He walks around to the driver’s side, gets in the car  and then they drove off! How the heck did that happen? My mind was blown. That moment marked the start of my fascination with cool visual effects and animation. At commercial breaks, I craved to see animated Geico ads (not the now famous Gecko character, but the earlier hand drawn visual gags), the Acura commercials with the animated Acura dog (I thought to myself, “how did they get this cartoon dog’s reflection on the real car?”), and Little Caesar’s Pizzeria commercials with the cartoon character who blurts “Pizza! Pizza!” (I’m later enamored with the fact that my partner of our co-founded company actually worked on that animated Acura dog during his early days at Kurtz and Friends, and I recently had the opportunity to animate illustrations created by the veteran artist behind the Little Caesar character!) Crouched on the floor watching our tube TV, petting my pet rabbit, Bun-Bun, I knew that when I grow up I needed to find out how they made all these cool moving pictures.

I remember sitting with my high school guidance counselor to discuss my future. He said, “if you like art, your paths are: Graphic Design, Illustration, or Fine Arts.” I asked, “Okay, which one do I pick if I want to make cool commercials like [proceeded to describe the convertible beach commercial and the Acura dog commercial].” I got the feeling his guess was as good as mine. I now know I asked a loaded question and there isn’t a simple answer. I relied on my sister’s insight as she was already an illustration major at RISD, and learned that illustration major will likely head me in the general direction I wanted to go. I was ecstatic to learn that the Illustration department at Parsons School of Design had a brand new concentration program for animation. I can learn to make my illustrations move? This felt right and I was all in.

A few months before graduating Parsons School of Design, my work was noticed by an Animation Director from Nickelodeon who was invited to a Portfolio day event curated at my school. Industry professionals were invited to come review and leave comments on students’ work. I found a post-it note on my portfolio asking to call for a chat. That led to my animation employment at Nickelodeon for the show, Little Bill, immediately after receiving my BFA. Just as the show came to an end, I couldn’t help shake of the feeling of wanting to open my own animation studio with my own animation team. Maybe my father naming his past company with my name, “Naree Communications Inc” planted a seed in my head, or maybe I just have the same entrepreneurial drive as my father. Regardless of the reason, in 2002 I co-founded Bunko Studios Inc., a full service animation studio, with my then partner, now turned husband. Sometimes it’s crazy to think that the bond I share with my parents and sister now continues to grow with my husband. It’s nostalgic to be in this familiar setting where someone I love understands what my talents are, whose talents I mutually recognize and learn from, championing each other for personal growth. I aim to mirror these values in my professional work space, sharing mutual love for creativity to succeed together as a team.