ALUMNA SPOTLIGHT
The Art of Storytelling Oregon Alpha NATALIE NOURIGAT started her time at Disney as a storyboard artist on widely acclaimed films like “Encanto,” “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” As a storyboard artist, she was responsible for creating the rough draft of each movie. “We receive the script from the writer and create the first images of the movie,” Natalie says. “We draw out everything you see: the camera could be here, the character could be this far away, they could act like this. It’s a black and white, sketched out layout of the entire movie.” Natalie had her first taste of directing when she was chosen to participate in Disney’s experimental Short Circuit Program—a program that encourages anyone at
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Walt Disney Animation Studios to pitch an original short film through a blind submission process. Through the program, Natalie created Exchange Student, her first animated short. The 90-second short film was also Natalie’s first-ever completed film project and was an incredible learning experience. “I didn’t go to art school, so I didn’t have a lot of training,” she says. “The cool thing about Disney is you know you’re working with some of the best people in the business and you’ve got the support of the studio.” At the end of the program, Natalie was invited to pitch theatrical animated shorts. Inspired by her native Oregon beaches, Natalie pitched “Far From the Tree,” the animated short which would go on to play in theaters before
