hayk manukyan
Hayk Manukyan is an animator working in 2D & 3D for top studios such as Walt Disney, Warner Bros, FOX, HBO, Comedy Central, CN, Nickelodeon and MTV. His work can be seen in such films as The Incredible Hulk and Alvin and The Chipmunks the Movie, and in TV shows such as The Ricky Gervais Show and Teen Titans Go! Also, he created a series of animated shorts called Abo & Karo about an Armenian family living in Glendale CA.
How did you get started in the industry?
Since I was 10 years old, I had been preparing to work for Disney Animation Studios. I had been doing a lot of life drawing and self-teaching. By the time I graduated high school, I had a portfolio ready to send to Disney. They liked my work and were considering me for a position but it never panned out since they decided to go full 3D at the time. I ended up sending that same portfolio to a little studio in Glendale, formed by previous Disney 2D animators, and got hired.
What were some of the challenges of getting where you are today and how did you overcome them?
One major challenge, work wise, has been the fact that most jobs are project-based. Before working at Warner Brothers, every job I had lasted no more than 2 years. Once the project was done, so was the job. That created another challenge where I would take any job I could to stay employed, which meant working on a lot of projects that I didn’t care for. I overcame both by just putting my head down and doing the best work that I could. That led to people noticing my work and opened up new opportunities for continued work. I also made time to practice at home and do more of my own personal projects giving me the chance to work on things that interested me.
What are some of the most valuable lessons that you have learned about this industry and wish you knew earlier?
Know that everyone you consider good or look up to in the industry deals with self-doubt. You aren’t the only one. In fact, I feel those who have a healthy level of self-doubt are the ones who improve and grow the most. When I started out, I felt like I was faking it and everyone else knew what they were doing. After getting to know more people and talking to animators who had been in it longer than me, I started to realize I wasn’t alone. (But still, that feeling never really goes away).
What is your advice for the aspiring industry professionals? Some steps to take? Some mistakes to avoid? Effective strategies to move up the career ladder?
Don’t look for shortcuts. Do the hard work. Learn the basics. One of the most frequent questions I get is “what software do you use?” It gives me the sense that people think that the right software or connecting with the right people will open doors for them. It takes years of practice, trial and error, studying life and movement, which I still do to this day. If you do your best, the right connections will happen on their own and the software won't matter.
What do you love the most about your job, and what is your favorite project that you’ve worked on?
I love the fact that it constantly keeps me on a learning path. It’s not the kind of job you get good at and then repeat on autopilot. With every animation I make improvements and learn new things. By the time I’m done I get a sense that I’ve got this, then on the next one I realize “nope, still learning.”
What is your most memorable or the funniest work story?
For Teen Titans Go! We had an episode where the Teen Titans want to create a 3D movie of themselves but they have a very low budget to work with. So the 3D movie had to look really bad. Now most people assume that with 3D animation, computers do most of the animating which is far from true. Animators have to control every frame, but in this case what I did is I posed out the 3D characters main poses and then I actually let the computer do the “animating” between the poses. The results were so bad. It was exactly what we wanted. We had a good hard laugh and then that version is what we aired on TV.
What is your most recent success and how did you accomplish it?
In the Teen Titans Go movie, I was given the task of animating a Lion King parody with all the DC superheroes in the 90’s Disney style. It was originally supposed to be outsourced to a studio, but our director wanted to hand me some of the main shots. I was extremely nervous and didn’t know if I could pull it off. In the end, I ended up doing almost the entire sequence, from designing the characters, to animating them. I even did some of the clean up. When the movie premiered, that sequence was the most talked about, and some were even claiming that Warner Brothers hired former Disney masters to animate it. What a compliment.
What is your biggest aspiration in this industry?
To create something of my own. I love animating and working on different projects but nothing gives me more pleasure than something of my own.
How are you personally connected to the Armenian culture and what is your favorite thing about it?
We have so much history and have been around forever. Our music (the duduk) is what is used in any movie that tries to give a feeling of ancientness/history. I feel a deep connection to our history, music, and spirit. I try to incorporate as much of our culture as I can in my personal work. I have a lot of favorites like our traditional music, art, our hospitality and how people oriented we are. It's hard to describe but we feel like one big family and seeing other Armenians pop up in our industry gives me so much joy.