Carlos Baena (animator)


Carlos Baena is a professional animator and now a cofounder of the online school Animation Mentor, which was started in March, 2005. It was the first post-secondary school that helped students to pursue a career in animation. At the school, students work with mentors from major studios in a production-style environment, and graduate with a professional demo reel.
Baena lives in San Francisco, California, where he spends his leisure time studying and making short films, composing music, skateboarding, and working on animation.

Background

Born on the Canary Islands and raised in Madrid, Baena came to the United States to attend the University of San Francisco and the Academy of Art University. After graduating in June 1998, he found a job animating commercials at Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon. Four months later, he returned to San Francisco to work on spots and short films at Click 3X and WildBrain, Inc. Working on commercials and short films helped him secure a position at San Rafael, CA.-based Industrial Light & Magic in March 2001. At, Baena worked as an animator on Jurassic Park III, Men in Black II, and '. Eventually, Baena left ILM for Pixar in 2002 where he worked on the films Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Toy Story 3 as well as the short film ''Boundin.

Animation mentor

Baena works with fellow cofounders, Bobby Beck, AnimationMentor.com’s CEO and President, and Shawn Kelly to define and shape the school’s overall direction. Baena balances his cofounder responsibilities with his full-time animator job at Pixar in Emeryville, California.

Awards

In Cars, Baena animated several scenes with the two Italian cars Guido and Luigi and received a 2007 Annie Award nomination for Best Character Animation for his work.
; :es:Premios Fugaz|Premios Fugaz al cortometraje español
YearAwardMovieResult
2019Best Animated Short FilmLa NoriaWinner

Director