Andrew T. Collen Animator/Producer/Director

Andy Collen began his career at the age of 13, selling his meticulously detailed clay sculptures at a local gallery in Aspen, Colorado. An interest in the art of animation lead Andy to Los Angeles where he gained industry experience as a production assistant for Terry Thoren at Expanded Entertainment and the creator of the World Animation Festival. Working for Terry Thoren, Andy began to learn about the business of animaion. After a few years or working in the trenches he decided to move into making of animation instead of marketing.

Intrigued by the growing number of independent animators in Portland, Oregon, Andy relocated to the Northwest where he completed an apprenticeship with Tom Arndt of Merlin’s Hammer Studio. This hands-on experience with commercial animation and special effects gave Andy the skills to freelance with companies such as Vinton Studios (California Raisins) and Blashfield & Associates (creator of mixed-media music videos such as Tears for Fears "Sowing the Seeds of Love;" and Michael Jackson's "Leave Me Alone").

Co-creator of Happy Trails Animation, Andy directs eye-catching commercials and independent films. His extensive background in visual effects, technology and the art of animation help drive the studio’s commitment to generating original, inspiring productions.

Happy Trails Animation LLC

Happy Trails Animation, LLC site was founded in 1991 to provide a wide array of animation production services in a creative, efficient and cost effective manner. But Happy Trails is more than a formidable animation production company; it is a creative “think tank” where new artistic concepts and techniques are explored and designed to meet the goals of their client’s vision.
Happy Trails utilizes its complete graphics department, illustrators and artists, to develop original approaches to the art of animation. Its ability to explore with techniques such as pastels, sand, paper cutouts, traditional cell, and digital effects together with its proprietary techniques (which include Cinemation© and recently Zipamation©) that has helped propel this company to one of todays leading boutique Communications Art studios.

Zipamation – This is a term developed in 2005 by Happy Trails Animation to describe a style of hybrid preliminary animation used in production. Zipamation refers to the speed and style of this production method. Much like its predecessor, the animatic, Zipamation takes advantage of mixing many methods of modern technology in order to map out timing, layout and design. Zipamation is very close to full animation without the full-blown budget or longer time frame, and primarily designed for quick conceptual and presentation materials beyond the animatic. Storyboards are used as an outline to map out storyline; animatics are used to bring timing to the Storyboard and used to rough out a soundtrack. Zipamation can be used to visually tell the story as well as set the timing and map out all the movements of the animation within each scene.

Cinemation - This is a technique developed by Happy Trails Animation in late 1998. DV or video footage is brought into the computer, and frame by frame, altered into a look of any old master painter brought to life through animation. This technique was first created so that ad agencies could cut together some DV or live action footage to create a Rip-O-Matic of a commercial or pitch concept that could then be translated into animation. This way there are no surprises in the final animation. Realizing the potential of what they had created, the studio began to explore the technique with a few short films, "The Full Del Monty" (1998) and "Happy Valley" (1998), which led the studio to use this technique on an MTV music video for a band called the Farmerboys "Feel The Pain" (1990). This technique has become so popular that variations on this look have been used for films like "Waking life" and "A Scanner Darkly".

Filmography:

Winter / En Hiver Interview The story is set in the late 1800's rural countryside during the dead of winter. A little girl lives with her ailing mother and their scruffy dog in a large Gothic style mansion. One day she bundles up, tucks an orange in_her pocket and goes for a walk with her dog. During her outing several things happen that test her ability to endure. This gentle drama reminds us that during hardship, human nature will rise to the strength that is asked of us. About

Awards: Best Animation & Experimental Short- IndyMemphis(Tennessee USA)Best Animation PDX <br />- Portland Indy Animation Film Festival (Portland OR. USA) Best of Show <br />- Cloud 9 Film Festival (Frontier Airlines USA & Mexico) <br />Best of the Northwest - The Northwest Film & Video Festival <br />26th Telly Award -2005 Non-Broadcast ANIMATION (Finalist Statuette) <br />Audience Choice Award - Melbourne International Animation Festival <br />Boston Motion Picture AwardAward <br />WorldFEST-Houston Award (Gold Remi) <br />Aurora Awards (Gold) <br />Best of touring collection -Ars Electronica 2005(Austria) <br />Crystal Heart Award - Heartland Film Festival <br />2nd Place Trophy - Computer Space 2005

Stroid’ 56! (First Flash Film) Animadrid Film Festival, Madrid, Spain

Happy Valley(Second Cinemation Film) Underground Film Festival, Portland, OR

Garden Variety (First Cinemation Film) Tortured Artist Film Festival, Tacoma, WA Rainy States Film Festival, Seattle, WA

Hero Sandwich (First ever colored Sand animation) Qualified for Oscar Competition Denver Int’l. Film Festival, Denver, CO ACT Film Festival, (Olympic Games) Atlanta, GA Rainy States Film Festival, Seattle, WA Melbourne Int’l. Film Festival, Australia The Best of the NW Festival , Portland, OR Hollywood for Children, (IMAX Cinemas), NY, Annecy Animation Festival, Annecy, France

Rip-N-Glide(Pixelation) Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation, Los Angeles, CA MTV’s Cartoon Sushi

Wild Fire Windstar Foundation, Aspen, CO Aspen Global Change Institute, Aspen, CO Cinanima Animation Festival, Portugal

Right Brain / Left Brain Artquake, Portland, OR Portland Creative Conference, Portland, OR

It's About Peace Bombay Int’l. Film Festival, Bombay, India Cinanima Animation Festival, Portugal