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May 19, 2006
Graduating Class
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
Most graduates leave school and begin the long hard trail to finding a job in the field they desire. This is especially so in the areas of the arts, where many grads are unable to make a living in their field of dreams. Many have to take day jobs 'anywhere' in order to pursue their dream careers at night. But on May 19th, our very own Suzanne Jones graduates from New York's New School University with her Bachelors degree concentrated in Film Studies/Screenwriting -- and she already has her day gig in her field working with NoEvil Productions.
Suzanne is one of our Dream Team members, working as both a writer and a voice talent. She writes song lyrics (and sometimes music with Chris Leap, the music maestro), she writes scripts for shorts and ecards, and she also performs character voiceovers as well as sings some of the kooky songs. Suzanne says the voice work is her favorite work, "I am thrilled to do vocal work for the company! It's dream come true!"
A dream cone true for the lady who left her theatre studies at Howard U. in Washington, D.C. to come to New York and work in theatre. And work she has:
"With my twin sister, Stephanie, I perform as "The Jones Twins" -- a spoken-word, cabaret performing duo. Okay, we are performance artists! Not long ago, we did a playwriting fellowship at Bard College through the women's theatre company Voice & Vision. We were named Emerging Artists by Franklin Furnace Performance Archive. We've collaborated on musical theatre work that has been seen at New York’s Public Theatre, the Smithsonian Institute, the Ohio Theatre, as well as music and theatre clubs like Brooklyn's BAM, Irving Plaza, Makor/92nd St. Y, CBGB’s, P.S. 122, Poetry Project, and many more dives in NYC, LA and beyond. I've also done commercial voiceovers and voices/soundtrack work for independent films."
A self-described multi-disciplinary artist, Suzanne made the determination to work in animation as a writer, "with the farfetched hope of also finding a way to be a voice actor as well." Her search for work led her to the Animation World website, and Kat Caverly's ad. All this in April, 2005 -- a year prior to her graduation.
Recently, I sat down with Suzanne and asked her a few questions...
What drew you to this work, to No Evil Productions?
"Well, Kat was the first thing. She’s got so many great ideas; she is an innovator. I've always looked at creative work that way -- you should strive to do something that hasn't been done before. I like to invent new forms -- probably why I have always been drawn to avant-garde/alternative venues. I feel that Kat is exploring new frontiers with the work and the way it is distributed and that is amazing!"
"And personally what draws me to it is the ability to work at home -- essential for me as the single mom of a 6 yr. old girl. And, ultimately, this job is helping me realize my life-long dream of working creatively in the cartoon industry. I'm writing and doing voices and music for cartoons! What could be better?"
I hear that Birthday Birdies is a special project of yours -- tell us about that.
"The Birthday Birdies is a little ecard that we did. It's faux Girl Scouts giving a birthday pledge and Kat wanted me to write their birthday pledge, which I did. The fun part was recording the pledge. There are three voices reciting in unison: me, as the goody two shoes character; Kat as the kooky cut-up; and my little girl, Sasha, as the main voice -- because she is an actual child (as much as Kat and I may want to be!)"
How cute! And how much fun to work with your daughter! Hmmmm... A six
year old daughter, a new college degree, such a long performance resume
-- tell me, how old are you?
"A lady never tells!"
Ah, the old brush off. Another unexpected move, Suzanne. *wink*
"Good to know that no matter what I do, my eccentricity comes through!"
Eccentric, yes, but always a class act.
Congratulations, on your graduation, Suzanne!
Posted by photocartoonist at May 19, 2006 12:50 PM