Hollywood Talks Shop - Simon Otto May 25, 2011

Hollywood Talks Shop is in its seventh season and we welcome animator Simon Ottoto our famous “Show and Tell", where industry insiders share their thoughts on Hollywood and provide an entertaining and informative look behind the scenes.

Hollywood Talks Shop
featuring Animator Simon Otto of DreamWorks on
“How to Train Your Dragon” – Animating a World of Dragons and Vikings"
Simon Otto, who served as Head of Character Animation on the Oscar-nominated hit film, “How to Train Your Dragon,” will present his insights on how he and his team created the animation for this DreamWorks Animation film.
In addition to overseeing the animation of the film, Simon has been instrumental in developing the look of the characters, their personalities, and the overall style of the animation.
In this presentation, Simon will not only describe the process of bringing characters from design to screen, but also share how the animation team attempted to create unique and believable dragons while taking advantage of the enormous acting opportunities that came with the premise of the film.

Simon Otto was born and raised in Switzerland.
He began his career in the arts industry carving commercial snow sculptures in nearby resort towns such as Arosa and St. Moritz and drawing news cartoons for his hometown newspaper, “Die Suedostschweiz”.
After completing a banking apprenticeship, he redirected his attention to the arts and attended the F&F Schule für Experimentelle Gestaltung in Zurich. Following that, he left Switzerland to study at the prestigious Les Gobelins Animation School in Paris.
After graduating from Les Gobelins, he received additional animation training through an internship with Walt Disney Feature Animation in Paris.
Simon joined DreamWorks Animation in 1997 to work on the their first animated film, "The Prince of Egypt." He worked as a Supervising Animator on many of the studio’s animated features both in 2D and in CG, including “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” and the Aardman co-production, "Flushed Away."
Simon also worked as a character designer on “Over The Hedge” and “How to Train Your Dragon,” in addition to his role as Head of Character Animation on “Dragon.”
Simon is currently reprising his role of Head of Character Animation for the sequel to “How to Train Your Dragon.”