Chris Bennett Crafts a Career in Animation
Dietrich School alumnus Chris Bennett followed his interests and established a successful career in the film industry.
“My family are big movie-goers. My mom loves the golden age of Hollywood, and we would fill out Oscar ballots every year,” remembers Bennett. “Film studies and I were a natural attraction.”
Originally aiming for a degree in pharmacy, Bennett pivoted to film and media studies early in his undergraduate career.
“I switched majors into the Film Studies department because almost all of my electives were within the program,” says Bennett. “Turns out, a film studies major was beneficial for my career. Learning about editing techniques, film theory, and its global persuasive power inspired me to be a filmmaker and storyteller.”
Bennett graduated from the Dietrich School in 2016 and worked for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) for several years before enrolling in a master’s program in multimedia and design at Syracuse University in 2020. There, he built upon the strong foundation of media literacy and software skills established during his undergraduate career. Bennett says he “persevered through the pandemic by taking design courses and teaching myself how to animate.”
“I refined my design and animation in graduate school and went on to produce a successful animated short that went on to two dozen festivals,” offers Bennett. “I premiered my master’s thesis / first short film, “Level One,” at Animation Block Party in NYC and changed the trajectory of my career. I met a bunch of animators and realized I could continue to tell short stories to share with like-minded artists.”
Themes that permeate Bennett’s work include bright colors, profound shapes, and good timing. Bennett says his brain uses humor as a crutch to keep the horrors of the world at bay.
“It’s the whole, ‘If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry,’ sorta deal,” says Bennett. “And I’ve been doing it for almost 30 years at this point, so you could call me an expert. Any situation can be funny if you pretend the world is Alice in Wonderland. Nothing makes sense and we’re all following these made-up rules, so what if we spin it around and go all-out ridiculous. That’s the fun thing about animation—anything is possible!”
Most recently, Bennett released a darkly humorous animated short film, “How to Save a Baby from a Snake Attack,” a comedic interpretation of job training videos he has been forced to watch over the years.
“I’ve watched ‘how-to’ videos on the most basic of tasks, so I chose a very niche task with very high stakes,” explains Bennett. “I want to keep creating fun animated content. Bright colors and big actions. This is my first instance of ‘I can make whatever I want, no matter how stupid or short,’ and turns out people like it!”
Bennett currently has his hands full with a variety of different projects split between marketing, freelance animation, and passion projects, and has plans to produce his own animated series. In the future, Bennett intends to run a boutique animation studio.
“I used to think this was a pipe dream, but the more I work the more I realize I am my own animation studio, I just want a fun office and a few colleagues and to make animated content for smaller local businesses and to use some of the revenue to produce some more artful animated shorts.”
While he currently lives and works out of Madison, Wisc., Bennett maintains his connections with the Pittsburgh area, visiting multiple times each year. Bennett also remains an active member of Pittmo, a group of Pittsburgh animators and designers.
“Pittmo is a group of talented motion designers sharing their work and tips and sometimes have jobs come their way for short contracts,” says Bennett. “They host a monthly animation contest with a prompt and color palette and we get together to discuss all the entries and a winner is chosen! I’m a big fan of theirs—I have the T-shirt to prove it!”
While his education served as a solid foundation for his career, Bennett emphasized the importance of gathering experience outside of the classroom.
“This is a fast-paced field and new software/tools are popping up all the time, especially with AI making its debut in the design industry,” says Bennett.
“All I can ask from an audience is a reaction, whether it’s a laugh or a gasp,” Bennett says of his work. “Emotional investment is a lot to ask of an audience, and you have to earn it with well-crafted storytelling. Nothing is worse than boring and I don’t intend on ever being boring.”
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