Dana Corrigan is an Animation Professor who has taught at the college level since 2011. She has an MFA in Animation from Savannah College of Art and Design and has worked as a freelancer since 2006 on projects including e-cards, interactive media, instructional videos, short films and TV pilots. She is the co-founder of Pencil Gator Animation Studio along with Joseph Solinsky, and was a speaker in SIGGRAPH 2021's Birds of a Feather: Women in Animation event.

Growing up, she would watch animated shows with her friends and discuss the plot, the characters and try to predict and evaluate what would happen next. The joy of a riveting plot, an exciting twist or interesting development of the characters grew beyond simple entertainment and helped to foster creative energy and inspiration. Even the disappointment of finding projects where the creators clearly abandoned the concept or dropped the plot still enticed her to wonder why. What happened behind the scenes that disengaged the creators or diverted the plot? Why did the characters feel hollow or forced? What would she do differently, if that project was hers? Those considerations and the drive to tell a story that inspires and captures her viewers the same way she had been in stories told before are her goal with Chorus to Dero.

Along with a love for storytelling, Dana also harbored a love for education, which lead to the pursuit of her MFA in Animation. It was a goal that would further her technical and professional prowess and also unlock the option of becoming an instructor. After graduating, she taught as an adjunct instructor at the University of Tampa and later at the University of South Florida, along with providing instructional services to Elite Animation Academy and Neuroshifts. Outside of teaching, she continued to work as a freelance animator and graphic artist, at times leading teams of freelancers on larger scale projects. Working in both education and in the business kept her skills current and her passion alive.

However, while she enjoyed both sides, she hungered for more - the desire to tell her own story and develop an American, Florida-based, remote independent animation studio. Fueled by her dream, Dana took on the monumental task of creating a pilot episode. Throughout the course of the project, she co-founded Pencil Gator Animation Studio with Joseph Solinsky and together they grew the company into an independent animation studio that handles projects from concept to completion. Chorus to Dero was ambitious proof of concept of what Pencil Gator is capable of, with complex animation, FX and a mix of 2D and 3D. Backed by its educational background, Pencil Gator is also a training opportunity for fledgling animators, providing internships and summer training programs for students and recent graduates.