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Darin McGowan was born on Halloween in the glorious year of 1970 - the same year the Beatles broke up, four students were killed at Kent State and an avalanche destroyed the small town of Yungay, Peru. He knew things were going to be tough. To distract himself from life's harsh realities, Darin spent most of his young life watching TV. Captain Caveman, Scooby Doo, Plastic Man and Dyno-mutt became major sources of inspiration for Darin. He started drawing and realized that this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

However, his home town of St. Louis, Missouri didn't exactly provide the creative opportunities that the now teenaged Darin was looking for. He was lost. A chance meeting with Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (on tour promoting a new Bambi book) gave him hope and, more importantly, direction. Ollie told him about Calarts, a mecca for wide-eyed animation enthusiasts from all over the world. The eager and excited young Darin put every moment of his time and every ounce of his talent into a submission portfolio - only to have Calarts turn him down. He sighed, and took his scholastic and creative aspirations to Northeast Missouri State, a revered state university that Darin eventually had to leave (under academic controversies that he refuses to discuss).

More motivated than ever to flee the Midwest, Darin packed his bags. But just then the unthinkable happened: HE MET A GIRL. A true romantic at heart, Darin traded his creative ambitions for a future of domestic bliss in St. Louis. He got a desk job where he worked hard answering telephones (getting yelled at by people he didn't even know), leaving his nights to paint ferociously and work any odd creative job he could find. This lasted for years. He was miserable.

Darin's misery was so severe that it eventually affected his relationship. "She said I'd 'better do something about it or else,'" he recalls. So, with the hope of a bright future with the girl he loved on the rocks, Darin got the hint. A cold phone call to an old connection in LA was made, two storyboard tests followed, and in three weeks Darin got a job as a storyboard artist in Hollywood, California. Unfortunately, his girlfriend left him the week before. "That was a real bummer," Darin admits, "but the timing couldn't have been any better."

Darin's new life began in January of 1999 when he started work as a storyboard artist for Klasky Csupo. His hard time there (lasting three and a half years) had him working on "the Wild Thornberrys, some of that Rugrats stuff, and these others called Rocket Power and As Told by Ginger - all that Klasky business." Darin's storytelling sense and creativity made him a very strong storyboard artist for their TV crew but unfortunately, in 2003 it was his outspokenness that got him the boot. One of the first to go in an enormous mass lay off, Darin's "attitude" was suddenly a problem. "The same 'attitude' had been described as 'passion' just a few months before," Darin notes. "I guess it doesn't pay to express your opinions on a sinking ship." And with his exit interview, Darin found himself unemployed, away from home and lost once again. But after a few days of thinking, Darin realized what he should have been doing this whole time - he started writing.

During the next six months, Darin created, wrote and designed 20 new TV shows- and success came as soon as he started showing them! "Warner Brothers optioned the first thing I ever pitched," Darin tells. "Then Disney got one and Nickelodeon. Warner Brothers optioned another one and now I have something kind of brewing with Cartoon Network... oh yeah, and there's this thing with a studio in Australia and I just had one optioned for Disney's new shorts program - I just finished writing the script." With all of this happening (which doesn't include the design work he does for other creators' shows), Darin eventually got a real job and has been lucky enough to have kept working straight since the days of creating TV shows at home in his underwear.

Currently an animation director at Renegade on the "HI HI PUFFY AMIYUMI SHOW" for Cartoon Network, Darin says he's never been happier. "I'm directing a kick ass show with killer ratings, I'm writing, designing and throwing my TV shows all over town, and it all started when my girlfriend dumped me. God bless her."

It's ironic. The most unfortunate events in Darin's life turn out to be the very best things that could have happened for him. A major break up allowed him to move to LA. Getting canned from Klasky freed him up to do everything he's ever wanted. He even avoided the common curse of the art student - the student loan - by not attending Calarts! "I guess there's a good lesson in there somewhere if you think about it," Darin says. "Let's just hope nothing else terrible happens."

Darin's thoughts on production:
Animation is a complete and total collaboration. Although it's best to have ONE person with a vision of where the story's going, it's the input and creativity from every person in every department that makes it great. Of course, you've got to shake the bad ideas but it's all in the building of a good story. All part of the fun.

Also, I can't stress enough how great it is to have the animation done in house. You know, story is one thing but if you've got to bind it, box it and ship it all to God knows where, there's no guarantee how it's going to come back. With every department (INCLUDING ANIMATION) in the same building, communication is open for everyone - you can watch the shows come together every day and fix anything as it gets storyboarded, designed and animated. It's how they did it back in the day - it's how we do it at Renegade - and it's absolutely what works the best.

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