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Meet Jason Lopez of Creative Overdose Studios in Brookhaven

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Lopez.

Jason, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am originally from Atlantic City, New Jersey. I moved to Georgia in the late 80’s, early 90’s. My mom was a single parent with another one on the way. I moved to different locations like any child, but one thing stayed constant… I kept getting in trouble in school. So of course the classic “ye ol whoopin” happened with a punishment to follow where I would be confined to my room with no toys for a set period of time. She was a monster!! Lol jokes. Well, anyway, in that time, I discovered crayons and pencils—so I did what any young kid in prison would do…I started to draw on the walls, and at that time my Grandmother had just moved in with us (she’s the real hero of this story). When my mother found out that I had drawn on the walls of the apartment, the rage of 1,000 suns was upon me, or so I thought, but my Grandmother came to my rescue me. She saw that I had a talent for the arts. She suggested to my mother that she put me in an art program, and it just so happened she worked at the Art Institute, which was doing art classes for young kids. So every day, for God knows how long, my Grandmother would wake me up at 7 a.m. to rush to the bus stop to take me to art class which started at 9 a.m. I loved it. I loved drawing, painting, sculpting—anything to do with the arts. It was the only thing that held my attention.

Fast forward to high school. This was when I started to really look at art as a career. I met my first serious art teacher, Mrs. Anita Lloyd. This woman was strong and stern in the arts and I loved her for it! She started to teach me about the different periods of art and the different styles of art: color theory, light theory. She also said that the anime I drew (Dragon Ball z) was going to hinder my creativity. She was right. So the years of high school went by, and then it was time to graduate. I knew I wanted to go to an art school for Animation by that point. So I looked into the only school I really knew of and that was the Art Institute.

The time came for me to enroll, and to say the least, it was a struggle. I had poor grades, and unlike when I was in high school, I was no longer the “best artist in class”. I was surrounded by tons of talent, and the art I was so proud of I was drawing (anime Dragonball Z) became irrelevant. As a matter of fact, a teacher told me “if I catch you drawing that in my class I will fail you!” So, things got so bad that they considered kicking me out of school. Fortunately or not I came down with Bell’s palsy and had to take medical leave. I was gone for very long time. So long that it was almost impossible for me to get back into school. I thought my career as an animator was over I wanted to give up and just work a normal 9 to 5 like every other person. This was in 2002. I ended up getting back in school in 2011 through hard work and determination and God’s Favor. I had grown a lot in that time period and I started to take my art career more seriously. Everyone that I had known was gone—even most of the teachers, but one. I revisited the teacher that said he would fail me. Tom Biondolillo was a master of his craft and during our first meeting I was too young and arrogant to know it. He started to mold me as an artist. He was tough, but I knew I needed it. He taught me how to think as a professional artist. He showed me how to make money with my art. With his help I graduated with a 3.9 GPA versus the 1.8 GPA I had when I first started. I graduated in 2015.

Now for the good part! I couldn’t find a job, and I couldn’t get hired to save my soul. Jobs were bad, and the market was down—everyone remembers those years. Again, I started to get depressed, but I wasn’t hopeless. I remembered something that one of my college professors, Mark Smith, taught me. He said, “as an artist, it is your job to create; it doesn’t matter the medium you use. You must create!”

I created my own job with my new wife, Stephanie, who I met in school. We kept trying to figure out how to start a business and use the skills that we both learned to live the life we wanted to live. It just so happened that I decided to go up to the school to meet with my old teachers, but they weren’t there. Instead of leaving, I wanted to draw a little bit. I sat down in the cafe and started drawing, and wouldn’t you know it an old friend, Tyree Morrow, walks through the door. We got to talking and drawing, and he mentioned that he and some friends from back in the day had an animation studio called Creative Overdose Studios, and he wanted to bring me in on it.

To say the least, I was excited!! Little did I know that the studio was still young and there were a lot of bugs to work out, but I knew that was where I needed to be. There were a lot of ups and and downs, changing of positions and titles, laughing, crying, and getting angry with one another to create a proper foundation for the business. It took some years to get off the ground. Then, we started landing projects—some big, some small… but they were ours. With every project, we got better and better. We learned more and more about art and business. We were growing fast enough that we were able to hire more staff and employ interns like Jenn Curra, Rian Miller, who are amazing artists!

It became my dream to have an animation studio that fills in the gap that some networks stations forget about. At Creative Overdose, we want to produce quality and fun animation to inspire the youth of tomorrow to never give up on their dreams and what what they want to do with their life.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Dear God, no!!! This road has been hard and challenging! First and foremost, I had to learn how to be a leader, business owner, and a partner. I still have to practice my skills as an artist and some days, you can’t! I had to learn to manage my time: sometimes you can’t go play, because you have work to do. Not to mention dealing with the failures in your life that WILL happen. You have to overcome those trials to get the life you want and deserve.

Please tell us about Creative Overdose Studios.
My company is Creative Overdose Studios. We specialize in digital media and animation. We are known for helping our customers reach their goals with their branding. We also help with creative content such as animations, commercials, and video game design. I am proud to say that we have a company that gives artists a chance that may not normally get a chance to work in the industry. As we all know, sometimes trying to make your way in the media and animation industry is like pulling teeth. I think what sets us apart are the people that we have working with us. If you call our studio, you will talk to someone who actually cares, and not an automated system. We want to be a part of your project; we want to see your dreams come true.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I wouldn’t have wasted so much time…I would have listened to those who knew more than me and who were already in the position I wanted to be in; I would have been in better council. Most importantly, I would have let myself be so scared to fail.

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