![\"Bink\u2019s](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Bink-Concept-Art.jpg\")
<\/a>Bink\u2019s first test is about to begin.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWe needed an animated short to show potential clients, so I wanted to create a main character that\u2019s cute and likable,\u201d Eric Miller (Univ Coll \u201905) said during a call from his Los Angeles home. \u201cBut animation can get really expensive, and since I was funding this on my own, I was trying to find ways to keep costs low.\u201d<\/p>\n
He found inspiration in the Minions\u2019 shorts that feature the yellow hooligans on a white background.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought a similar style was a good idea; I could use a simple background and it\u2019ll be character-driven and comedy-driven, and that\u2019s where the initial idea for Bink started,\u201d\u00a0Miller said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started throwing around ideas. We came up with a creature that\u2019s in a lab being tested, and each episode will be a different test,\u201d Miller explained. \u201cBecause we\u2019re trying to keep costs low, each episode is only 30 seconds. And this allowed us to spend more of the budget on making higher-quality characters and higher-quality renders.\u201d<\/p>\n His sharp focus on art and cartoons began when he was growing up in Canton, Ohio.<\/p>\n Eric Miller attended the 2016 Producers Guild Awards.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cI was inspired most by Disney, whether the company or the person. Originally, I had a few different things I really liked and was passionate about, animation or art being one of them,\u201d Miller recalled. \u201cI also found I really had a passion for business. I think it was learning about Walt Disney\u2019s story and how he started his own company and brought the two together, the art world and the business world, and realized I could make a business doing animation and that\u2019s where my dream came from.\u201d<\/p>\n And Disney said, \u201cIf you can dream it, you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n So the disciplined teen \u2014 he earned a black belt in kung fu at age 11 \u2014 started to look for a college to make it happen.<\/p>\n \u201cI went to The University of Toledo and met Peter Patchen, and he told me about the cyber arts program and part of that was 3-D animation, something I was really interested in,\u201d Miller said. \u201cAnd I also really liked the school, so I decided to go to Toledo.\u201d<\/p>\n At UT, Miller created two animated shorts: \u201cChessmate\u201d<\/a> in 2001 and \u201cMediocrity\u201d<\/a> in 2005.<\/p>\n Eric Miller, right, and Jeff Shiffman, co-owner of Boom Box Post, work on sound effects for Bink.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cEric was a creative and talented young artist who had a passion for storytelling through animation,\u201d said Patchen, chair of the Department of Digital Arts at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., and former UT associate professor of art from 1993 to 2006. \u201cHe was very demanding of himself and researched his projects independently and well beyond class assignments. He was also generous with what he learned and often helped other students.\u201d<\/p>\n With a little assistance from a high school acquaintance who offered a place to crash in Los Angeles, Miller headed West in July 2005. Three months later, he moved to Sherman Oaks, where he shared an apartment with two UT graduates: John Kundly (Eng \u201903) and Ben Hatch (Bus \u201905).<\/p>\n Bink strikes a martial arts defensive pose.<\/p><\/div>\n Miller worked at a slew of places \u2014\u00a0Apple Store, Walgreen\u2019s, B1 Media. Then he took a position at a temp agency that had a reputation for helping wannabes find work in entertainment. That led to a placement at DreamWorks Studios as a facilities production assistant, a job he later landed.<\/p>\n \u201cI did interview for Steven Spielberg\u2019s [production assistant] position for \u2018Indiana Jones IV.\u2019 The position was only a temporary one, so one of the questions they asked in the interview was, \u2018If you get this job, what do you want to do when it ends?\u2019 They try to help the PAs get to where they want to go, and I told them I really want to get into animation. And they smiled and said, \u2018We know some people in animation.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cSo while I didn\u2019t get the PA position for Spielberg, I was promoted to lead facilities PA. And, more importantly, when I applied for a position on \u2018Monsters vs. Aliens,\u2019 Spielberg\u2019s office called the DreamWorks Animation producers, who originally said they were looking for someone with more experience, and then they wanted to meet with me. This shows how important your network is in Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n He joined the studio in 2007. Miller was central office coordinator for \u201cMonsters vs Aliens,\u201d<\/a> animation coordinator on \u201cKung Fu Panda 2,\u201d<\/a> cross-site coordinator for \u201cMadagascar 3,\u201d<\/a> and modeling and surfacing production supervisor for \u201cHome.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cJuly 3, 2014, was my last day at DreamWorks, and July 4 was my first day of independence,\u201d he said and laughed.<\/p>\n![\"Bink](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Bink-logo.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/a>With former fellow DreamWorks Animation co-worker Charlie Petrek, Miller began shaping his small, sociable star.<\/p>\n![\"Eric](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Miller-at-2016-Producers-Guild-Awards.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Eric](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Bink-at-Boom-Box-Post.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Bink](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Bink-strike-a-pose.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Eric](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Eric-Miller-Animation-Studios-logo.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/a>But that vision of his own company still beckoned.<\/p>\n