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Experienced animator who worked at Blue Sky Studios opens new studio in Lehi March 3, 2018, 11:16 amIt was while Taylor was at Blue Sky Studios, where he helped create 15 of his 22 movies. His film credits include: Ferdinand, Ice Age, Rio, Horton Hears a Who, Robots, The Iron Giant, The Peanuts Movie, Epic and many more. His job titles have been storyboard artist, head of story, development artist and writer. After wanting to be closer to family, he and his wife moved to Lehi about a year ago to start a new adventure. Upon returning to Utah, he was an adjunct professor for Utah Valley University but quickly learned he did not like the 'bureaucracy' of higher education administration. To work full time in higher education, he discovered he had to have a master's degree. Taylor felt like his experience of two decades in the animation field outweighed the need to get a master's degree. He knew he could share his knowledge and expertise in another way. So with the help of his wife, Sue, together they created, designed and built the Yeti Film Studio which just opened on New Year's Eve. "The studio's mission is two-fold, first it is a place for me to continue to work in animation on freelance work and my own TV series, and second, it is a place to share my knowledge of animation with others who want to get into this great field," said Taylor. "There are many colleges teaching animation but few of them have professors teaching who have actually working in animation and the ones that do are quite expensive." A few of the classes that are offered at Yeti Film Studio are: cartooning for kids (5 weeks), make an animated movie (5 weeks), and storyboarding for feature films and TV (6 weeks). The website also mentions drawing and beginning animation, 2D and 3D animation, free workshops and intro classes for animation, and Boy Scout merit badge classes. Two fellow co-workers of Taylor's from Blue Sky Studios also help teach at Yeti Film Studio -- Seth Hippen and Dan Haring. Hippen has been an animator for The Peanuts movie, Epic, Rio, Green Lantern, Surf's Up, The Polar Express, Rio and many more films. Haring has been a lighting and compositing technical director on The Peanuts Movie, Rio 2, Hotel Transylvania, Arthur Christmas, Tangled, The Penguins of Madagascar, The Incredible Hulk and many others. According to Taylor, they were asked to come teach some studio classes in specific animation subjects. There are only about five students per class at the Yeti Film Studio so that each student gets the instruction and attention needed to learn that specific skill. The most popular class is 2D digital animation class where students make their own movie. "I want to build a community in Utah for animation and help inspire others to have fun telling stories in animation. I'd like to get this studio to grow large enough to produce animated productions, not just develop them," said Taylor. For a list of the classes offered, class fees, and other information, you can visit them online at yetifilmstudio.com. The community news source for Eagle Mountain Utah, Saratoga Springs Utah, Lehi Utah, American Fork Utah, Highland Utah, Alpine Utah, and The Cedar Valley, including Cedar Fort Utah and Fairfield Utah. Copyright 2025 The Crossroads Journal LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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