Jasper Means

In 2016 I made the journey from Pittsburgh to New York City to meet with art director David Michael Friend about working as his assistant on Season 2 of Space Racers ( a children’s television show that airs on PBS and streams on Netflix). Shortly afterward I was offered the job and uprooted for a chance to live out my dream job of working on a cartoon. I worked alongside David for the next year creating and organizing html in Dreamweaver for a live production site with the animation studio overseas. I would regularly review scripts and storyboards while designing props in Photoshop for the show. The art department for the entire show consisted of just David and I, and we worked from his home office in upstate New York. Working on Space Racers was a dream come true and my introduction to working on a professional production team . My time spent on Space Racers also spawned a newly found interest in children’s entertainment for me that still lingers today.

”Jasper was great! I worked with him for about a year on the second season of Space Racers. He came in as a production assistant and left as someone I could trust with the ins and outs of animation production, tackling both the organization and artistic sides of the job. He never missed a day of work and was always willing to take on any task I threw at him. I could see his artistic skills grow throughout the project and can only predict that they will continue to grow at any job he is on. He has a refreshing urge to succeed in the design world and a willingness to take in any new skills that are needed for the job. I highly recommend him on any team!”

-David Michael Friend