SEAN COLE Central Supervisor
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS
What does a central supervisor do?
A central supervisor gets to touch all sides of the process. It’s kind of a catch-all department for the entire show - I have to make sure that the whole production goes as smoothly as possible and that nothing falls through the cracks. I make sure the departments are getting all the information they need about re-dos and changes, and I’m the conduit between the production and other departments such as marketing and consumer products in the studio. A normal day for me is to expect that today is going to be different than yesterday. For instance, one day maybe I’ll help make sure the standee has been going through smoothly, or focus on publicity stills, or make sure that all of our on-holds and re-dos are going through or even all of the above. It changes from day to day. Also, the central supervisor is the right-hand man for the Associate Producer and Production Manager. If they need an answer, I help them find out what that is.
How long have you been here?
I’ve been at DreamWorks since October 2007. I moved from Ohio to California and landed a job as story production assistant in story on How to Train Your Dragon. It was really cool because I got to watch the story transition and evolve. I also worked as a coordinator in the How to Train Your Dragon Animation and FX departments, and as central supervisor for Rise of the Guardians.
What is it about Guardians that sets it apart?
First and foremost, the world is incredibly rich. It’s not just one rich world with a lot of history – take that and multiply it by six, because there are six legendary characters with a huge history and a world for each of them. The other thing is that they’ve really tried to root it into reality. We’re taking all of these legendary people that we’ve known throughout history and grounded them into our world. It feels realistic but at the same time it also feels stylized.
What do you do with your free time?
One of my biggest hobbies is to homebrew. It takes up pretty much every weekend and I’ve been at it since early 2011. Before that, I was still up in the air about whether I wanted to go the production route or if I wanted to be an artist, so I was exploring different programs as side projects. When I decided that I like the production route a lot more, I had more time to pick up a hobby. I picked up home-brewing and I got addicted. The biggest draw is the constant learning.
What is your favorite part of Dreamworks?
The people. None of my other work experiences have provided such a positive group of people. People here are very collaborative, very cooperative, and driven but not aggressive. Everyone is driving for the same goal, and that goal is for this place to succeed because we really believe in this place and the product. We believe in each other. Since I started here, I have seen everyone truly believe in each other. That is the reason why we appear in the “Top 100 Companies to Work For.” It’s not because of the facilities and it’s not because of the perks; it’s because of the people.
