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Always at home with a pencil in his hand and a blank piece of paper in front of him, Ira Shain began his career as an illustrator and graphic designer. He landed his first paying movie gig in 1988. While working at The Voyager Company in Santa Monica he got a call to join a small animation company as a computer animator and he has never looked back since.

The small animation company that called him was Kroyer Films, where he had the privilege of working with Academy Award nominees Bill Kroyer and Andrew Stanton and he was also fortunate enough to work along side Academy Award winner Ralph Eggleston. The fundamental animation lessons learned at Kroyer would serve him well in his career, helping him land jobs at animation studios and post production facilities both large and small.

In 1991 he moved over to Pacific Data Images' Los Angeles office, where he freelanced off and on for 2 years working on film effects and music videos. Though the hours were long, the small crew meant that Ira could make a contribution artistically and utilize his all around skills.

His next stop was the now defunct but fondly remembered Boss Films, where he had the opportunity to work with Academy Award winners Richard Edlund and Jim Rygiel, whos generosity and collaborative spirit fostered a very fertile creative environment. While there he worked on the feature film "Cliffhanger". Later, Ira gladly returned to Boss to work on effects for the feature "Air Force One".

In 1993, after leaving Boss Films, Ira joined VIFX where he was mentored by Academy Award winner Richard Hollander. In the 2 years that Ira worked at VIFX he was able to experience all aspects of feature film effects production, handling duties as character animator, effects animator, modeler, lighter, technical director and compositor as well as CG Supervisor.

Iras next stop was In Sight Pix, where he worked from 1995 to 1998 as a character animator, effects animator, lighter, modeler and technical director on many high end commercials for clients including Kraft Foods, Lexus, Nissan, Capri Sun, Chrysler, MCI and Revlon. The team of artists was small, but all were up to the task and Ira saw how a dedicated bunch of lovable goofs can really produce good stuff, as well as have a fun working environment.

Always looking for new challenges, in 1999 Ira took a job working at a small effects facility in Venice called Mobility Studios. While there he was responsible for character animation, character setup, modeling, technical direction, lighting and compositing on various feature films and commercials.

This lead directly to his association with Centropolis Effects. While at Centropolis he worked on the feature films "The Patriot" and "Eight Legged Freaks", doing double duty as a character animator and lighter.

Moving with ease between the worlds of commercial post production and feature film effects, his long tenure (14 years) in the animation/effects business has allowed him to observe major changes in the industry. Drawing on his many experiences and diverse skills, he has also contributed to the merging of art and technology that we see today, specifically in the areas of integrating 2D and 3D animation and using the internet for remote collaborative productions. Today, Ira continues to work on feature films as well as develop his own cutting edge animation projects for television and features.

Ira's thoughts on Production:
Production is a mixed bag. Sometimes its wonderful, creative and inspiring. Other times its a drag. Ultimately it is more about the journey than the end result. We can't work on hit projects every time. Make an effort to learn something from each job. Animation is about re-doing. Be willing and able to change the direction of a shot 180 degrees from where you started. And then be prepared to change back again, with a smile. For good or ill, thats just the way things go.

Try and draw, paint, sculpt, or photograph things. All of these will help you see the world around you in a deeper way. The result being that you will have more tools in your kit to help you solve the creative challenges presented to you.

As a supervisor, remember that your job is to help your co-workers to produce the best work possible, and to give them credit when they do. As an artist, always take on the difficult shots. You will improve your skills, and people will leave you alone because THEY don't want to mess with it.

If you don't like long hours, you will need to find another line of work. Be versatile with your skillset. It may confuse human resources, but in the end, it will help you in the lean times.

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