FilAm is first Emmy recipient in animation

Jess Espanola LOS ANGELES - A FilAm animator has been awarded an Emmy for his work in The Simpsons during an awards program held at the Nokia Center last Sept. 13. Jesus “Jess” Espanola, an assistant director with Burbank-based Starz Film Roman, was informed about the nomination in May by Chuck Sheetz, his director. The awards show was shown on E Channel on Sept. 20.

Espanola received his Emmy at Nokia Theater on Sept. 13 with his wife. “All of us who were nominated in all different categories had a party on August 26 at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences,” Espanola told Asian Journal. “Each of us was given a certificate of honor as a nominee, but the announcement would be made on Sept. 13 at the Nokia Theater, we were told.”

“When the five nominees were read at the Nokia Theater Awards program, all the nominees including myself, held our breath,” Espanola recalled. “And when the master of ceremonies said, ‘and the Emmy goes to…The Simpsons,’ I burst in excitement, raising my fists above my head and yelling yes! All of us from our studio stood up and greeted each other with hugs and kisses, and my wife who was sitting beside me was the first to grab me,” Espanola said.

In May, Espanola’s studio was informed by its production manager, Trista Navarro, that their episode, The Eternal Moonshine of the Simpsons Mind, was nominated for the Emmy. Espanola was unaware that his name was in the nomination list. “Then my director, who is also a current Governor of Emmy, told me that my name was in the list,” Espanola said.

As an assistant director with Starz Film Roman, Espanola had worked for The Simpsons animated series for 20th Century Fox Television Networks for two years, checking character and background layouts since June 2006. Prior to that, he was a character layout artist with Film Roman, Inc., from 2002 to June 2006. He was also an assistant director with Rough Draft, Inc., working on the Futurama animated television series. “I moved to work on the Futurama shows as assistant director, and the following year as director at Rough Draft for the directors and assistant directors,” Espanola told Asian Journal. “Here, I often hear my producer, Klaudia Katz, introducing me to visitors and commenting, ‘Jess is great.’”

“Every Christmas season, my director, Pete Avanzino, would give me a card that said: ‘Thanks for making me look good this year,’” Espanola relates. “There was a moment last year when our supervising director, Mark Kirkland, entered our office and greeted me, ‘Hi, Jess, all I hear are good stuffs about you’, and I replied, “Oh, thank you.”

He began his animation career in the U.S. in 1988 with Fil-Cartoons, a Hanna-Barbera subsidiary, as an animation group leader; he then moved to Burbank Animation Inc. as animator, working on various television shows. Espanola, who graduated from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, paid for college as a working student. A few years ago, he also began a parallel career as a commercial photographer and photojournalist. He is the treasurer of Photo-Reporters Guild, an organization of professional journalists, artists and photographers.

“For all the years I have been in this field I have this kind of view that I’m only a worker in the animation industry,” Espanola shared. “Now, because of the Emmy Award, besides being the first Filipino animator to be given the highest honor, my point of view has changed. I have this kind of feeling, oh now I’m really in the mainstream of the film entertainment industry in my career.” He also believes that The Simpsons, being the longest running TV show in the world, would still be in production for years to come and that would mean jobs for the creative community. (www.asianjournal.com)

(Published September 26 p.redcarpet2 OCIE)

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