March 26, 2007
Conducted by Zcat6 of the Danny Phantom Online Forums
Triple Annie-award nominee, Mr. Ben Balistreri was one of the amazingly talented character designers and story-board artists for Danny Phantom. He brought us many, many of the characters we know and love, and was exceedingly gracious to grant me an interview. Please remember to thank him for all he has done if you ever see him on! ~Z.
Zcat6: Mr. Balistreri, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! We know you’re busy and sincerely appreciate the time you’ve lent us today. To start things off, can you please tell us a little about your job in general and what it is that you do while working on animated series?
Ben Balistreri: I held a few different tasks on Danny Phantom; character designer, story board artist, and I designed the title cards. As a designer I get the script and come up with rough ideas for any new main characters. I would then go show a few ideas to Butch and get his feedback. Then I do a final design to give the board artists something to work from. The rest of the job is a little less glamorous. Once a board is done the designer gets it and goes through it to do any designs, special poses, turn arounds, and mouth charts needed for the animators overseas. This can be pretty technical and boring but it's part of the job of being a designer. As a board artist I would get the script and Butch would assign one half of it to me to board. I would have 6 weeks to board about 12 minutes of air time. It sounds like a long time but any body in the industry will tell you that boarding is the hardest job in the bis. It's also the most rewarding, especially when you work for a guy like Butch who lets you have some creative freedom to interpret the script. Designing the title cards is pretty self-explanatory. Bob Boyle and I wanted them all to look like cheesy 50's horror posters, so they have that sort of flavor. I had a great time designing those.
Zcat6: When and how did you first get involved with Butch Hartman regarding character design and story boarding for Danny Phantom?
Ben Balistreri: I got involved pretty early in the development process, although the main line up of DP had already been done by Butch, Steven Silver, and an amazing artist named Shannon Tindle. Shannon left to go work on the "Proud Family" and luckily I slid into his old job. I think I started in May of 2002. After I got hired Danny went into script re-writes for about 6 or 7 months and during that time I got to work on the "Crash Nebula" pilot.
Zcat6: Had you ever worked with Butch before? If not, how familiar were you at that time with him and his work?
Ben Balistreri: I had never worked with Butch before and at that time Fairly Oddparents was just starting to hit its stride. I made sure to watch some episodes of FOP before my interview and of course loved the show. While in the interview, though, I couldn't remember any of the details of what I had watched and looked like a total idiot in front of Butch. I left that interview thinking I would never get the job, but luckily Butch gave me a drawing test to see if I could match the style of DP and he liked it enough to hire me.
Zcat6: What do you think ultimately influenced Butch towards hiring you to help in designing characters for Danny Phantom?
Ben Balistreri: I know my portfolio impressed him, but I needed to show I could draw in his style. The test as I recall was to draw Danny in 3 poses and come up with 1 monster design. I always try to give the production more than they ask for in a test and so I did a few monsters and a whole page of poses. That extra work I think helped me get hired. Also, I had worked with the producer, Deirdre Brenner, before on "Little Mermaid 2" at Disney. She put in a good word for me as well.
Zcat6: What was your initial impression of the show and the characters that Butch wanted?
Ben Balistreri: Shannon (whom I mentioned before,) is one of my best friends and he would talk about the early development with me at lunch. I was so jealous that he got to work on such a cool idea! I had only worked at Disney on video sequels before DP and it was quite a thrill to get to work on a new show with such a cool graphic style.
Zcat6: Which characters from the Danny Phantom series did you design or help design and which designs did you most enjoy developing or were the most pleased with?
Ben Balistreri: I'll just list a few. Ember, Technus, Clockwork, (it was my idea to have him constantly change his age), Youngblood, Dani Phantom, Freakshow, Undergrowth, (which was cool cause I got to meet Mark Hamill!) Pariah Dark, (the Ghost King), Desiree, and a ton of other I can't keep track of. I got a nomination for my designs on "King Tuck." That's one of the only shows I designed single handedly. Most of the others were split between Steve Silver and myself.
Zcat6: Is there anything you would have liked to have done in story boarding or character design that couldn't be managed due to time, budget, or limits on animation resources?
Ben Balistreri: Not really. I never really censored myself and Butch certainly didn't. I would have preferred if some of the episodes were longer as they seemed a bit rushed in the final edit. The hour specials, "Reign Storm" and "Ultimate Enemy" really could have used an extra half an hour each in my opinion.
Zcat6: What's the first step you take in designing a new character; is there a general method that you tend to follow?
Ben Balistreri: I like to research any objects, costumes or ideas I have so that my designs won't look too cliché, (hopefully!) Then I work with big bold shapes and try to stay away from details until the basic structure is worked out.
Zcat6: How did you get specifically into character design and story-boarding, and where did you learn the basics to excel at these difficult jobs?
Ben Balistreri: I attended Cal Arts, (as did Butch.) There is no better school for learning animation and I can't recommend it enough to any one who is interested in breaking into the business. I really hadn't done too much boarding before Phantom but Butch spent a lot of time helping me learn the craft. That's pretty rare to get on-the-job training but Butch liked my drawings and he's a generous dude.
Zcat6: Do you have a favorite (or least favorite) aspect of either of these types of work?
Ben Balistreri: Character design can honestly get pretty tedious when you’re drawing a turn or a mouth chart. There isn't much that's creative about it but it's still hard to make look good. As far as boarding, I love everything except the deadlines.
Zcat6: How were you assigned certain characters to design and how did the design process work in general in the early stages of Danny Phantom episode development?
Ben Balistreri: It was really just up to Steve Silver and myself who designed what. We usually just switched back and forth on who would design certain main characters. We got along really well and had a good time sharing an office.
Zcat6: How were you chosen to draw specific story boards for certain episodes?
Ben Balistreri: Most of it was just a simple schedule. Whatever episode came up during your rotation is what you got. Occasionally I would ask Butch to give me parts I really wanted to board. The end of "Ultimate Enemy" was a section I was drooling to come up with as it was a sweet fight between Danny and his evil future self!
Zcat6: Did you play any role in the design and creation of Danny's “DP” emblem?
Ben Balistreri: Butch, Bob, Steve and myself all took a hand at doing designs for it. In the end Butch did the final version if I remember correctly, but it was based on something Steve had done. There's a lot of collaboration in all of this. Honestly, at the beginning, I never like the idea but after I got used to it I hated seeing him with out it.
Zcat6: How did it feel having some of your Danny Phantom storyboard work nominated for an Annie Award?
Ben Balistreri: Awesome! I put a lot of love into all my boards but when I read Butch's script for "Urban Jungle" I knew I was going to have some fun. That to this day was probably the most fun I've had working in my 10 years in the industry. The year before I was nominated for my board on "Identity Crisis." That was also a lot of fun especially drawing the super hero Danny.
Zcat6: Are there any plans for a Danny Phantom sequential (comic) series and if so, will you be contributing?
Ben Balistreri: No. At least not that I know of. I did a comic for Nick Magazine where Danny fights Youngblood and some ghostly Legos. It was fun to do but was a lot of work that didn't exactly pay very much so I don't for see doing it again, but you never know.
Zcat6: Are there any other types of art projects you are working on or do routinely in the course of your work?
Ben Balistreri: I've spent the last 5 years working on a graphic novel titled, "Seaweed." It's 64 pages which are all done and I'm just finishing the color now. I'll self publish it probably at the beginning of 2008.
Zcat6: Are there any other projects you've contributed to that we should be looking out for in the near future?
Ben Balistreri: Right now I'm the character design supervisor on "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends," at Cartoon Network. It's a lot of fun to work on and I get to work with Craig McCracken who is another animation stud like Butch.
Zcat6: What are some things that you like to do in your spare time?
Ben Balistreri: I watch a lot of movies and TV. My wife and I try to travel to someplace in the world at least once a year. We just got back from an awesome time in Scotland.
Zcat6: What's your favorite snack food?
Ben Balistreri: Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies.
Zcat6: Is there anything you would like to say to us, your fans, or to any aspiring artists out there? Any advice for budding character design artists or story boarders?
Ben Balistreri: Hard work pays off! I had a tough time breaking into the industry and even just getting accepted into Cal Arts. I never let the rejection take hold and just kept working even harder until I made it. I could write advice forever but the most important thing to keep in mind is to be yourself. Don't be content copying other peoples work or styles. Be an artist and have your own voice. Other than that I really want to thank all the DP fans out there! I had such an awesome time working on the show and it makes it even better that there are people who like the show as much as they do. It makes me feel all warm and gooey inside!
Thank you so much for talking with us and best of luck in all your current and future projects! ~Z.