Saskatchewan farm boy wins Emmy award

By Joan Janzen

Saskatchewan young people were encouraged when listening to former Rosetown graduate, Bob Bowen share his success story. He shared his journey from farm boy to Emmy award winner, on November 24th at the West Central/Regina District Industry Education Council “Careers Spotlight”.

Bob grew up on a family farm near Sovereign during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Kevin Gawletz from the Sun West School Division said, “I taught Bob in Milden Central School, and then again in Rosetown Composite High School.” Bob’s family moved to Rosetown about the same time as Kevin came to town to teach. “I do remember Bob was a doodler and his notebooks often had as many sketches in them as they did notes. He was very good, even then without any formal training.”

While at school, Bob enjoyed doing the cartoons for a small classroom newspaper, and like most kids he enjoyed watching Saturday morning cartoons and movies on a VCR (for those who remember). He was also a big Star Trek fan, a trait which later showed up in some of his work.

While in high school, besides doodling, Bob would create caricatures of his classmates. After his high school graduation, he attended the University of Saskatchewan with the goal of becoming a teacher. However, a summer job at SaskPower led him to three years of following in the footsteps of his dad and grandfather, as he worked as a lineman. While working in the power plants near Estevan, Bob honed his old high school skills of doodling, this time on napkins at lunch hour, while joking around with his fellow employees.

Who knew that something as simple as doodling on napkins would be the first step toward a successful career? But that’s exactly what happened. Bob had always wanted to pursue art, so at the age of twenty-five, he took a leave of absence from work to attend art school in New Jersey.

At that time he discovered storyboarding, which is a big foundation of the television animation business. His first job in Hollywood was working on the storyboards for the 2000 film “Dungeons & Dragons”. He also worked on a show called “Futurama”, enjoying the type of humour it offered, similar to that of his favourite childhood TV show, “The Simpsons”. Later on in his career, he went on to direct similar shows such as “Family Guy” and “American Dad”. For a period of twelve years, Bob directed the kind of shows he had always enjoyed watching.

In 2016 he worked as a director on the show “Milo’s Murphy Law” for Disney, which were also the creators of “Phineas & Ferb”. He’s now Animation Director and Executive Producer for Disney Television Animation.

During the 48th Daytime Emmy Awards in June of 2021, Bob and his team won the Outstanding Writing Award for a Daytime Animated Program with 2020’s “Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe”. Bob directed the movie, working on the film for three years.

He is now working from his home in Simi Valley, California, with a goal in mind to develop his own series. This former Saskatchewan guy’s success is incentive for any future filmmakers in the province. He is an outstanding role model for anyone who would love to transform their artistic hobby into a thriving career.

In spite of his success, the 51-year-old still appreciates and remembers his Saskatchewan roots. This is evident in his profile which says “he grew up on the icy farming plains of Saskatchewan, Canada, surviving 24 arctic winters.”

Bob gets excited when he spots a Saskatchewan licence plate in Los Angeles traffic, and still retains the typical Canadian characteristic of politeness. Kevin Gawletz, his former teacher, said he last spoke with Bob a few years ago when he was back home for a visit, and took time to speak to an art class at Rosetown Central High School.

“Bob is truly a person who is an example of following your passion,” Kevin concluded.

Bob Bowen holds his Emmy for Outstanding Writing Award for a Daytime Animated Program.