Bill Drastal

Castaic CA, 91384

drastastic@gmail.com

818-209-0954

Artist, Animator, Professor

Summary

I am an experienced 2D artist and animator skilled in producing independent animated films, television animation, and video game development. Throughout my career, I have been known for delivering engaging content and creating appealing designs. I also love to teach and have been teaching higher education for almost 8 years.

Skills

Animation, visual storytelling, drawing, and illustration, creative problem solving, detail-oriented, with strong organizational skills. Multitasking, adaptable, and self-motivated. Teaching and college-level class design and creation.

Experience

Maxxie LaWow Drag Queen Super Shero – Chubby Beagle Productions – Producer, Head of Story, Storyboard Director, Animation Director, Art Director

Jan 2021 – Sep 2024

• Oversaw the movie’s story visualization and acted as the Director’s story curator, supporting the narrative vision.
• Directed storyboard artists in creating story animatics while collaborating with the Director and Writer on story concepts.
• Mentored animators remotely, planning action, staging, and camera choices as the creative story lead.
• Collaborated with producers to resource jobs, plan production pipelines, and ensure timely, on-budget storyboard assignments.
• Played a key role in hiring and developing the story department, fostering a positive collaborative atmosphere.
• Identified and resolved clarity and quality issues in drawings for pitches and proposed solutions to story problems.
• Worked with editors to refine story reels and ensured Story Artists had the latest designs while collaborating with the Production Designer and Layout Supervisor.

Bento-box Entertainment – Storyboard Artist “Central Park season 1” “Great North Seasons 1-5” “Housebroken season 1”

Jan 2019 – Feb 2025

• Worked as an in-house storyboard artist, creating production storyboard animatics from scripts.
• Storyboards depicted action, comedy, drama, and camera placement.
• Collaborated with directors and production staff, revised sketches as directed, and ensured adherence to the show’s vision
• Coordinated and directed other artists to ensure the timely completion of boards.

Sessions College of Design – College Professor

May 2017- Present

Comics and Visual Storytelling

• Created and taught a college-level course on making comics and visual storytelling
• Created course curriculum and syllabus..
• Facilitate student discussion and learning.
• Create short video content to grade student work.
• Temporarily taught a class on Adobe Animate.

USC Virtual Research Navigator for Children’s Hospital LA (CHLA) – Chubby Beagle Productions – Producer, Storyboard Director, Animation Director, Art Director

May 2017- Jan 2018

Produced six animated Vignettes for USC Advanced Technology Division’s Virtual Research Navigator project. A virtual guide application to help patients at the Children’s Hospital answer questions about on-site research studies.

• Produced six short informative animations; the average length was 3 min.
• Designed all characters for the project.
• Hired Voice actors for both English and Spanish language versions.
• Created storyboard animatics for all six vignettes using Adobe Animate
• Coordinated with teams from USC and Children’s Hospital.
• The project was completed on budget and on time and is currently in use at Children’s Hospital LA.

Warner Bros Animation – Storyboard Artist

Oct 2017 – Oct 2018

Created storyboard animatics for the script-driven show “Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs.”

• Worked as an in-house storyboard artist, creating storyboards from scripts, editing and animating animatics, and adding sound effects. 
• Storyboards and animatics created with Adobe Animate.
• Worked directly with directors, producers, and the showrunner to help take on the extra workload, tighten boards, fix acting, and reboard sequences.

Sketched – Caricature Artist  

June 2017- May 2025

Drew caricature Portraits at various comic conventions.

• Helped set up and tear down the booth.
• Helped set prices for convention shows.
• Responsible for cash/card transactions and booth equipment maintenance.
• Created a fun atmosphere that helped the booth make sales and profits.

Dan Clark Productions – Freelance Storyboard Artist

June 2017 – Oct 2017

• Created storyboards for episodes of the script-driven, 3D animated show “Tasty Tales of The Food Truckers.”
• Worked as a freelance board artist, coordinating remotely with producers and directors to take and apply notes.
• Storyboards created with Storyboard Pro.
• Met all milestones and deadlines and completed two episodes ahead of schedule.
• Incorporated 2D animation principles as well as cartoon comedy timing and acting.

Playtika, Santa Monica – Artist and Animator

January 2016 – July 2016

Responsible for delivering character art, animations, and art assets for Bingo Blitz. Coordinated with Art Director, Engineering Team, and Marketing team to ensure art files were correctly set up to work online and with the game’s programming.

• Created character art, background art, and animation for the Miner Mole and Fishing mini-game. Coordinated with Game Producers, Art Directors, and engineers to ensure the best experience for game players.

Renegade Studios – Contract Storyboard artist, character, and background designer

August 2015 – December 2015

• Created storyboards and animatics for short animations in Adobe Flash. Based on a client-supplied script.
• Coordinated with clients to ensure boards delivered the correct mood, ideas, and project themes.
• Created designs for ABCmouse through Renegade Studios.
• Design work included designs for Backgrounds, Characters, and props.
• Worked in Flash and Illustrator to match design needs and meet client notes and specifications.
• Coordinated with the director to make sure the art was delivered at the best possible quality

PlugDj – Animator

Oct 2014- August 2015

• Designed and Animated Avatars for an online music sharing community.
• Researched and edited dance references for the other animators to use for their work
• Worked with the Art director and site developers to maintain the site’s art style and bring users enjoyable Avatars.

Glass Labs Games – Illustrator and Designer

March 2014- May 2014

• Designed and created backgrounds for an educational game set on Mars
• Coordinated designs with the Game Designer and Art Director to ensure the final art met the game’s art style and quality standards

Appy Entertainment Inc – Animator

January 2013- February 2014

Responsible for creating multiple character animations for the mobile game Where’s my Perry, Calling All Agents, done for Disney Interactive.

• Defined character’s traits and humor with storyboards and worked on the nitty-gritty issues of getting a finished character animated correctly and to spec in-game
• Proactive in getting things done and routinely implementing new approaches to speed up the workflow.

Lootdrop – Animator

September 2011- May 2012

• Flash animator on Ghost Recon Commander
• Animated all character actions, including running, shooting, and death animations.
• Helped build a character rig used for customizing players’ characters.
• Helped optimize the game by reducing the memory size of assets for quicker load times and faster performance.
• Coordinated with other artists and animators to make sure the art pipeline and assets for the animation were working with the character rig system

Google – Animator / Designer 

Mar 2009- May 2010

Responsible for creating multiple character animations for the online game “Super Poke Pets”

• Designed and animated “gold” items for sale in the in-game store at spp.com
• Helped concept and pre-visualize items for different weekly themes.
• Took on projects from other artists to help the team move ahead of schedule

Lee Harvin, Universal Studios – Caricature Artist  

June 2006- June 2008

Drew caricature Portraits at Universal Studios Hollywood

• Opened and closed booths.
• Responsible for cash/card transactions and booth equipment maintenance.
• Created a fun atmosphere that helped the booth reach sales and profits.

Kaman’s Art Shoppes, SeaWorld San Diego – Lead Caricature Artist  

Jan 2001- Dec 2004

Drew caricature Portraits at SeaWorld San Diego

• Opened and closed booths.
• Responsible for cash/card transactions and booth equipment maintenance.
• Created a fun atmosphere that helped the booth reach sales and profits.
• Trained new artists and was responsible for handling any issues at the booths.
• Stocked and maintained booths with frames, mattes, paper, etc.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Professional Leadership Training – BSA Adult Leadership Training, Woodbadge 2018-2019                  

Art Institute of California, San Diego – Bachelor’s in Media Arts and Animation 2002-2005

AWARDS

Won Director’s Choice for “Maxxie LaWow Drag Queen Super Shero”, Cinema Diverse, 2024

Won Festival Favorite for “Maxxie LaWow Drag Queen Super Shero”, Cinema Diverse, 2024

Won 3rd place on YouTube’s “Draw with Jazza, Animation Challenge of the Month” for September 2016 

Won Best Short Form Animation in 2004-2005 at the Art Institute of California “Bestival Awards’

Won best live-action film in 2005 at the Art Institute of California’s “Bestival Awards.”

Find my Work

Websites: https://billdrastal.com

https://chubbybeagle.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bill_drastal/

Followers: 1500

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.drastal