Us
When Cam and Benny first met at CalArts, they didn’t know what to make of each other. Cam thought Benny was a big ol’ science dork, and Benny thought Cam was one of those pretentious artist types.
Turns out they were both right.
Yet despite their differences, Cam and Benny realized they were creatively in sync. Soon debate turned into collaboration, and a rich partnership blossomed that has lasted fourteen years and counting.
Whether it’s through art, animation, or the written word, Cam and Benny just can’t stop making stuff.
It’s a problem – we’re getting help.
Cam Baity
Cam was born during a nasty heat wave in Richardson, Texas. He has been drawing ever since he figured out how to use his hands, and in second grade he wrote his first book about an adventurous wombat in fluorescent high-top sneakers named “Mr. Cuzul.” In fourth grade, he got his first taste of celluloid when he starred in an independent feature penned by Pulitzer Prize winning writer, Tracy Letts. Fortunately for Cam, the film was never completed.
He discovered Dungeons & Dragons in middle school and soon became obsessed with making art and telling stories. Attending the Arts Magnet High School in Dallas, Cam won accolades for his work including First Place in Painting at the 1996 Visual Arts Guild Exhibit. His obsessions with art and story collided when he studied animation at The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan as well as CalArts. He made short films, which screened around the world at festivals like Cinequest, Anima Mundi, and the BBC British Short Film Festival. With eighteen years of experience in the film industry, his credits include major motion pictures such as TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE and popular television series like SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS and ROBOT CHICKEN, for which he won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation.
Most recently, Cam has written on Dreamworks TV’s TROLLS, and he is completing his trilogy of fantasy novels published by Disney, THE BOOKS OF ORE. In his spare time, he has returned to the passion of his youth, threatening the livelihood of adventurers as their beloved and oft feared “Dungeon Master.”
Benny Zelkowicz
Born in Ottawa, Canada to professional musicians, Benny bucked family tradition to pursue a sensible career in the hard sciences. While studying biopsychology at Oberlin College, he spent countless hours in the lab, carefully analyzing the tiny brains of the African knifefish.
By the time he graduated, he realized that his own brain was consumed not with his research, but with the film he was animating in his spare time. So Benny left the poor fish alone and earned an MFA at CalArts, where he developed a special love for stop-motion, clay, and sand animation. His award-winning film, The ErlKing, screened at Sundance, Annecy, and The New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. Benny directed the BBC/CBC animated series Lunar Jim and provided the voice for the title character.
Over the past seventeen years, Benny has worked on tons of commercials, music videos, feature films, and TV shows, and is the co-author of the acclaimed BOOKS OF ORE trilogy, published by Disney-Hyperion. He lives in Ohio.
