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By
Hazimin Sulaiman
The
name Terry Thoren gets you over 130,000 results if you
search on Google.com. Sometimes called the 'Toon-titan,'
Thoren is the Chief Executive Officer of Rocket Fish
Studios based in Technology Park Malaysia and California,
USA. Thoren was formerly with Klasky Csupo, Inc., the
people that brought the world the first three seasons
of The Simpsons, Rugrats, Aaahhh! Real Monsters
and The Wild Thornberrys (inspired by
Thoren's own son).
Through
the one-year old Rocket Fish Studios,Thoren has set
up two animation training centres in Malaysia: one in
Terengganu and another one in Technology Park Malaysia
(TPM). According to Rocket Fish Studios General Manager,
Alice Dizon, TPM was chosen because of its excellent
facilities, strategic location, beautiful and conducive
surroundings and easy access to the public.
The
training centres offer a free three to four weeks hands-on
course, on 2D Flash animation. A certificate is issued
for those that complete the animation course, plus the
possibility of being retained by Rocket Fish Studios
and of other opportunities with other studios.
"In
Terengganu, 130 students have graduated and in Rocket
Fish Studios, TPM, 120 students. Rocket Fish provides
the training programme support, facilities and the trainers
are brought in from the US" says Thoren.
Rocket
Fish Studios has graduated its seventh batch in TPM
and wants everyone interested in art and animation to
try it out. The students will get a chance to work on
actual animation projects such as the controversial
SalesGenie (a company that
sells sales leads) Panda commercial aired during breaks
for the Super Bowl 42 event in the USA.
Besides
all these interesting projects Thoren is working hard
to create regional Intellectual Property (IP). Realising
how important IP is in the business, Thoren encourages
home-grown IP by local talents. "You have got
to learn to fish and produce your own IP first, just
like the Japanese. The goal of course, is that you need
to produce your own IP to help communicate to the world.
You need to learn everything from script writing to
delivery," explains Thoren.
Thoren's
philosophy for a good production is to have a good script,
strong characters and character design and quality voice
acting. His recipe also includes this: "The
director then needs to bring all that to life with music,
sound effects and to set the motion."
How does the year bode for Rocket Fish so far? "Seems
like a growing market. The animators we get are extremely
passionate. I even had to ask them to go back home!,"
says Thoren referring to his local animators and students
hard at work on current projects. "We're working
with MDeC to create jobs. Most of the students are able
to get jobs in town," says Thoren. Rocket
Fish Studios currently has 35 animators.
What's
the plan for Rocket Fish Studios for 2008? "Growth.
We want as many students as we can train. We want artists
who are hungry for knowledge to improve their craft.
It's contagious," remarks Thoren. Unfortunately
however, Thoren knows that some parents do not see animation
as a career. Even his father at one time said to him
that if the US was tipped over 'all the artists and
the kooks will fall out.' Animation however, Thoren
maintains "is still extremely lucrative if
approached with passion and with hunger to grow. People
will look for you and employers are on the lookout to
get that something extra."
http://rocketfishstudios.com
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