José "Quique" Rivera

José "Quique" Rivera is a contemporary photographer, sculptor, self-taught stop-motion animator, and award-winning filmmaker born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1986.

He is currently based in Glendale, California and is the CEO and founder of Acho Studio, an animation studio in Los Angeles that focuses on stop-motion animation.

Rivera attended the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus where he received a Bachelor's degree in Audiovisual Communication with a minor in Sculpture in 2008, graduation Summa Cum Laude.

Rivera also attended the Global Stone Workshop in Carrara, Italy in 2008 for marble sculpting, and attended Universidad de Málaga in Spain as a student of the International Student Exchange Program in 2007.

RIvera implements a mix of sculpture and stop-motion animation to present surreal narratives of real world circumstances and issues.

(This is How Grand Ideas Are) was Rivera's thesis work for the Master's program in Experimental Animation.

(What a City), 2010, is a short stop-motion film created out of photos Rivera took in Puerto Rico alongside recycled objects and materials such as paper and wire, and was finished in California.

The film shows a bird trying to escape a bustling city, but continually getting trapped by power lines, pollution, and money.

Rivera also had a solo art show titled Menuda Urbe including still works inspired from the film in 2011.

Rivera does not currently have work on display in a museum or gallery since he works mainly in stop-motion animation and film, but has had work exhibited at the Museum of Latin American Art, the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, the Galería Guatíbiri, and the Francisco Oller Gallery of UPR Río Piedras.

(Lionfish Delusion) 2012, is a neo-noir stop-motion film featuring two lionfish, made from silicone, aluminum wire, epoxy, cotton and fabric, and their battle of power and greed.

The film won the Grand Jury's Animated Short Award at the New Orleans Film Festival, as well as Best Animation at both the Cinefiesta: International Short Film Festival and Rincón International Film Festival.

Rivera has served on multiple juries at film and animation festivals, including the New Orleans Film Festival in 2013, where his film "El Delirio Del Pez León" won the Grand Juror Award the previous year.

The completed project consisted of over 7,200 still photographs taken from October 2013 to March 2014, that were then combined to create the stop motion film.

The video has been screened at over 40 film festivals and earned awards such as the Best Animation award at both the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival and the Rincón Film Festival, and was nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Music Video.

Later, he moved from Puerto Rico to California to have a better chance at an animation career, and continued on to obtain a Master's degree in Experimental Animation from the California Institute of the Arts in 2014.

While attending the California Institute of the Arts, Rivera received the LAIKA Annual CalArts Scholarship.

It is a stop-motion film created alongside René Pérez Joglar in 2014, made to be a music video for Puerto Rican band Calle 13's song of the same title.

The film took 70 days to complete, using figures made from plasticine, resin molds, silicone, wire, thread, and epoxy resin, alongside other recycled and reused objects such as food cans.

In 2015, Rivera returned to the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, where he received his Bachelor's degree in 2008, to serve as a visiting professor to instruct a two week animation seminar in the School of Communication.

He has also worked as a workshop instructor at Atlantic University College.

Rivera has had his films shown at more than seventy international film and animation festivals, and has had several exhibitions, most recent of which being an exhibition at the Museum of Latin American Art.

He has collaborated with or been commissioned by brands including Disney, Dasani, PES film, and MTV.

Recently, Rivera worked as the stop-motion supervisor on the television series Wandavision, creating the "YoMagic commercial" seen in season 1 episode 6.

Some of Rivera's most notable awards include the Best Animation Award at the 2015 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, where he was also nominated for Best Music Video, and the Grand Jury Award at the 2012 New Orleans Film Festival.

Other awards include but are not limited to:

Rivera has won multiple awards for both his personal films as well as group projects, and in 2016, Rivera received the United States Artist Fellowship award, a monetary award given to recognize artists and their work.

A group project Rivera worked on titled "Paper" commissioned by American Honda Motor Company won both Best Commissioned Animation at the 40th annual Ottawa International Animation Festival as well as a silver award for Product/Service Animation at the 2016 Clio Awards.

The animation was also nominated for an Emmy Award under the Outstanding Commercial category.

Rivera has also received multiple nominations and honorable mentions, the most notable of which being the nomination of his film "Así de grandes son las ideas" for a Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.