Animation Industry Podcast

This episode features Dave Thomas, a Director, Creator, and Animator on how he carved out a path in stop motion in Toronto. You’ll also learn: *The kind of ingenuity it takes to get paid for something you love to do *How to get studios to notice you when you’re just starting out *Why studios aren’t investing in stop motion and what it would take for them to do so More about Dave Thomas: Drawing an...

This episode features filmmaker and stop motion animator Sylvie Trouvé who shares what you can learn at the newly created See-Learn Online Stop Motion Academy. *What sort of materials you need to start animating right now *A full breakdown of the classes and the type of feedback you’ll get *You’ll also learn how Sylvie built a career in stop motion for herself Sylvie Trouvé is a professional filmm...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Glow in the Dark Concept Studios Mastermind Katia Grifols who shares how to create a killer pitch bible from scratch. You’ll also learn: *How to write believable flaws into characters *The number one question you’ll need to be prepared for in a pitch meeting *A rundown of all the animation conferences you can pitch at ~[Sponsored Message]~ Th...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Alan Castaños, a Mexican 2D Freelance Animator, who shares his insights into the animation industry in Mexico. You’ll also learn: *How to land gigs on the freelancing site Upwork *The top 3 things that will make your clients happy *How many projects you need to take on per year to realistically survive in freelance ~[Sponsored Message]~ This...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features animator and game developer Jess Stilwell (who’s also a fellow classmate of mine at Sheridan College!), who shares her journey into indie game development. You’ll also learn *Three free software tools to start making your own indie game *How Jess is developing an audience for her game before it launches *Why you shouldn’t develop your “passio...

This episode features Joseph Karwal, a fourth-year animation student at CalArts. He shares what he did to get accepted into the program, what it’s like, and the career opportunities it’s created for him. You’ll also learn: *What kind of mentality you need to create an accepted portfolio *The nitty-gritty details of what the program actually teaches you *His top 5 tips for producing student films t...

This episode features Disney Director John Musker who’s known for Moana, Treasure Planet, The Princess and the Frog among other films. He shares how he got his start at Disney and worked his way up to become a director. You’ll also learn: *John’s strategy for getting into Disney *A first-hand experience of what working at Disney was like during the 80s and 90s *John’s 9 pieces of advice for those...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Stop Motion Animator and Professor, Erik Goulet who shares how he founded the first stop motion film festival in the world. You’ll also learn: *What will make your stop motion film stand out (Erik has seen hundreds!) *A brief overview of what’s been fueling the stop motion industry these last few decades *Erik’s 3-phase master plan to build u...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Morr Meroz, the Founder of Bloop Animation, an online learning platform for aspiring animation filmmakers. Morr shares what he’s learned from producing three animated short films. You’ll also learn: *Three surprising reasons your short film will flop *The stage you should spend 90% of your time in *The number one way to make sure your film is...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Jonni Phillips, an independent filmmaker, animator, and cartoonist. She shares the nitty-gritty details of how she creates her absurdly wonderful, and absolutely unique mixed-media animation style. You will also learn: *What CalArts’ Experimental Animation Program is like *How she developed Rachel and Her Grandfather Control the Island with F...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Toronto Stop Motion Department Inc. Founders Philip Eddolls and Evan DeRushie, and Production Manager Annick Counihan. They share how the studio came to be and how they’ve managed to grow the business over the last year. You’ll also learn: *3 opportunities you have to get into stop motion in Toronto right now *The most difficult part about st...

In this episode of the Animation Industry Podcast, Animator, Filmmaker, and Coordinator of Sheridan College’s Animation Program, Christopher Walsh shares his journey into stop motion animation. You’ll also learn: *How Chris pitched and sold Moogaloops to Sesame Street *The top 3 things that make students at Sheridan successful animators when the graduate *How Chris wrote the ultimate guide on stop...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Sean Glaze (otherwise known as Lord Spew on the internet). He shares how he lands gigs at Adult Swim, Cartuna, and more. You’ll also learn: *How he ended up storyboarding on Teen Titan Go! *The 3 career benefits of developing your own style in your spare time *5 ways to make your animations catch your audience off guard (in a good and bad way...

In this episode Naseer Pasha, a Toronto-based 2D Animator shares what he did to break into 2D animation. You’ll also learn: *What it was like working on Netflix’s Castlevania *How to understand your dollar-value as an animator (when taking on a new role or freelance) *A model for making the best choice when faced with tough decisions ~[Sponsored Message]~ This episode is sponsored by Bloop Animati...

This episode of the animation industry podcast features Neil Sanders, an Illustrator, Animator, Lecturer, and Honcho of LoopdeLoop. He shares how to create something everyday and where that can lead to in your career. You will also learn: *What the animation market is like in Australia *Three benefits that come when you post every day *How to submit your short animated loop for LoopdeLoop’s bi-mon...

In this episode, stop motion animator and video wizard Kevin Parry shares his journey from animating feature films at Laika to gaining over a million followers and developing a career out of social media. You will also learn: *The specific things Kevin has done to gain over a million followers *An exclusive behind-the-scenes look of what it’s like animating at Laika *Kevin’s best advice for aspiri...

This episode features John Little, a seasoned Video Game Art Director based out of Toronto. In our chat he shares how he got into the scene, and his latest endeavor at a video game start up. You’ll also learn: *The specific skills studios are looking for *How to ask for your first raise *The current state of the job market in video games (in Toronto) ~[Sponsored Message]~ This episode is sponsored...

This episode features Colin Lepper, a stop motion animator who helped develop and animate the stop motion episodes of the Storybots (Jib Jab) on Netflix. He shares how he got into stop motion after graduating animation school, and the types of challenges small stop motion studios face. You’ll also learn: *5 safety tips most people don’t know about when working with hazardous stop motion materials...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Rho “Rhopunzel” Watson, the Founder of Igloosoft, the developer of Outworlder, and former Pixel Artist from RimWorld and Starbound. Rho shares their journey into indie game development and how to make the best pixel art. You’ll also learn: *Rho’s top tips to get noticed as a pixel artist *Where to get really good reference for creating pixel...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Ben Treat, otherwise known as Frantic Frames on Instagram. He shares how he challenged himself to create 100 stop motion posts over 100 days, and how he because sought after for branded sponsorships on Instagram. You’ll also learn: *Ben’s top 5 hacks to animate with a budget of zero dollars *The surprising tactic Ben took to get his first spo...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Stephen Chiodo, who is one of the great masters of stop motion, puppetry, and special effects. He shares how he was able to carve out his career in stop motion specifically and become sought-after for his skills in animation, puppetry, and special effects. You’ll also learn: *How to mentally position yourself so you’ll always be in-demand by...

Episode 31: Adventure Time Character Designer & Amphibia Director Derek Kirk Kim's Journey into Animation This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast featured Derek Kirk Kim, prolific comics writer and artist, Senior Character Designer on Adventure Time, and Director for Disney TV’s Amphibia. In our chat, he shares the struggles of trying to make it as a comics artist and how that led to his ca...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features master claymation animator Marc Spess who shares his encyclopedia knowledge on everything you need to know about sculpting clay for claymation. You will also learn: *Every answer to every question you ever had about clay - and even ones you didn’t think to ask (like heating up clay colours in a pot to mix them faster). *How to set up your lay...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features Sylvain Marc, a Vis Dev artist who’s helped develop the look and feel of BoxTrolls, Hotel Transylvania 2 & 3, and the Amazing World of Gumball, shares how to develop concept art for film and television. You’ll also learn: *The top three pieces of art to showcase in your portfolio *The entire process of pitching concept work for a feature film...

This episode of the Animation Industry Podcast features seasoned stop motion animator Javan Ivey, on everything you need to make a beginner stop motion studio in your bedroom that will give you professional-quality videos. You will also learn: *Javan’s journey into the world of commercial stop motion film making *The exact camera, lighting, stop motion equipment and software set up you need withou...