A conversation with Doug Vitarelli
A few years back Evens was a student of mine, and a classmate of Annastacia Henry-Ramos who we interviewed in May 2024, at SUNY Fredonia. He stood out because he had a desire to have his own animated series and, 7 years later, has finished the pilot, Untainted. It was the concept of creating a show in his head and bringing it to life that he gravitated towards.
Tell us when you wanted to have your own animated series.
I had the blessing and the curse to know at a very very young age what I wanted to do when I was growing up.I know I wanted to get involved in animation and be my own showrunner since the age of 10. I just remember on January 27, 2010, and I remember the day because I wrote it down.
It was the premiere of this Nickelodeon show, Fanboy and Chum, Chum. This one where it kind of clicked in my brain. I proceeded to go into my mom’s library and grab some empty binders and I just started drawing characters and writing episodes and scripts based off of the characters I made.
Influences?
I listen to a lot of music. I make playlists on Spotify and if I have a certain project in mind and I have trouble thinking of a scene I’ll listen to a song and then that will spark an idea.
Which musicians?
I like Erykah Badu. Rap wise Kendrick Lamar. In terms of storytelling and animated series, I would say BoKack Horseman has a huge influence on me. From the writing aspect, I think it’s one of the shows where the writers took their time to make that show.
So I remember that you had this idea back in school.
I started working on the pilot freshman year of college.
How long did it take you to finish?
Seven years.
Wow, good for you. So when you first started the business environment changed considerably. How do you plan on getting it out there?
All I know is I wanted to create and didn’t want to wait for an opportunity when I have two hands myself. I feel like that’s kind of always been my approach.
I recently got my LLC for my own animation studio. And the dream really is to have my own little Independent Studio. Right now I’m watching as many videos as I can on marketing.
I’m just trying to push it through on all my social media platforms, Instagram Tick Tock, whatever way possible.
So I know you just finished and you have marketing, you have festivals, but have you come up with any ideas for the next one?
It takes very, very little for me to be inspired.
I have plenty of ideas, It’s just all about deciding which to choose next. And that’s an aspect of life, especially in art. Why not push myself to try and do this now because I’m thankful for Untainted in so many ways. Starting this project and allowing myself to make many mistakes and along the process it allowed me to improve more.
