The Animator’s Friend

Preempting their Student Academy Award win for their student film The Shyness of Trees , listen to Loick Du Plessis D'Argentre , Simin He , and me giggle over unexpected animation crushes, rats, and French cliches. In the film, Hélène, 40 years old, comes to visit her aging mother in the french countryside. But her mother isn't being her usual self. She seems to have formed a strange bond with the...

You can find Amanda, me, and her dog Bacca under the pergola, discussing our shared provenance which includes italianess, shyness, and punkness.  Her film  Confetti  is available online for the first time through Director's Notes and her and fellow animator James Thacher have just started their own studio called Magician with a screening coming up at Ridgewood Community Cinema on 11/2/25 at 7pm. ...

If you need a bar recommendation, enjoy Lena's encyclopedic knowledge of cool karaoke bars, including the ones that exist only in her mind. Throats Karaoke Bar is the setting of her latest short film Tuna Tartare, which challenges you to be yourself but hotter. Set in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, Tuna Tartare is a trashy, karaoke musical about an expired can of tuna fish and her BFF Susan (a fake...

The Animator's Friend is live-to-tape at the The Animator's Picnic!  As part of the 2025 Ottawa International Animation Festival (aka my favorite festival)!  After meeting her for the first time at the last OIAF, I asked my fellow media pass girlie Sarah Schmidt of Malt Adult to join me to talk to the good people at The Animator's Picnic!  In true TAF-fashion, we talked a little shit, swooned over...

In anticipation of the Made in New York: Best of NYC Indie Animation showcase and panel at Metrograph this Saturday (9/13/25, 5pm), I had the opportunity to speak with Signe Baumane and Debra Solomon about the screening, making it in NYC, and 417 Hz YouTube videos. Just as New York has long been the capital of America’s artistically ambitious “Second Cinema,” a scrappy foil to the Los Angelino ind...

Nayon and I met on a grueling hike in the French alps after a revelrous week at Annecy International Animation Festival , bonding us in a unique way.  I can say for myself, she saw my most bratty, unvarnished self within only hours of meeting, which I can't say for most people! Hear us reminisce. Nayon Cho is an animation director and artist born in Seoul, based in New York. She uses a technique w...

We're at the drive-in this week for the Hudson Valley Film Festival's 10th Anniversary!  There's no doubt how much this fest loves animation, and they invited me and my friend Kristie Kish to interview selected animators including Ryan Castrillo , Michael McGoldrick , John Quinn , Zac Max , and friends of the pod Arnesh Kundu , Michael Dondero , and Shengnan Dong .  We were also honored to be part...

Tala really knows what it means to live life creatively! She blurs the boundaries between her art practice and personal life to lead an existence that feels like a work of art in and of itself. You can experience this rapturous reality by attending one of her many retreats, workshops, and community events! Join her orbit: @talaschlossberg . Tala Rae Schlossberg is an American experimental artist k...

Cynthia and I are passionate about being able to communicate with cockroaches one day, but for now, we'll have to settle on talking to eachother. Listen to us in our middle-of-the-night post-lasagna daze, spiraling over roller-coasters, ghosts, and crystals. Cynthia Chu is a 2D illustrator and cel animator originally from NYC. Her style goes between painterly and moody to silly and simple. Past Cl...

We are live-to-tape at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Festival !  Take a pew with me and my friend Barnaby Catterall (who I met at Annecy 8 years ago!) as we chat with Animation Talent Picnic attendees about how well they tan, what animal would play them in a Better Man type biopic of their life, and what they have or have not yet seen at the festival this year.   Links to points of discu...

In the interest of making new friends while attending Animafest Zagreb this year, I hung out at the festival picnic to record some impromptu conversations. This feels especially meaningful since Animafest is where I got the idea for the podcast this time last year! I was graciously joined by Sawyer Rippon , designer of the TAF logo, to chat with some new buds about Animafest's programming, frogs,...

Listen to my chat with my two favorite Annecy Achievers Michael Dondero and Shengnan Dong , whose film Nostril has been programmed into Annecy International Animation Festivals 2025's WTF Block !  If you are going to Annecy, book your ticket for one of the WTF blocks ASAP or rush day of!   Links to points of discussion: Nostril's website Michael Dondero's website Michael Dondero's Instagram Shengn...

Two episodes in one month!? Don't get used to it!... yet. Brent Sievers was in NYC a few weeks ago to receive a Webby for his show The Land of Boggs , becoming the podcast's first Angelino; allaying any blind East Coast/West Coast allegiances with his holistic perspective on the bites, the vibes, and the views. Links to points of discussion: Land of Boggs on Instagram Brent's Instagram The Divide...

The Animator's Friend reaches Unc Status by having Jasper Lin on the show. In our chat, Jasper does everything in his power to get us both canceled by crowning me the Joe Rogan of Animation, starting animation beef with Oscar winners, and attempting to settle multiple disputes with me on mic.  Jasper is an animator, computer artist, and educator. His work ranges from narrative short films to exper...

Sit poolside with me and Nicole Otaola as we discuss pauses, pivots, persistence, politics, and Jurassic Park.  Nicole is an artist and filmmaker currently based in Miami, FL.  She is a recent graduate of the BFA Animation Program at the School of Visual Arts.  She is an animation generalist, previously at Augenblick Studios - clients including PBS, Netflix, Irony Point, G-Fuel, Toei Animation, an...

I think the theme of my chat with Anne is BALANCE: the balance between creative desires; improvisation and planning; nature and opportunity; perfection and imperfection; Alice in Wonderland and Scar; the artist and the critic. The deep sea angler fish serves as a sublime enactment of this search for harmony. Anne Beal is an award-winning animation filmmaker and multimedia artist whose work merges...

This month, I made a new friend! John Morena joined me to talk all the most taboo topics: religion, and the tristate pizza wars. Morena is a Bronx-born animator and art director, currently living in Brooklyn.  His films have been selected by such prestigious festivals Annecy, Ottawa, Hiroshima, Anima Mundi, Animafest Zagreb, and the International Children's Festival. He is currently working on an...

This month, The Animator's Friend is joined by the self-proclaimed Animator's Friend's Friend Josh Pilch. Josh is an animator at Augenblick Studios and has worked on such projects as City Island and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. He has his own improv podcast Big Town Improv which can be found on all major podcast platforms. This lively conversation leaves listeners wondering... is Josh brat? Is Jo...

The Animator's Friend is hosted by India Lombardi-Bello, an animation educator at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. In this new podcast, India creates a platform where animators get to talk about themselves outside the context of their work. A questionnaire format, inspired by the 24 frames per second of animation, allows for lighthearted and unexpected conversation. In this episode, Ind...

Welcome to the inaugural episode of "The Animator's Friend," hosted by India Lombardi Bello, an animation educator at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. In this new podcast, India creates a platform where animators get to talk about themselves outside the context of their work. A questionnaire format, inspired by the 24 frames per second of animation, allows for lighthearted and unexpecte...