Norland Téllez, PhD

Norland is an Artist and Teacher with over 20 years of experience in the animation industry. He graduated from CalArts in 1999 as a 2D animation artist, trained at Walt Disney Studios, Turner Feature Animation, and Warner Brothers Feature Animation. 

As a Writer and Director Norland has produced award-winning educational properties, notably Once Upon a Sign mini-series for DawnSignPress and SignWorldTV, which features deaf actors using American Sign Language with voice-overs.

As a teacher of Life Drawing and the animated arts, Norland has taught at CalArts and Santa Monica Academy of Entertainment and Technology, as well as AIC-LA.

Norland completed a Masters and Doctorate degrees in the study of mythology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. He graduated in 2010 with a dissertation on the Popol-Vuh, a classic of Mayan mythology. During his time there, he was also the recipient of the Joseph Campbell Research Grant in 2006.