Today’s women’s history month profile is Rebecca Sugar, animator and artist. Rebecca is already a history-maker in the industry, being the first woman to be a creator and showrunner for Cartoon Network. She’s created her own show and has been a crew member on multiple others.
Rebecca was born in 1987 and grew up in Maryland, and went on to attend the School of Visual Arts (also known as SVA) in New York City. The school is one of the more well-known universities for animation on the east coast. Her first major industry job was as a storyboard revisionist on the Cartoon Network series Adventure Time as a storyboard revisionist, and was later promoted to storyboard artist
She gained a lot of fame as a crew member not only for her more serious episodes, but for her musical contributions to the series. She wrote such memorable songs as “Daddy Why Did You Eat my Fries,” “I Remember You,” and “I’m Just Your Problem.” Her work on the episode “It Came From the Nightosphere” gained a Primetime Emmy nomination. Sugar became a more well-known crew member from the popular show.
In 2013, a set of shorts went online from Cartoon Network. This set of shorts included the likes of Clarence, Lakewood Plaza Turbo, and Sugar’s own pilot Steven Universe. The short was already slated to be produced into a full series for the network along with Clarence. The story revolves around a young boy named Steven, who lives with a group of magical feminine humanoids called the Crystal Gems. Being half gem on his mother’s side, they work together to save the world from trouble. Sugar left Adventure Time after the episode “Simon and Marcy” to devote time to the series.
She became the first woman to create a show for the channel. Steven Universe premiered in November 2013 with a revamped art style and the same voice cast. The show starred singer Estelle as Garnet, Sophia the First’s Zach Callison as Steven, Broadway actress Deedee Magno Hall as Pearl, and Barney the Dinosaur’s Michela Dietz as Amethyst. Lakewood Plaza Turbo creator Ian Jones-Quartey and Rebecca’s brother Steven Sugar (whom much of Steven is said to be based) are both crew members on the show.
Rebecca designed the cover for Estelle’s album, True Romance, which came out in February 2015. Forbes included her in their 30 under 30 list, saying that she wrote “some of the best” Adventure Time episodes. She did some work on the Genndy Tartakovsky film Hotel Transylvania as a storyboard artist.
Rebecca’s just begun her career, and she’s already accomplished much. Steven Universe has gained a large fanbase, and is already slated for two seasons. The show has had its own panels at several major conventions.
You can follow rebeccasugar on tumblr.
You can also follow her on twitter.
(Source: theanimationcenter)
