Production Volunteers
Additional collaborators and animators that helped make this film a reality!
Brandon Kolaczewski
I’m from Libertyville, Illinois, which is outside of Chicago. I’ve been interested in animation when I was 12, in pursuing Game Animation I am a self-taught modeler, rigging and animator. In my Junior year at SCAD, I reached out to Panda-Monium’s director and volunteered to be a part of the project. I have modeled forest assets, rigged the jar and animated Shot 35. This was an amazing opportunity and experience to be in an undergrad senior production film, that I can carry into my career.
Arryn Jean
Arryn animated a very sleepy Glen and an excitable Redd!
Sabrina modeled the jar!
Elizabeth Thanos
Elizabeth animated a worried Glen!
![Red_Render2[1].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11d3f6_9bea8940f375488c9febb8504f08db0a~mv2.png/v1/crop/x_426,y_0,w_928,h_1077/fill/w_205,h_233,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Red_Render2%5B1%5D.png)