Beatriz Helena Ramos is an artist, entrepreneur, film director, producer and illustrator. She is the founder of Dancing Diablo Studio in New York and the inventor of Dada.nyc, a visual conversation platform where people speak to each other through drawings.
Early career
Ramos studied illustration at the Instituto de Diseño de Caracas and moved to New York in 1996 where she started working as a digital artist coloring comics. In 1997, Ramos began publishing editorial illustrations for The New York Times commissioned by legendary art director Steven Heller. That same year she was hired at MTV Animation and it was the beginning of a prolific career in animation. Later on, she went to work on TV animated series for Disney, MTV and Cartoon Network. In 2002 she founded Dancing Diablo Studio.
Selected animated TV shows
2002 to 2005 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series) Fox Kids. 2001 The Mousochist, a short film by John R. Dilworth 2001 Private Eye Princess - TV Special Cartoon Network 2001 JoJo's Circus - Pilot - Disney Channel 2001 Stanley (2001 TV series) Disney Channel 2000 Spy Groove MTV 2000 Sheep in the Big City - TV Series Cartoon Network 2000 Pollo Frito - Pilot Nickelodeon 1998 to 1999 Downtown (TV series) MTV. Nominated for an Emmy.
Selected illustrated children books
Don Quixote, 2008. Tricia's Talents. Picture Window Books, 2007. Icky, Sticky, Gross Stuff Series. The Child's World, 2007. African American Writers. Ballard & Tighe, 2004. Amelia Makes a Deal. Rigby, 2003. Spooky Stories. Publications International 2002.
Dancing Diablo Studio
Ramos decided to open the studio in January 2002, a few months after September 11, in the midst of a recession in New York. By April she had a six figure contract with 4Kids TV. "Brooklyn, New York is the home of a newly formed animation studio called Dancing Diablo. The studio set up shop in January 2002, and has already taken on some high profile projects, including work on Fox Kids' upcoming series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
Ramos and her business partner Diego Sanchez decided to open a sister office in Caracas, Venezuela in 2005.
As creative director of the studio, she is responsible for the fresh and original style that characterizes Dancing Diablo. Ramos has directed more than a hundred commercials and short films for TV and the web. Her work has been recognized at prestigious festivals around the world, including Ottawa International Animation Film Festival, Anima mundi Animation Festival in Brazil, ASIFA-East Animation Festival in New York, and Pictoplasma Character Festival in Berlin, among others. "Cheesy Breadville", a short film Ramos directed for PBS was recognized as one of the best short films of all time at the New York International Children's Film Festival. In 2009 Dancing Diablo got an Emmy recognition for its contribution to the Emmy Award winning program Between the Lions, a children’s literacy TV series broadcast by PBS Kids.
Ramos' work as a color and animation expert has been mentioned in several books including "Color: Messages and Meanings" by Leatrice Eiseman, "Becoming a Digital Designer: A Guide to Careers in Web, Video, Broadcast" By Steven Heller & David Womack.“Total Animation” by Judith Salavetz and Spencer Drate and "Your Career in Animation" By David B. Levy. It has also been feature in industry publications such as Creativity Magazine, Advertising Age, How Magazine, Animation Magazine, among others.
Entrepreneurship
Ramos is currently a mentor at the Founder Institute and a frequent speaker at business conferences. She occasionally writes articles about entrepreneurship. Most recently she published "Why Entrepreneurs Shouldn’t Waste Time On Personal Branding" Fast Company.