We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ray Mendoza Landa. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ray below.

Ray, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I can honestly say that I can’t remember a time where animation didn’t interest me in some way shape or form. Aside from wanting to be a Power Ranger when I was younger, I always wanted to make cartoons. I still remember my dad introducing my brother and me to Dragon Ball Z. We were super into characters, the stories, and the action! It definitely lit a fire in me and I just started drawing all of my favorite characters trying to figure out how to make them move like they did on tv. I thought I had to buy a special kind of paper that allowed drawings to move, but all I had available to me was notepads that my parents no longer needed. I still remember showing my dad my drawings and him telling me “Mijo qué bonitos dibujos, pero porque no dibujas tus propios personajes?” “Son, what beautiful drawings, but why don’t you draw your own characters?” It was there where my mind became blown and I just started drawing like crazy and drawing any character that I could think of. However, even though I always had an interest in creating cartoons, I didn’t know anyone who made cartoons so I didn’t know how to pursue my dream. I thought I had to be born into it, live in Hollywood or know someone. The internet wasn’t really a thing when I was a kid so I had no way of learning about animation. Without the knowledge of how to pursue animation as a career my dream was just that, a dream. It wasn’t until I was a senior in highschool where my Avid teacher Mrs. Navas told us to write a one page paper on your dream job. At the time I was thinking of majoring in business or something like that so I took this as an opportunity to write about working in animation. With the internet now at my fingertips I was able to learn that I could actually go to school to study animation, that there is an entire industry full of professionals that draw for a living and that it is a viable career path. I knew none of this as a kid but as I wrote that paper I realized my dream could become a reality. I decided to change my plans for college the week before college applications were due and applied to colleges that had an animation major. It is thanks to that one page paper that I realized that I could pursue a career in animation. If I never got assigned that paper, I honestly don’t know what I would be doing right now.

Ray, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Mexican-American Storyboard Artist who draws cartoons for a living! I have been working professionally in animation for over 3 years now. As a storyboard artist my role is to take the script and create sequential drawings of how the script will look visually from shot to shot. My first animation industry experience was when I interned at Tonko House in the spring of 2017 as an Animation Assistant for Pig: The Dam Keeper Poems. I learned so much from Robert Kondo, Dice Tsutsumi, Courtney Lockwood, Toshi Nakamura, and especially Erick Oh as I got to witness first hand what it is like to be a part of a real animation production. In 2019 I graduated from San Jose State University with a BFA in Animation/Illustration. It was at SJSU where I learned a lot of my fundamentals as an artist. Prior to that, I didn’t really have any artistic training. After graduating, I was also very fortunate enough to intern at Pixar as a Story Intern in the summer of 2019 where I got to learn under the amazing mentorship of Brian Kalin O’Connell and Derke Thompson. After my time at Pixar it wasn’t until March of 2020 when I got my first full-time position at Warner Bros. Animations as a Storyboard Revisionist for Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai. I was working in the studio for one whole week until the world shut down and we all had to work from home. Eight months later I was promoted to a Storyboard Artist on the same project. I continued to work at Warner Bros. Animation for three years until Warner Bros. Discovery shelved the project that I was working on at the time. Despite that I still enjoyed my time at WBA because I got to meet and learn from so many wonderful individuals. I especially want to credit Michael Chang, Danielle Witz, Vaughn Ross and Jasmine Goggins for creating an environment for me to learn and grow as an artist. During my time at WBA I also freelanced for Viva Calavera Creative Studio where I got the amazing opportunity to storyboard on Rey Mysterio Vs La Oscuridad. For those that don’t know, Rey Mysterio is my favorite luchador of all time. So the fact that I got to work on a cartoon show based on him blew my mind! That experience was so wonderful that it led to a full-time opportunity with Viva Calavera when my time at WBA ended. My current role now is being an Animation Supervisor for Rey Mysterio Vs La Oscuridad which again blows my mind. That has been my current career in animation in a nutshell but what I really want the readers to know who may not be familiar with me is the project that has gotten me my recognition, Sol Naciente. In my final year at SJSU for my capstone project I directed an Animated Graphic Novel titled Sol Naciente. I had the honor to work with a powerhouse team of artists that helped bring my story to life. Sol Naciente is a story about a young boy who wants to grow up to be a great luchador like his dad! However, El Sol Jr. isn’t as big and strong like his dad El Sol and has to learn how to be a great luchador in his own way. The story is heavily inspired by the relationship I have with my own dad and how I view myself. This project is really special to me because I got to showcase my culture and my love of lucha libre all wrapped up in a story that is very special to me. If you are interested, the comic is free to read at www.solnacientecomic.com. This project holds a special place in my heart and I am happy I had the opportunity and the platform to tell it. Sol Naciente has opened so many doors for me and has put me in contact with so many amazing individuals. I had the pleasure to connect with Kevin Kleinrock, president and COO of Masked Republic, Carlo A. Flores, owner of The Mighty Luchador Store where he sells physical copies of Sol Naciente as well as some of my other artwork, and none other than one of my animation heroes Jorge R. Gutierrez, Director of the Book of Life and Maya and the Three. Sol Naciente is what also got me in contact with Viva Calavera and why I have my current job now. I honestly don’t know where I would be if I never had the opportunity to tell this story. I am eternally grateful to my team who saw my passion for this project and wanted to help me make it a reality. I wholeheartedly want to thank Yuki Okamura-Wong, Josh Wessling, Hannah Beadle, Tanta Vorawatanakul, Ferrari Duanghathai, Jay Clouse, JD Leslie and Daniel Rodier, who were the core members that really helped bring this project to life. Another project that is near and dear to me is a podcast I co-host alongside Yuki Okamura-Wong called Straight Ahead which is dedicated to spotlighting rising BIPOC individuals who are the future voices of the animation industry. The podcast is meant to be a helpful resource to those who are interested in animation or who are currently pursuing an education in it. We want to offer resources and knowledge we didn’t have when we were trying to learn more about the animation industry. Interviewing individuals who are BIPOC and still in their first few years are able to share a more recent and authentic experience of how they broke into animation which could hopefully be encouraging to those who are trying to break in. All I really wanna do is tell stories, make cartoons and help others do the same too.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

There are a ton of ways to help support artists both financially and non-financially. Obviously buying art from artists at conventions, locally, or through commissions is a great way to help. However there are non-financial and effective ways to show support! Examples include following artists, sharing artists’ work on social media, helping artists advertise events they might have coming up. Anything that can help showcase someone’s art to more viewers is always helpful. But what I think would be the best way to help support artists is by supporting young BIPOC kids in underfunded and underrepresented communities who are just starting to show an interest in art. If we can create programs that are easily accessible, we can help foster and nurture young artists who might not have the financial means to take art classes or even afford the materials. Being able to draw is relatively easy, all you need is a paper and a pencil. However, when you try to make it a career considering the cost of school, a laptop that can run all the art softwares, and physical art materials, pursuing art becomes really expensive. When you come from a low income family, pursuing art becomes a privilege that most of us don’t have. If there were programs that could help kids not only learn but also help provide the proper materials it would allow people from different walks of life to pursue art or any kind of creatives as a career choice. Oftentimes those that go to art school are the one who’s family can afford it, and those that can’t either end up in crushing debt or just don’t go at all. Pursuing art shouldnt be a luxury, it should be something anyone can pursue especially with how universal and subjective art is. I believe creating programs that are meant to help make art more accessible to underfunded BIPOC communities will help create a more thriving, diverse and creative ecosystem.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is still the same as when I was a kid watching Dragon Ball Z with my dad. To make my very own action cartoon show! I’m doing my best to learn all the in’s and out’s of the animation pipeline. Making a cartoon show is so much more than just having a cool idea, it is also about having the right team both on the artistic and production side to help execute your vision. I can’t tell you how much I learned working on the shows that I’ve been on. Simply learning about budget limitations and how to creatively work with said limitations has helped me grow as an artist. Improvising and accepting the challenges is crucial. I want to know what makes a good Line Producer, what’s the best way to communicate with a team, and what’s the best way to resolve creative issues. I want to learn everything behind the scenes that ultimately makes what you do see on the screen fun and entertaining. I loved directing Sol Naciente because that helped give me a taste of what it’s like to run a team. I hope to keep learning more about the animation production pipeline so I can be ready to lead a whole animation production team. I want to create my own cartoon that can help families bond together, where my community feels represented on screen, and inspire kids to pursue their dreams. My goal is to create a cartoon show but my mission driving my creative journey is the ability to support and provide for my family. I want to keep being in a position where I can help my parents when they need it. I want to provide financial stability to my beautiful wife and our future kids. I want to stay in a position where I am able to take care of my family. That is the driving force that keeps me moving forward in my creative journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://raymendozalanda.wixsite.com/portfolio
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raydiosilence/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-mendoza-landa-a4446a156/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RaydioSilence
• Other: http://solnacientecomic.com/ https://open.spotify.com/show/6bPr6263tJeZRUI8gqC2sp?si=988a1749d7a04989

Image Credits
Rocha Multimedia, Leanna Lin’s Wonderland, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival