With over 60 credits to his name – including postproduction work on hit series like Charmed, Nip/Tuck, 7th Heaven, ER, and HBO’s cult favorite Carnivale – Full Sail Digital Media graduate Sean Mullen knows how to make the television you watch look good.
Mullen has been working in the professional TV industry for nearly a decade, and has recently found a new fit for his talents at ImageROCKS – the groundbreaking Celebration, FL production house responsible for some of Walt Disney World’s biggest and best commercial spots.
“As far as Disney goes, we do their regional, national, and internal broadcast stuff – pretty much anything Walt Disney World related,” he explains. “We actually just finished up the Disney new job line spot, which is already up for an award! Disney has a certain look, so it all has to be nothing short of perfect, and that’s pretty much the note we hit every time. My producers here at ImageROCKS actually strive to go way past what Disney’s expectations are.”
As a self-confessed “Disney nut,” the past 12 months at ImageROCKS have been the role of a lifetime for the Full Sail alum. “I practically grew up at Disney World and this place has always meant a lot to me – so it’s really gratifying to have that cross over to my professional life. My boss, who’s been shooting Disney commercials for 15 years, is always calling me in and asking me which attraction is which because I spend so much time in the parks! There’s something about Disney that’s just inspiring to me – and every single day I have to be as magical as the park is. I love that challenge!”
Whether it’s creating special effects, editing together archival footage, or digitally erasing crew members from shots, that same level of excitement has translated directly into Sean’s advertising work for Disney – where the strict guidelines of the commercial format have proven to be the perfect creative outlet for his talents. “It may seem like a short amount to the viewer, but for someone in my position 30 seconds is actually a very long time,” he says, laughing. “And it involves a heck of a lot of more work than most people imagine – intricate things like rotoscoping, cutting out frame by frame, painting, and wire removal. We usually jam pack quite a bit into 30 seconds! But then that’s what’s so cool about the commercial business for me. Things are always fast-paced, and completely different each day. Nobody’s bored here, that’s for certain!”
With a workday that can include theme parks and roller coasters, Sean Mullen is having the time of his life at ImageROCKS. “I’ve wanted to work for Disney since my first trip to Epcot Center,” he says. “Now I’m here and it still holds that same magic, because the people that work on these projects are at the top of their game. This industry can be tough, but you meet people like my boss, or some of the Imagineers at Disney who are really about putting as much into their work as they can – and it’s just so inspiring. I’ve been working in this industry for nine years now, and the people I work with every day are far more creative than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. Graduating from Full Sail and going out into the industry, I don’t think that I could have asked for any more than that!”
