The Clayman writes;

Special thanks to Alfie Lau and the Burnaby NOW newspaper for a nice feature article on our studio;

From food to cartoons-

Paul Moldovanos knew his dream job wasn't in the family restaurant business.
The Moldovanos name is synonymous with restaurants that formerly operated in the New Westminster area, but while his father still runs the family restaurant at the corner of Hastings and Boundary in North Burnaby, Paul Moldovanos is operating his own 3-D cartoon communications studio in the Edmonds area.

The studio, which is set up in his home, home can easily accommodate Paul and up to six associates he may need to sub-contract for the animation work. Moldovanos, trained as a cartoonist himself, takes care of most of the illustrations.

"I started this as a hobby in the late '90s," Moldovanos said, adding he had previously worked with a Victoria-based company that was doing some work in the animation industry. As he got more interested in the creative side, he started his own company and moved back to Burnaby and thus was born The Clayman and Associates Studio.

His studio now specializes in dimensional clay illustration, three-dimensional stop motion and computer-generated animation production. And from this work, Moldovanos has partnered with John Mallory at 3D Custom Foam Inc. to work on a couple of large foam sculptures that are based on Moldovanos' smaller clay creations.

Some of Moldovanos' big-name clients include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - a project in which he developed the posters for their national water safety campaign - Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and AtomShockwave, which is currently distributing one of The Clayman's short animated films on the Internet.

Moldovanos emphasized that his business does not finance third-party properties, nor does it accept unsolicited scripts unless somebody is looking to hire him for production services.
What the Clayman will do is provide anything from detailed illustrations to computer-generated animation on a variety of platforms, from television to Internet to short movies.
And while Moldovanos is trained as an artist, he knows that he'll get better results on the computer animation side by hiring associates for particular jobs.

When projects outgrow his home based studio, Moldovanos has been known to rent out studio space but, by keeping costs low, he hopes to get more contracts.
"We believe in putting (our) dollars where they belong: in the hands of our experienced crews and in the hardware we need to create amazing images," Moldovanos says on his website. "We couple the 'outside the box' low-overhead thinking with years of experience. Projects are completed on time, on budget (and) by artists who know how to do it right the first time."

Working out of his own home wouldn't work without the cooperation of his wife Tana Lynn, who is a makeup artist for the movie industry. "My wife is very supportive," said Moldovanos. "She works with real actors and I work with clay ones. Though the two jobs are very unrelated, we have quite a harmonious relationship."

While Moldovanos is always looking for new associates to work with him, he does have some words of advice for people interested in pursuing a career in clay animation production.
"You (need to) fully understand what kind of patience is needed for this kind of work," Moldovanos advises. "The style of animation is secondary to first knowing and understanding the basics of traditional, classical animation. Those who are flexible and fluent in all styles of animation are in high demand internationally.

Moldovanos himself has gained worldwide recognition, having been interviewed by local television outlets and also by NHK Japanese television.