MIC: Austin Animation Panel - February 16th

Austin Animation Panel

When: Friday, February 16, 2024 - 4:00-5:15 pm CT

This event is part of the Animation Celebration presented by the department of Radio-Television-Film!

Please join us for a Q&A session where leaders in the Austin Animation Industry discuss their careers, the scope of their work, and their views on the media industries. Panelists include Carrye Glazar (Executive Producer, Austin Community College Television), Brad Graeber (CEO, Powerhouse Animation Studios), Austin Harper (Supervising Producer, Rooster Teeth), Evan Narcisse (Senior Writer, Brass Lion Entertainment), and Craig Staggs (CEO, Minnow Mountain).

To RSVP, please fill out the form & we will send out the Zoom link day-of. 

Speaker Biographies 

Carrye Glazar (Executive Producer, Austin Community College Television)

Carrye has worked for over two decades in content development and production at various companies. After graduating from University of Texas at Austin with her Radio-TV-Film degree and a minor in Business Foundations, she worked as a production assistant for movie producer, Lynda Obst, on Fox 2000’s Someone Like You, and then with Benderspink in talent management and production. From there, she worked her way from assistant to Vice President of Development and Production at Everyman Pictures, Jay Roach’s (The Campaign, Austin Powers, Meet the Parents) production shingle based in Los Angeles. There she co-managed a film and television slate of 20+ projects for the company set up at various studios, networks, and financiers. 

Some produced projects include: 

Meet The Little Fockers (Universal), Borat (Fox), Bruno (Universal), The Campaign (Warner Bros), Dinner for Schmucks (Paramount), Charlie Bartlett (MGM), and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Disney). 

On the television side, she co-produced the Emmy Award winning political docu-drama Game Change with HBO, starring Julianne Moore.  She returned to Austin in 2014, and ran the original content division for Mighty Coconut, an animation studio, where she served as an executive producer on YouTube Original’s series, Kings of Atlantis, while developing the animated series adaptation of the Missy Piggle-Wiggle books written by Ann M. Martin (Babysitters Club) with Jessica Chastain attached to star, a live action movie adaptation of Randi Rhodes: Ninja Detective with Octavia Spencer attached to produce, and an adult driven animated feature with Rooster Teeth/Warner Media. 

Currently, Carrye serves as the Executive Producer of Austin Community College’s public media outlet and television station, ACCTV (on Spectrum, Astound/Grande, Suddenlink, and AT&T U-Verse) located at the Austin Media Center at ACC Highland Campus in partnership with Austin PBS- KLRU (Austin City Limits). She oversees all day-to-day operations, show content development and production, commercials/ads, and partnerships for the cable channel.  She loves living in Austin, TX with her husband, Jared, and sons, Owen and Ford.

Brad Graeber (CEO and CCO, Powerhouse Animation Studios)

Brad Graeber is one of the founders of Powerhouse Animation Studios, Inc. in Austin, TX and Los Angeles, CA.  He currently serves as the CEO and Chief Creative Officer.  He has served as executive producer or supervising producer on 13 seasons of animated seasons for Netflix including Castlevania, Seis Manos, Blood of Zeus, Masters of the Universe: Revelation and Revolution. Brad has worked in animation for 27 years.

Austin Harper (Supervising Producer, Rooster Teeth)

Austin Harper is an animation supervising producer that has worked for over a decade in content development and production, event and project management, and video game publishing. After graduating from the University of North Texas and working in the hospitality management industry for a few years, he course corrected to something more fun and began working for the Dallas-based, indie entertainment brand, ScrewAttack, as a personality, event coordinator, and associate producer.

Austin eventually transitioned into video game publishing as the project manager of ScrewAttack Games until the team was acquired by Rooster Teeth and relocated to Austin, Texas. Since then, he has contributed production support to many of Rooster Teeth’s flagship animated series including “RWBY”, “Red vs Blue”, “Death Battle”, and “Camp Camp”, and has served as the project manager of content development.

Evan Narcisse (Senior Writer, Brass Lion Entertainment)

Evan Narcisse is the Senior Writer at Brass Lion Entertainment. He's worked as a screenwriter, producer, and narrative design consultant in video games, comic books, film, and TV, often focusing on the intersection of blackness and pop culture. As a journalist and critic, he wrote for The Atlantic, Time Magazine, Kotaku, and The New York Times, in addition to teaching game journalism at New York University and appearances as an expert guest on CNN and NPR. He's also the author of the Rise of the Black Panther graphic novel, Marvel's Black Panther: Wakanda Atlas, and The New Day: Power of Positivity. As a narrative design consultant, he's worked on Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Redfall, Marvel's Avengers, Gotham Knights, and the award-winning Dot's Home. He also served as story producer on the HBO Max documentary Milestone Generations, documenting the rise, fall, and rebirth of the groundbreaking black-owned comics company Milestone Media. A native New Yorker, he now lives in Austin, Texas.
 

Craig Staggs (CEO, Director, and Producer, Minnow Mountain).

Minnow Mountain is an animation studio specializing in rotoscope character animation. It was founded in 2012 by industry veterans Craig Staggs and Steph Swope.

Staggs draws on his background in art, theater, and film to ensure Minnow Mountain’s creative success in the animation industry with films and TV series like Tower, Undone, Apollo 10 ½, and Quantum Cowboys.  

An acclaimed independent producer and visual artist, Staggs is the visionary behind Minnow Mountain’s celebrated rotoscope approach, emphasizing storytelling, character development, and exceptional acting.