About Big Bad Afro Studio

Alvin Snerling is an independent filmmaker, comic book artist, and illustrator from St. Louis, Missouri. His creative journey began with school bus “art battles” he often lost, sparking a lifelong drive to improve. After cutting his teeth in the comic convention scene and making a living airbrushing cars and T-shirts, Alvin spent several years as a long-haul truck driver, traveling across the United States before returning to his true passion: art and storytelling.

He studied 3D and traditional animation at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and continued to refine his skills independently using Blender, Autodesk MotionBuilder, iClone, Unreal Engine, and Adobe After Effects. If there’s one thing that has fueled his imagination, it’s his deep-seated love for Anime, Sci-fi, Star Wars, Tomb Raider, and Cyberpunk, influences that show up in his visual style and genre-driven storytelling.

In 2015, Alvin won First Prize for Best Animation in the Reallusion Game Character Animation Contest, a milestone that pushed him fully into filmmaking and content creation.

Alvin has collaborated with motion capture studio MocapOnline on editing and related tasks and runs a YouTube channel where he shares his workflow and supports other independent artists. He is currently developing a crowdfunded short film with the goal of screening at film festivals and expanding his body of work within genre storytelling.everything from music and movies to theater and visual arts.