Brampton raised Aminder Dhaliwal, 26, has a job that comes with some serious bragging rights.
Dhaliwal, alumni of Sheridan College’s animation program, is currently living her dream as a storyboard artist for Nickelodeon in Los Angeles.
She has worked on popular shows such as Sanjay and Craig, Fairly Odd Parents and is now responsible for writing the script and storyboard for an entire episode for Nickelodeon’s yet-to-be-premiered showPinky Malinky, a comedy about an “infectiously positive hotdog” navigating school and life.
“I started as a storyboard revisionist, an entry level position, where I would revise the storyboard artist's work based on notes from the directors and creators of the show,” Dhaliwal said. “After revising for two years, I became a storyboard artist. In this position, I write a script and storyboard the entire episode before pitching it for notes. Although it’s been four years, I still feel like I'm learning loads, especially because I'm surrounded by so much talent.”
It all started when Nickelodeon visited Sheridan’s Oakville campus where she was studying, to promote its prestigious internship program. Dhaliwal applied and was selected.
She got her start with Robot and Monster. Navigating her way around Los Angeles was initially nerve-wracking, said Dhaliwal, but the supportive crew taught her the ropes and made her comfortable. Soon, she settled nicely into her job.
Then one day, Dhaliwal was asked to report to duty in the studios of Nickelodeon’s popular series Fairly Odd Parents. It was a step up from her job as a storyboard revisionist.
“Working on Fairly Odd Parents was a fairly odd and surreal experience because I was working on a show that I used to watch on TV,” she said. “It was quite intimidating working with a very experienced crew, but everything turned out fine. Then, I got hired as a storyboard artist for Sanjay and Craig. I wrote scripts in addition to drawing. The show was a great fit for me.”
When she’s not creating storylines and animated characters, Dhaliwal volunteers at local elementary schools in L.A. She’s also a mentor to a high school student.
Dhaliwal’s journey from Brampton to L.A. has literally been a dream-come-true, she said.
When her friends were working retail jobs in high school, Dhaliwal would be immersed in a world of easels and paints and designing murals. Even now, after a full day of drawing at work, when she gets home, Dhaliwal said she invariably reaches for a pencil.
The former student of Chinguacousy Secondary School said she was initially keen on taking a design course at Sheridan College and animation was in fact her second choice, but after attending a talk about the school’s award-winning animation program, Dhaliwal was inspired and decided to switch.
“The studio itself is colourful, bustling with different productions and there's free candy, cereal and coffee everywhere, or the essential 'C's as I call them,” she explains. “I grew up watching Nickelodeon shows and never thought one day I would work here. It’s all about little bit of chance, whole lot of preparation and hard work that has gotten me to my dream job.”