The Los Angeles animation house behind "BoJack Horseman" and "Jeff and Some Aliens" recently opened a new branch nearly 1,000 miles to the north.
Awarding-winning ShadowMachine has set up shop in Northwest Portland, employing Oregonians and lengthening the list of creative film and television endeavors created right here in Oregon.
Besides getting to open shop in “the coolest city on the West Coast,” according to Executive Producer Alex Bulkley, being in Oregon offers the growing studio a chance to dive into the deep animation talent pool in the Northwest.
Also, talent from L.A. get the chance to be inspired by all that we love about Oregon, including discovering creativity in a rainy climate.
Based in Portland, ShadowMachine animator Isaac Sagastume is living his dream — a dream ignited at an early age.
Sagastume said when he was growing up, he watched a lot of cartoons on TV.
“I watched the old Looney Tunes and I would think it was so cool," he said. But it was an episode of "King of the Hill" that inspired him to draw non-stop. “I just got super sparked … and pursued it to no end.”
Scene from Isaac Sagastume’s short animated film, "Captured."
Isaac Sagastume
Sagastume’s perseverance and drive paid off.
These days, he animates for the Comedy Central show "Jeff & Some Aliens" and works on his own personal animation projects. "I just completed an animated short about a Polaroid camera with mystical powers!"
“It feels great,” Sagastume said, “because you know that with the stories you tell within animation you not only have the chance to make people laugh, to make people cry, but also to make them think.”