Norland is an Artist and Teacher with over 25 years of experience in the animation industry. He graduated from CalArts in 1999 with a degree in film animation, while training and working at Walt Disney Studios, Turner Feature Animation, and Warner Brothers Feature Animation. 

As a Writer and Director Norland has produced award-winning educational properties in Once Upon a Sign mini-series which features deaf actors using American Sign Language.

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 in 2009 with a dissertation on the Popol-Vuh, a classic of Mayan mythology. He was also the recipient of the Joseph Campbell Research Grant in 2006 and currently writes for the Joseph Campbell Foundation.