Behind Star Wars TV series is a Pinoy animator

MANILA, Philippines - Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the first weekly television series from Lucasfilm Animation, owned by George Lucas who’s behind the highly successful Star Wars movies. The series is now being aired on Cartoon Network 7 o’clock Friday nights, ideal for family viewing and designed to appeal to fans of all ages (with encore screenings Saturdays at 10 a.m.).

Not many people know that one of the animators behind the series is a Filipino, Randy Bantog, who was interviewed on-line by Dateline: Hollywood.

Tell me about your family background.

My parents are both Filipinos, but sadly I can’t remember from which parts of the Philippines they came from. Both of them left the Philippines in the mid-’70s. My dad joined the US Navy and my mom came to the US to study architecture in college. As for me, I was born in San Diego and lived there for 20 years.

Do you still have relatives in the Philippines? Do you still get in touch with them?

I do still have relatives in the Philippines on my mother’s side that I know of. But I have not kept in touch with them. I am pretty close to my mom’s two sisters though. My aunts are really wonderful and loving people. My father’s parents and many siblings have all moved to the US. And they all happen to live in San Diego, very close to each other. I saw them quite a bit, when I was growing up.

Who inspired you to draw? How were you able to penetrate film animation in the US?

Honestly, the very first person that inspired me to start drawing is my older brother Chris, who is one year older than me. When I was a kid, I used to see him drawing American comic book characters, and like many little kids, I wanted to be like my older brother and do the same things that he did.

As I got older I was inspired by a variety of things including comics, animation and video games. I went through phases following the work of many different artists working in those fields. To list all the names of the artists that I enjoyed the work would take a long time to remember. There are so many talented people out there. I do remember seeing the Disney animated film Tarzan when I was in high school. And The Art of Star Wars: Episode I book came out around the same time. Between seeing the amazing animation coming out of Disney and the awe inspiring work that I saw in the Star Wars book, I felt that I wanted to work in the film or animation industries.

When I started seriously studying, I met a teacher in L.A. named Kevin Chen that inspired me to learn and work hard. He taught me most of what I know about drawing and design. Another very influential teacher that I had is named Ryan Meinerding. I have been extremely lucky to have met these guys. There are also many other teachers that I have had that have been great, but this list would just run on and on.

How was it teaching figure drawing at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art?

Teaching was an amazing learning experience. If, or when, I can get the chance to do it again, I’d love to take another stab at it. Teaching forced me to be a little more confident speaking in front of lots of people, and forced me to be very confident in the subject that I was teaching. My being a teacher was also a result of learning from Kevin Chen. He was very influential on my learning and teaching.

Are you the only Filipino/Asian artist in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars? How does it feel?

No, I’m not the only Filipino/Asian artist on The Clone Wars. There is another incredible artist here named Anthony Ermio that is Filipino, and there are other Asian artists on the design team.

What are the challenges you have to face as an artist in Lucasfilm? How do you cope with them?

One of the challenges that we face here on a daily basis are very tight deadlines. To deal with that I just do what many other people working in this industry do, I work long hours. Other challenges include keeping up with technology and learning new skills in my profession. Again, all I can do when confronted with these challenges is work harder to learn more and continue to develop as an artist.

What about the working environment at Lucasfilm? How do you cope?

The working environment is fantastic. We work in what looks like a gigantic mansion, hidden in a valley, surrounded by lush green hills, trees, rocks and a lake. The people are very easy to work with and easy to communicate with. Working on this show is pretty incredible.

What do you advise Filipino animators who also want to get a break in a big international company like Lucasfilm?

Work hard on your job skills. If there is a company that you specifically want to work for, gear the work you do toward that company. Be very specific on that goal. Networking is also very important. Stay friendly with all of the people you meet and hopefully you can help each other out.

Do you still visit the Philippines? If not, do you plan to go to the Philippines someday?

I haven’t been there since I was five years old, and since most of my family is in the US already, I don’t know where I would go over there. I do think it would be fun to visit and go sight-seeing though. But right now, I’m so busy that I barely leave my desk.

What are your professional plans? Are there other fields of art you want to enter? Why?

For now, I plan to keep working in animation. Later on I want to try working on live action film projects, or maybe some fun video game projects. I also think it would be fun to do more illustration work for print. Other than that, I’m just happy to be working. — Maridol Rañoa-Bismark