By Rachel Reyna
Many artists can recall the moment that sparked their passion. School of Animation & Visual Effects (ANM) alum Brian Gabel (M.F.A. ’21) always knew he wanted to be an animator, but one specific moment showed him that animation was much more than a calling.
When Gabel was five years old, he was in a car accident that landed him in the hospital with severe injuries, including a ruptured spleen and shards of glass embedded in his head. Gabel spent much of kindergarten in a hospital bed. During his recovery and treatment, Gabel repeatedly watched the 1988 film, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” The film ultimately inspired him to pursue animation down the line.
During his studies at the Academy of Art University, Gabel’s animation journey would—to his own surprise—come full circle.
Gabel was taking a 2D animation class taught by Tom Bertino when he realized that his teacher and mentor worked on the very film that brought him so much joy and made him want to become an animator.
“I’ve always been laughing or smiling with [Tom]—there was only one time we weren’t,” shared Gabel. “I said, ‘I want to thank you for working on ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ because I was in a very bad car accident when I was five. … [A]nd what got me through that time was a wooden television set, wheeled in like you would in a classroom, and a VHS tape of ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit,’ which I would play over and over again. And it would make me laugh when I was getting blood drained to check on my spleen.’ So I said [to Tom], ‘Thank you to you and your team, I really needed that as a kid.’”
“This is what we do,” Bertino said when asked about this exchange with Gabel. “This is what artists do, this is what animators do, this is what filmmakers do. We touch people’s lives, and we often don’t know it, and sometimes it’ll come back to you in odd ways.”
“I love my art form, and I care very much about the future of it,” added Bertino. “And when somebody like Brian shows up, who is just like, ‘I’m going to do this!’ That’s just magic. That’s wonderful when you feel that drive and hunger for the craft. It’s a wonderful experience, [and] maybe I can make the same contribution that my dearly departed masters gave to me.”
While at the Academy, Gabel’s studies were focused on 2D animation. Through ANM’s StudioX program, he gained knowledge and experience in multiple stages of the visual effects production pipeline. Additionally, he worked as an executive producer on the StudioX animated short “Redemption.”
Gabel attributes his success in school to the support of the Academy and its nourishment of students in the arts. Growing up, Gabel excelled most in his classes involving performance, art, and dance.
“My mother was an elementary school teacher but despite that, I did not like school growing up. Especially being autistic in a neurotypical world but aiming for neurodivergence, the system was never meant for me,” said Gabel. “The Academy was, right off the bat, the first time I enjoyed school. It was the first time I enjoyed learning, it was the first time that I enjoyed all my peers. It was true teamwork and cooperation; no matter what the project was or what the homework assignment was, we were all in it together. It was a very unique program, and it was the first where I loved being in an educational environment.”
With VFX experience on his résumé, a built-out skillset due to his Academy education, and support from ANM staff and faculty, Gabel landed a job as a VFX Production Coordinator with Halon Entertainment before receiving his diploma. He connected with the company during ANM’s Industry Week.
“Halon was one of three studios who requested a Zoom interview with me and some of my amazing fellow production alums during that week,” explained Gabel. “Although everything I had learned and compiled for display was a large part of landing at Halon, I found out later that our former producer at the studio was what sealed it due to him being a fellow Academy of Art alum for production management. At the end of the day, it’s more than just networking. It’s about making connections and friends.”
Gabel has now been working at Halon Entertainment for three years.
“I got yanked as soon as I graduated school, so pretty quickly,” said Gabel. “I told [Halon] I wanted to at least get my M.F.A. approved upon presentation and that I would say yes. Thankfully, it worked out. I got assigned to ‘Aquaman 2’ right off the bat and was geeking out all night.”
In addition to working on “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” Gabel has completed work on “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” the Carousel for Taylor Swift’s 2023 “Eras Tour,” LEGO Fortnite, and the recently released “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” and “Atlas.”
“My job as coordinator is one of the communication bridges between it all,” explained Gabel. “There’s some things that don’t change in my work day and there’s some things that change based on where we’re at in the project pipeline. A day will be slightly altered, like with previs in ‘Aquaman’ versus postvis, just because the types of shots we’re working on—what we’re doing for them is just a different process. For previs, it’s really just establishing characters, placing, getting environments clean, making sure the textures look nice. And for postvis, it’s a lot of the effects like water and some bubbles and a really cool fish simulation that we put together.”
Following the release of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” Gabel shared the overwhelming joy he experienced when he first saw his name in the film’s credits.
“Being in the theater and watching it was incredibly surreal,” shared Gabel. “I was with my girlfriend, and we were just screaming for joy. I got up, and I started dancing and singing. The feeling lasted maybe a week; it was pretty wild.”
Even though Gabel always wanted to work in the animation and VFX industry, the extent of his accomplishments feels unreal to the Academy alum. Gabel credits much of his success to his autism. What was once a secret for him is now what he realizes contributes to the artist that he is.
“I will say that this is definitely an important part of my career as a person, as a production manager. I came out about my autism when I was 24, very late,” said Gabel. “It was sort of this dark secret for a very long time, and now it’s been this secret utility that has helped me, help my team. That’s been a very large staple in my career. There is this sense of like, ‘Wow, I did it!’ I’m on the spectrum, but I was able to achieve this. It’s been really exciting.”
Gabel encourages artists to follow their passions despite any barriers they may face and believes that every story and dream should be chased. “Coming up now is a really good time for artists to get busy and be creative,” said Gabel. “If you’ve got a story, write it. If you’ve got any concepts storyboarded, get a rough animatic going. Record some music. This is the time to really develop your portfolio, your skillset, your experience, your teamwork, to work with others.”