talent: MacFarlane is the creative genius behind the popular animated sitcom Family Guy, the fourth largest-selling TV series on DVD, and a newer Fox favorite, American Dad. He is also one of the most versatile talents in television, working as a producer, writer, animator, voice actor and lyricist.
making it: Just three years after graduation, MacFarlane became the youngest executive producer on TV when he struck a multimillion-dollar deal with the Fox Network to adapt his RISD senior thesis film into the irreverent series Family Guy. In addition to writing and directing the show, which earned an ardent fan base for pushing the envelope in animated comedy, he provides voices for three of the main characters and in 2000 won an Emmy for one of these — the diabolical baby, Stewie Griffin. Fox has since hired him to create American Dad and most recently, a new live-action show, The Winner, starring comedian Rob Corddry.
getting there: “RISD had a lot to do with getting me my first job,” MacFarlane says. “They sent my senior film to Hanna-Barbera to compete in this student competition and I ended up winning." That win opened the door to what is now Cartoon Network Studios, which hired him as a writer and animator for Johnny Bravo and Cow and Chicken. MacFarlane attributes much of his phenomenal success to his experience at RISD, where he supplemented his studio work with doing standup comedy and pursuing his lifelong love of music and voice. "In the film department, they teach you to do everything, and you have the freedom to experiment and find your own style,” he says. “I think overall it was just the open-minded approach at RISD that was the most valuable. Your final year it’s up to you to take all that you’ve learned and make the film or painting or prototype that you want to make, and that becomes your calling card in the industry.”
discoveries: “If you play your cards right and get lucky and work very, very hard, somebody just might notice you have talent. If they do, make sure you retain control — no matter how much money is being waved in your face.”
