"Barry the Blobfish started out as a story I came up with for homework in a screenwriting class. I had seen an article collection of 'The World's Ugliest Animals,' with the blobfish being one. I thought the image was so human that I felt he would make an excellent relatable character. My sister and I get creative when coming up with stories together, and it was fun coming up with a lonely fish with a seemingly insignificant friend. I had conceptualized it for a storybook for children, but the screenplay worked out so well. I easily visualized it as a short film. So, I went to Academy of Art University to pursue a Masters in 3D Character Animation to make it a reality.

The process was fun and challenging, as we were all learning and developing our skills while going to school during the whole process. The rig was an old Long Winter Studios rig called Patrick, which I bought and modified; and we went through MANY modifications throughout the process, including rigging fixes, and some funny bugs, and versions of Maya, but we managed to hold him together. Of course it couldn't be without the support and assistance from my wonderful team: my boyfriend, Paolo Trelles, is the voice of Barry; my sister, Lorina Alfaro, is featured in it with her boyfriend, Matthew Capurro, who composed the music; my rigger, Soojin Chyu, who wrestled with Barry many times; and, of course, my fabulous mentors on my thesis, Simon Christen and Kevin Andrus."