Julija grew up in Canada. As the oldest sister she often helped take care of her siblings. Her mother, who worked as a travel agent, instilled a deep sense of creativity and “making”. As a family they wouldn’t buy Christmas presents for one another but would make presents. She attended a preforming arts high school where people were literally dancing in the halls. Julija was more interested in the visual arts and after high school followed in her aunt’s footsteps pursuing a degree in graphic design and advertising.
After graduation she landed an entry level gig at an ad agency she wasn’t crazy about, leaving after a few months. She went back to working as a lifeguard. Around the same time Julija started working as a fashion model. That opportunity allowed her to travel all over Europe, eventually living in London and working at Harrod’s as a perfume girl. One night she was watching a tv program on Channel 4 about animation and she decided to go back to school to study animation.
Julija returned to Canada to attend Sheridan. Her first contact and mentor was Wayne Gilbert, who also later went on to work at ILM. For her senior project, Julija and lifelong pal Jenn Emberly, teamed up and made a short animated film that got into numerous film festivals and set the stage for a successful career.
Julija and Jenn were hired as an animation team to come work at ILM. They packed up a car, driving from Toronto to San Francisco, and went straight to work on Jumanji. Julija worked at ILM for ten years on numerous projects including; The Mummy, Mars Attacks!, Men in Black 2, and others. She also did work for The Orphanage and IMD on additional projects.
After starting a family, Julija started her own small business where she developed an app and curriculum for parents to engage in educational projects with their kids 6 and under. Shortly thereafter, Julija and her family decided to move to Australia where she started Tinker Tank, a brick and mortar educational maker space offering experiential, kid driven, project based learning.
Julija is an inspiration and the work she’s doing with Tinker Tank is so important. It was great fun to catch up with her and hear her story.
