Guest Speakers

 

The Shrunkenheadman club often brings in guest speakers to teach the students of our club about the entertainment industry. These special guests bring in new insights, information, and knowledge to supplement the training provided by SJSU’s great Animation/Illustration faculty. Beyond regular studio visits from giants like Walt Disney Animation Studios, Blizzard, Sony Pictures Animation, Blue Sky Animation, and others, the club also receives regular educational lectures from current and former industry professionals. Previous guests include industry greats like Steve Hicker, Stephen Silver, James Baxter, and Floyd Norman.

Winter Figure Drawing

Winter Figure Drawing event is an annual multi-day drawing/ learning marathon with a focus on drawing from life where we invite industry professionals to teach the Animation/ Illustration students about their experiences in the industry, approach to figure drawing, how to take an idea from life into their own style, or the subject of their specialization as a professional artist. Some of our past guests for Winter Figure Drawing include:

  • Anthony Holden (Freelance Storyboard Artist, Character Designer)

  • John Nevarez (Former Story Artist at Pixar)

  • Matthew Luhn (Former Story Artist at Pixar)

  • Megan Ferguson (Animation Director on Netflix’s Hilda)

  • Armand Serrano (Visual Development Artist at Marvel Studios)

  • Steven Ahn (Director on Voltron: Legendary Defenders and Storyboard Artist on Avatar: Legend of Korra)

Previous Guest Speakers Archive

  • Duolingo | Website

    Michal Makarewicz | LinkedIn
    Former animator at Pixar, current supervisor animator at SkyDance
    Animator for “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille,” “Inside Out,” and more.

    Deb Stone | LinkedIn | Insta
    Sr. Director of Talent Recruitment at Illumination
    Also former Talent Recruitment at Blue Sky Studios and Walt Disney Animations Studios.

    Pixar | Website

    Sony Pictures Animations | Website

    Corwin Herse Woo | Website | Insta
    Former Visual Development Artist at Netflix, Marvel Studios, and LucasArts
    Previous works include “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” “Transformers: Earthspark,” and “Our Cartoon President.”

    Colton Davis | LinkedIn | Insta
    Director at Nickelodeon Animation
    Story artist for “The Loud House,” “The Patrick Star Show,” and more.

    Maaike Scherf | Website | Insta
    Director & Designer Warner Brothers, Nick, Disney, Cartoon Network, DreamWorks, Titmouse, PlayStation, and more
    Previous works include “Strange Planet,” “The Platoon of Power Squadron,” and “Concrete Genie.”

    James Gurney | Website | Insta
    Artist and author of the series Dinotopia
    Gurney has an exceptional understanding of lighting and painting. His sharings of his knowledge are in his books such as Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter and Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist

    Colin Fix | Website | Insta
    Character Concept Artist at Santa Monica Studio.
    Previous works include “Strange Magic”, “Wish I Was Here”, and “Beowulf.”

    Updated October 29th, 2025

  • Ryan Estrada | Website | Insta
    Artist, author, & adventurer
    Author and artist for Banned Book Club, No Rules Tonight, and the Student Ambassador series.

    Wendell Dalit | Website | Insta
    Art Director at Sony Pictures Animation
    Art Director for Kpop Demon Hunters, Visual development artist for “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

    Christian Roman | Linkedin | Insta
    Former Story Artist at Pixar
    Story artist for Toy Story 3 and 4, Cars 3, and also directing and producing Disney’s American Dragon

    Allena Hail | Website
    SHM Alum, Technical artist at Brass Lion Entertainment
    Tech artist for VR game “Luna” by Funomena.

    Angela Lepito

    Skydance Animation

    Updated December 19, 2025