Catawba Studios Spotlight

Preparations are being made to shoot our Kickstarter video and we would like to do a special spotlight on Catawba Studios who will be helping with the filmography and editing of the video. Based in Rock Hill, SC they are in the process of building a state of the art studio and film school that will give people in the surrounding area access to industry standard equipment and training no before available in this part of the US. Catawba is the name of the local Native American tribe in Rock Hill and much of our city’s culture comes from their traditions.

We are very excited to partner with them in the future as they expand their animation department and continue to help our studio find success as well.

Go visit their website and learn more at catawbastudios.com

Meet the Crew: Karen Vandivert, Animator

Hi there! My name is Karen Vandivert and I am an animator at Catarina Studios. I have undergraduate degrees in Computer Art and History, as well as a masters in Visual Communication Design.

It’s my job as an animator to being motion and life to the characters in the stories we tell. I was inspired by a range of media, from Saturday morning cartoons to Pixar movies, I was fascinated by the stories they could tell through animation. I loved seeing these fantastic characters and stories brought to life, which led me down the road to studying animation and visual design.

You can learn more about me and my work at www.karenvandivert.com

Meet the Crew: Patrick Johnson, Background Artist

My name is Patrick Johnson and I am a Background Artist. I’ll be working with the director and animators to design and create backgrounds for all the different projects. I am not biased towards any medium when it comes to background art. I will also work with Leslie to help her set up lesson plans for teachers who want to teach students about how background art works and how to make them. My inspiration to be a set designer/background artist came from seeing Titanic, Star Wars and other such films in theatres when I was five years old. I love Disney, just not in a commercial sense. I love the background artistry and have spent years studying it and am always referring to it when I need help understanding a certain element.
I am currently an under-graduate student at Brigham Young University-Idaho studying Theatre Design and Technology. My emphasis is on Environments, backgrounds, sets, etc. I am an assistant Set Designer for the University and a freelance designer and photographer. In my spare time I play role playing games and watch cartoons and film epics.
You can learn more about me at www.artofpatrickjohnson.com

Meet the Crew: Catarina

As I’m sure you’ve now noticed, our logo has a personality of her own and will sometimes show up on social media. Catarina is the Studio’s logo and mascot and always has a lot to say. The idea for the studio came from the Poe Toaster Competition and it was encouraged to use an alias when applying, so I went under the name of Catarina del Monte. Afterwards when I decided to make a studio, the name Catarina was the logical choice.

Meet the Crew: Leslie Harris, Teacher

I know what you’re thinking: why is there a teacher on staff at an animation studio? Well, Catarina Studios plans to offer more than just amazing animations about classic works, but when these animations are released, they will come with optional lesson plans for teachers. As a certified high school teacher, I will be the one creating the lesson plans so that educators can help their students better understand literary works through audio/visual aids.

I’m a graduate from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a Bachelor’s in English Education. I’m a teacher at a local high school but I also write, knit and sing in my free time. My sister Julia and I both share a passion for classical literature and we hope to help others find that same joy though this studio.

Want to know more about our crew? Email us at catarinastudios@gmail.com or visit us on social media.

Meet the Crew: Julia S Harris, CEO

Hi everyone, time to meet the people behind Catarina Studios and we’ll start me. My name is Julia S Harris and I’m the CEO. Personally I think CEO sounds too stuffy, so how about we just say I’m the Everything Director because I direct most everything that the studio does. Literally, everything. I run the blog, create the storyboards, writing the script, concept art, I even handle advertising, PR work and hiring. So just call me the Everything Director and ask me anything you like!

I recently graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a Bachelors degree in art. My emphasis was storyboarding but I love oil paint, digital illustration and background design as well. My inspiration to be an artist came when I watched the Last Unicorn as a child. I was instantly captivated by the unique animation style and became obsessed with figuring out why it was different from other cartoons I watched. This led me down the path of movie and animation production. I would spend hours watching how it was made and behind the scenes extras on films and tv shows and became immersed in the world of cartoons.

My other great passion is Edgar Allan Poe, whom I came to know when I was in middleschool. His unique style of storytelling and strong, sarcastic voice became my friend in the awkward growing up years and I am dedicated to helping others find the joy and humor that I do in his many works.

The thing that started it all

Our studio would not exist were it not for the Poe Toaster Competition hosted by the Maryland Historical Society late last year. This competition was meant to select a new Poe Toaster or representative who would take charge of honoring Poe’s name and memory in a public ceremony on his birthday January 19th. I entered the competition under the name of Catarina del Monte and while I did not win, it was the positive response of the Poe community that prompted me to continue to make animations like this to preserve Edgar Allan Poe’s memory in the minds of a younger generation through audio-visual aids.

This animatic is three minutes long and uses music written by the Alan Parson’s Project. You can watch it right now but following this link.

Come follow us

Our social media pages are officially online and ready for your love and attention! Come find Catarina Studios on Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and follow for exclusive updates as we continue to recruit animators and musicians who want to take part in our projects!