Vinton got his start making independent films while a college student at Berkeley. His first fully produced short called Closed Mondays, was 8 minutes long and won an oscar for best animated short film in 1974. After winning the Oscar, Vinton quickly established Will Vinton Studios in Portland Oregon. In 1978 Vinton created a 17 minute documentary, showing behind-the-scenes footage of how he created his films. The documentary was titled Claymation, a term that caught on with the public and has now grown to be synonymous with clay animation.