Colin Heck
Director/Storyboard Artist/Character Designer/Animator
Ben 10, Cartoon Network, kids action comedy
Supervising Director
I'm currently in charge of the entire board team for this board-driven action comedy.
Glitch Techs, Nickelodeon, kids action comedy
Director, pilot
After it had languished in development for two years, I was brought in to direct a new animatic for this project. It was picked up to series and is currently in production.
Harvey Beaks, Nickelodeon, kids comedy series
Storyboard Director, 9 episodes.
My first experience with writing from an outline, as it’s a board-driven show.
Legend Of Korra, Nickelodeon, kids action-adventure series, 2011-2013:
Director, 16 episodes. Nominated for Best Directing Annie for “Night Of A Thousand Stars.”
Storyboard supervisor
Storyboard revisionist
The highlight of my career so far. The least comedic but most beautiful and ambitious show I’ve worked on. When I started directing, I got to create the pipeline for animatics, setting the rhythm for the rest of the production.
Allen Gregory, Fox primetime comedy starring Jonah Hill, Bento Box, 2011:
Director, 1 episode
My first piece of directing that actually appeared on air. Notable mostly for our attempts to re-create Wes Anderson’s cinematic style in animation.
Flyin’ With Brian, Fox pilot starring Brian Regan, Bento Box, 2010:
Director, 8 minute presentation, animated with Harmony.
Character Designer
I was able to put some of the Harmony expertise I had learned on NFH to work on this pilot, using it to import Flash files from the overseas studio for compositing and effects. All retakes were animated in-house in Harmony.
Neighbors From Hell, Dreamworks/Fox/TBS co-production primetime comedy, airing on TBS, Bento Box, 2010:
Storyboard Artist
Harmony animator
Development Animator (walk cycles, mouth charts)
I started on NFH doing character animation, then transitioned to storyboards. When the boarding phase was over, they trained me in Harmony for two weeks and I spent the rest of the production animating scenes in that program.
Batman: The Brave and The Bold, WB Animation, 2010
Storyboards, 1 episode
Maggie, Fox pilot, Film Roman, 2009
Director
Another 8 minute Fox pilot, animated in Flash. I went to Dublin for a week to supervise the Irish Flash studio.
Broken Home, Fox pilot, Film Roman, 2009
Director
Character Designer
This was my first real directing experience: a pilot starring Rob Riggle written by my friends Jordan Young and Elijah Aron.
The Simpsons, Fox primetime comedy, Film Roman, 2009
Storyboard Artist
Boarded for 3 episodes, including the 20th Halloween episode.
The Simpsons Ride, Universal Studios Theme Park attraction, Film Roman, 2008
Assistant Director
I helped director John Rice and writer Matt Warburton develop the ride concept from its beginning. Oversaw several sequences of animation for the screens seen in line for the ride. Worked with CG studios to create the animation for the ride itself.
The Simpsons Movie, Film Roman & Rough Draft Studios, 2007
Storyboard Artist
Almost true feature boarding, in that we had a very wide aspect ratio and did each sequence seven or eight times. During the production’s down-time, I got to direct what ended up being a Simpsons music video for a Japanese band.
Futurama, Rough Draft Studios, 2007
Storyboard Artist
Drawn Together, Comedy Central, Rough Draft Studios, 2006
Storyboard Artist
Family Guy, Fox, Fox TV Animation, 2005
Storyboard Artist
I worked on one episode, Griffin Family History, which was intended to be more cinematic than the rest of the shows at that time. I also animated walk cycles when characters needed special walks.
American Dad, Fox, Fox TV Animation, 2004-2005
Assistant Director
I was one of the first employees hired when this show started, and I got to board the main title sequence before settling in as an assistant director to Brent Woods and later Anthony Lioi. I got to design and board fantasy sequences for a World Of Warcraft-based episode, too.
Teen Titans, WB Animation, 2004
Storyboard Artist
My first genuine boarding job, on a cartoony action show.
Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law, Cartoon Network, 2003
Storyboard Artist
I boarded on a two-part episode centered around the death of Dyno-Mutt. Heady stuff.
The Simpsons, Fox, Film Roman, 1999-2004
Character Layout Artist, Storyboard Revisions, Storyboards
I spent 6 years doing mostly character layout, with the occasional board revision assignment and even more occasional sequence to board if I begged hard enough.
The Oblongs, WB, Film Roman, 2001
Character Layout Artist
Aside from the now-extinct position of Character Layout, I got to animate some walk cycles for the main characters in between seasons on The Simpsons.
Mission Hill, WB, Film Roman, 1999
Character Layout Artist, Storyboard Revisions
My first animation job. I learned how everything worked here, and got to do my first animation on the main titles. Wheedled my way into doing some board revisions before the series was cancelled.
Proficiencies:
Storyboarding, Character Design, Editing, Animation, Directing, Sheet Timing, Compositing, Writing
Programs with which I am proficient:
Storyboard Pro, Photoshop, Harmony, Sketchup, Flash