The Animation Industry Podcast

AIP_Header
Welcome to the Animation Industry Podcast! My name is Terry, and I’m a Stop Motion and 2D Animator.

After six years and over 250 episodes, this podcast has come to an end.

Below you’ll find weekly interviews from today’s leaders in animation with topics like:

  • The best way to pitch a show
  • How to market your work online
  • What kind of skills you need to land your dream job in storyboarding, visual development, character design, and more!

Listen on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, or SoundCloud

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy podcast merch

Below are stats for this podcast – in 2024, the podcast had an average of 11,000 monthly listeners.

Best Animation Podcast stats 2024

Episodes:

Episode 252: Celeste Art Director Pedro Medeiros & How To Become A Professional Pixel Artist

This chat features Pedro Medeiros, a Pixel Artist, and indie video game Art Director known for such titles as Celeste, Towerfall, as well as the unreleased Earthblade, and Neverway. In their chat, Medeiros shares how he got into pixel art through video game development in Brazil (when there wasn’t any game industry there yet), as well as his process of developing a game’s art style from scratch.

Tune in to Ibele and Medeiros to hear:

  • What to do to become a professional pixel artist
  • How much coding knowledge you actually need to become a video game art director
  • At what stage a video game starts to look for an art director

Social Links:

Episode 251: Video Game Art Director Ole Tillmann & Creating The Stop Motion Style For Harold Halibut

This chat features Ole Tillmann, a German indie video game Art Director at Slow Bros Studio. He worked on the game Harold Halibut, which has become known for its super unique style. Everything in the game – the characters, backgrounds, assets, etc. – were all meticulously hand-crafted in a stop motion style, then 3D scanned and composited and animated in CG. In their chat, Tillmann shares how he came up with and executed the style, as well as the video game’s ten-year development history.

Tune in to Ibele and Tillmann to hear:

  • What Tillmann did that led to Harold Halibut getting funded
  • How Tillmann kept motivation on a ten-year project (with no end in sight)
  • How big of a team is needed to develop an indie video game

Social Links:

Episode 250: Rand Fishkin & How He’s Funding Snackbar Indie Game Studio

This chat features Rand Fishkin, Creative Director and CEO of Snackbar Studio, a new video game studio working on its first title. Fishkin, who is better known for founding the SEO software company Moz, and the consumer intelligence company SparkToro, shares why he made the jump from the world of business into video games. Fishkin also covers the extensive research he did to figure out exactly what type of game to make, and how he put together a winning team.

Tune in to Ibele and Fishkin to hear:

  • How Fishkin is funding Snackbar studio (and for how much)
  • How Fishkin’s research led him to set the game in 1960’s Italy
  • What three criteria Fishkin thinks will lead to any video game’s success

Episode 249: Ben Osroosh & Custom-Making Motion Control Rigs And Winders For Stop Motion

This podcast features Ben Osroosh, a stop motion artist originally from Iran, now living and working in LA. Osroosh has become known in recent years for his mastery and construction of stop motion rigging devices and now, after nearly 2 years of development, he has launched his own Motion Control Kit. His simple device brings many game-changing outcomes as it can be connected to any rig or winder and synced with Dragonframe software to automate different types of stop motion movements.

Tune in to Ibele and Osroosh to hear:

  • Why Osroosh moved from Iran to the US
  • The unexpected way Osroosh stumbled into stop motion
  • The complete capabilities of his Motion Control Kit

Episode 248: Catino World & Animating Cat Memes As A Career

This podcast features Alec, the creator of the bouncy, orange, meme cats featured in Catino World on social media. In the chat, Alec shares how he came up with the concept after being fired from his job during the 2021 pandemic lockdown. Since then, Catino World has grown to nearly 100 million views across all social platforms, enabling Alec to fully support himself as a full-time artist.

Tune in to Ibele and Alec to hear:

  • The number one thing Alec sells that gives him a stable income.
  • What Alec does to make sure his posts always go viral
  • Which social media has been the most profitable for him

Episode 247: How Emmy Robinson Gained 100K Followers By Making Stop Motion Animations In Her Bedroom

This chat features budding stop motion animator Emmy Robinson, who gained over 100,000 Instagram followers for her bedroom-made stop motion animations in only eight short months. She shares how she played to Instagram’s algorithm to get attention for her work, and then how she capitalized on the niche she discovered.

Tune in to Ibele and Robinson to hear:

  • How much money Robinson has made from her Instagram following
  • What made Robinson quit school to pursue social media full time
  • How her minimal-effort animation style led to big success

Episode 246: How Indie Game Developers Will And James Made Thank Goodness You’re Here!

This chat features indie game developers James Carbutt and Will Todd. The English duo are best known for their free-to-play 2019 title The Good Time Garden, but they’ve been hard at work at another game called Thank Goodness You’re Here – set to release this year. In their chat, Carbutt and Todd discuss quitting their jobs to pursue full-time development, pitching their project, getting funding, and what it takes to run a small studio with no experience.

Tune into Ibele, Carbutt, and Todd to hear:

  • The turning point that led Carbutt and Todd to quit their jobs to pursue indie game dev
  • What to include in an indie game pitch to get picked up
  • Two unexpected challenges when developing your own game

Episode 245: Exit 73 Studios Indie Game Dev Journey With #Blud

This chat features the co-founders of Exit 73 Studios – Chris Burns, and Bob Fox. Over the years they’ve done many projects for TV, commercials, websites, video games, and more, but currently their in-production game called #Blud, set to release this year. In their chat, Burns and Fox share how they began their indie game dev journey (without any prior gaming experience), found a producer, and their strategic decision to share all their work in process on social media.

Tune in to Ibele, Burns, and Fox to hear:

  • How big a team is needed to produce something of #Blud’s caliber
  • How difficult it is to enter the gaming industry without any prior experience
  • Why #Blud looks like a TV show rather than a typical game (and what advantage that has)

Episode 244: Lachlan Pendragon & How His Stop Motion Film Became Oscar-Nominated

This chat is with Oscar-nominated Australian stop motion animator Lachlan Pendragon. Pendragon is best known for his stop motion film, An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It, which went on to receive international recognition last year and ended up making the shortlist of Oscar nominated films. In their chat, Pendragon shares what the journey to the Oscars was like, as well as what it took to make his film.

Tune in to Ibele and Pendragon to hear:

  • How Pendragon funded the film
  • What the stop motion industry is like in Australia
  • How becoming Oscar-nominated changes your career

[SPONSORED MESSAGE]

This episode is sponsored by Toon Boom Animation.

For over 30 years, Toon Boom Animation has led the global market in preproduction and 2D animation software, serving clients in 140+ countries, who are doing another give-away of their software to one of my listeners – this time a 3-month license of Harmony Premium – a value of over $500! To enter the draw, simply fill out your name and email in the form in the description of this podcast.

Toon Boom’s Harmony is used by the largest gaming and animation studios around the world. It is an all-in-one, end- to-end 2D animation software that allows animators to create cut-out and paperless animation in every style. You can start your free trial by visiting http://www.toonboom.com or enter this draw for a free 3-month license of Harmony Premium: https://forms.gle/WKDzQEUdQPFav8vJ9

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Episode 243: Lee Griffin On Picking Up Blender And Going Viral

This chat features Lee Griffin, a 25 year old data analyst who started learning Blender as a hobby. Since then he’s developed a unique style of animation – a modern twist on old Nintendo 64 graphics – that has gone viral on social media. In the last six months, his short animations have gained him over 60 thousand followers on Instagram, 40 thousand on TikTok, and millions of views between the two platforms. In their chat, Griffin shares how he developed his style, why it’s so attractive for social media, and where he plans to take it.

Tune in to Ibele and Griffin to hear:

  • How Griffin self-produces everything
  • What Griffin did to grow from zero to 60,000 instagram followers in 12 weeks
  • The secret motivation behind Griffin’s work

Episode 242: Keith Pakiz On How To Become And TV Show Director

This chat features director, story artist, writer, and animator Keith Pakiz, who moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles in pursuit of animation. Since then he’s worked on many shows like Costume Quest, Tiny Toons Looniversity, ThunderCats Roar, and Aquaman: King of Atlantis. In their chat, Pakiz shares how he moved up to animation director and gives tips for others to follow a similar path.

Tune in to Ibele and Pakiz to hear:

  • Why you shouldn’t apply to online animation jobs (and what to do instead)
  • How career stability changes once you become a director
  • The pros and cons of developing a personal animation style

[SPONSORED MESSAGE]

This video is sponsored by Mt. Mograph – learn more about their software at https://mtmo.co/.

For over 10 years Mt. Mograph has powered up animators and motion designers with industry leading plugins and software.

Mt. Mograph offers an unrivaled Lifetime License that will leave you speechless — with constant updates and next-generation tools to improve your workflow. Like, Boombox their all-in-one sound design toolkit; of over 14,000 commercial-grade sound effects, Wander their ultimate media collection engine, or the legendary Motion-4 known as “the most helpful Extension for motion designers in Adobe After Effects” a tour de’ force of tools and controls for professional animators, brands, studios and creators since 2013.

Use special code “AIP” at Checkout for 20% off your Lifetime License.

Episode 241: How Austin Pettit Broke Into The YouTube Animation Industry

This chat features animator and story artist Austin Pettit who shares his journey of moving to LA in search of animated TV work. However, once in LA, he ended up getting most of his work from YouTubers like Game Grumps, NOXP, Cas van de Pol, and GingerPale. In his chat, Pettit sheds light into how the YouTuber animation industry works and how others can find work there too.

Tune in to Ibele and Pettit to hear:

  • The best way to connect with YouTubers who hire animators
  • How stable a YouTube animation career is vs television
  • The unique working environment YouTube animation creates that television studios can’t often match

Episode 240: Rachel Larson & How She Made The Tiny Chef Show

This chat features Rachel Larson, a stop motion animator, director, and writer who’s worked on many stop motion productions including Coraline, Anomalisa, Tumble Leaf, and Kiri and Lou. Larson is most famous for creating the Tiny Chef, who has millions of followers across social media, as well as a preschool show on Nickelodeon. In their chat, Rachel shares her journey from renting a shed in New Zealand, to partnering with celebrity Kristen Bell, and finally landing a deal with Nickelodeon.

Tune in to Ibele and Larson to hear:

  • Why The Tiny Chef evolved to be such a successful character
  • The ins and outs of producing a show as a first time showrunner
  • How to create authentic animated characters

Episode 239: Andrew Chesworth Gives A Budget Breakdown Of The Brave Locomotive

This chat features Oscar nominated director Andrew Chesworth who is known for his work in 2D and 3D animation. His most recent short, The Brave Locomotive has received over seven million views on YouTube. In this chat Chesworth shares how he got into animation, the environment that allowed him to hone his skills, how he managed his short film, and what’s next for him.

Tune into Ibele and Chesworth to hear:

  • A complete budget breakdown of The Brave Locomotive
  • How Chesworth accomplished his dream of working at Disney
  • How Chesworth came to work on the Oscar nominated film One Small Step

[SPONSORED MESSAGE]

This episode is sponsored by Toon Boom Animation, who for over 30 years has led the global market in preproduction and 2D animation software, serving clients in 140+ countries.

Toon Boom’s Storyboard Pro is one of the leading storyboarding software used by professional story artists, directors, and other creatives around the world. It combines drawing, scripting, camera controls, animatic creation, sound, and other tools. You can start your free trial by visiting https://www.toonboom.com or enter this draw for a free 3-month license of Storyboard Pro: https://forms.gle/ZPpjsVC1W6yD3ebQ7

Social Links:

Episode 238: How Alistair Nicholls Turned Claymation Into A Beautiful Career

This episode features Alistair Nicholls, a claymation animator from the UK who runs Smile at the Moon Studios. In their chat Nicholls shares going from living in a house boat after school, to landing enough creative work to be able to open a studio and work with clients like Nickelodeon, Felix the 1st, and Far Caspian.

Tune in to Ibele and Nicholls to hear:

  • Nicholls’ strategy to always be working on creative projects
  • How Nicholls (unintentionally) grew his Instagram to 60,000 followers
  • How Nicholls became represented by an agency

How 3D Studio Yonk Uses VR Sculpting To Get Big Name Clients

This episode features the dynamic duo behind Yonk – a 3D animation studio based in the Netherlands, which uses VR sculpting software to achieve their squishy, melty, creepy, clay-like style. The duo is made up of Niels van der Donk and Victoria Young who dive into how much hard work it took to land brands like Amazon, Nike, Spotify, and Bloomberg.

Tune in to Ibele, van der Donk, and Young to hear:

  • The advantages of using virtual reality sculpting software over other types of CG sculpting softwares
  • The steps the team took to finally go full-time with their studio
  • What the animation industry is like in the Netherlands

Episode 236: Danny Robashkin & Creating MAKE Originals Micro Shorts

This chat features Danny Robashkin, owner and creative director at MAKE, an animation studio in Minnesota. Robashkin shares how he started MAKE from scratch in 2004 right out of school and got his first clients. Since then he’s worked with XBOX, Dunkin’ Donuts, Adidas, McDonalds, and many other brands. Robashkin also shares the new path MAKE has been on with creating its own original micro short series for social media.

Tune in to Ibele and Robashkin to hear:

  • What advantage enabled Robashkin to get big-name clients as a brand new studio
  • How MAKE has been able to excel at commercial projects while also creating original content in-house
  • How artists can get involved with MAKE

Episode 235: Stop Motion Animator Dale Hayward On Perfectionism In Animation

This chat features renowned stop motion animator Dale Hayward, co-owner of See Creature Animation Studio in Montreal, Canada. His credits include the feature film The Little Prince, the NFB short Bone Mother, as well as a number of commercial spots for Nike, Honda, Tim Hortons, and Hot Wheels. Hayward shares his recent experience directing the New Zealand claymation kid’s show Kiri and Lou as well as his thoughts on the idea of achieving perfectionism in animation.

Tune in to Ibele and Hayward to hear:

  • Why Kiri and Lou is one of the few claymation shows in the world
  • Common misconceptions around how to achieve actual perfectionism in animation
  • Five steps to drastically improve your animation performance

[SPONSORED MESSAGE]

This episode is sponsored by HUE. Makers of colorful, Plug & Play cameras for learning, work and play.

Originally designed for teachers, HUE cameras can also be used for creative activities such as capturing hand-drawn pencil tests and shooting behind-the-scenes footage, time-lapse videos and stop motion animation.

The cameras have flexible, posable necks, manual focus controls and they are compatible with Dragonframe, OBS, Twitch, Zoom and many other camera apps.

Visit huehd.com to learn more and follow @HUEcameras on social media for news, fun and giveaways.

Get 10% off any Hue product from www.huehd.com with code: 10TERRYAIP

Episode 234: Money Coach Victoria Mateo With Finance Tips For Artists

This chat features Victoria Mateo, a Certified Money Coach who caters specifically to creative professionals. With a background in film and finance, she shares her story of how she merged the two worlds to start her own practice this last year. In their chat Mateo covers some of the misconceptions artists have about finances and the four steps you can take to set yourself up for a better financial future.

Tune in to Ibele and Mateo to hear:

  • One thing you can do right now to reframe your current financial situation
  • How to figure out your value as an artist and charge appropriately
  • Helpful tips on how to increase your financial literacy

Sign up or take the Money Type Quiz at http://www.TheMAP.ca by Nov 24th and get up to 50% discount on your first package.

Episode 233: Will Anderson On Animating A Fluffy Cat Called Greg In Blender

This chat features Will Anderson, a BAFTA-winning filmmaker and animator from Scotland. Anderson is best known for his super unique directing and animating style. Over the years his clients have included the BBC, MTV, [adult swim], WarnerBros. Discovery, and more. In this chat, Anderson shares the journey he took to become an independent animator, and the opportunities that exist for animators with a unique style.

Tune in to Ibele and Anderson to hear:

  • The type of rare rigging Anderson has become known for
  • What it was like self-producing a feature documentary
  • Tips on how to rethink your social media portfolio

Episode 232: How Hannah Daigle Created Satina & How It Got Super Popular

This chat features Hannah Daigle – creator of the massively popular web series, Satina. Daigle got the idea for Satina back in animation school and used Twitter to vet how popular it might be. From there she teamed up with a group of fellow creatives to form studio Scumhouse, and the rest is history.

Tune in to Ibele and Daigle to hear:

  • The best sources of income for a web series (and which to avoid)
  • How Daigle used her YouTube experience to get hired for TV
  • Everything it takes to fully produce a web series – who, what, where, why, and how

[SPONSORED MESSAGE]

This episode is sponsored by CalArts Extended Studies, who are taking students for their Portfolio Development Workshops right now.

These workshops help students (aged 14+) build their college application portfolios and are developed with the same artistic flavor and integrity as the curricular courses at CalArts. They are taught by faculty, alumnx, and industry professionals, offered three times a year, and are online to be flexible with your schedule.

Get 10% your Portfolio Development Workshop with code: AIP

Simply go to ext.calarts.edu/ to sign up, and also make sure you get on their mailing list for deadlines.

Episode 231: Ed Hooks With Master Tips On Acting For Animators

This chat features Ed Hooks, a professional actor from New York with nearly three decades worth of experience. The reason he’s coming on this podcast is he switched from acting into teaching acting for animation in 1996 – when DreamWorks asked him to develop a unique approach to training their animators for their first feature film – Antz. Since then Hooks has trained animators in over 35 countries and created the essential acting guidebook called Acting for Animators.

Tune in to Ibele and Hooks to hear:

  • Seven master tips to improve your character performance
  • Why you need to be stingy with your acting emotions
  • The simple guidelines that all acting theory boils down to
  • Get 30% off Hooks’ book with code AFA30

Episode 230: How Jim Capobianco Wrote Directed & Funded The Inventor – His Stop Motion Feature

This chat features Jim Capobianco, known best for storyboarding on movies like The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Up, as well as his writing credits on Ratatouille, and The Inventor. This chat focuses mainly on The Inventor, which Capobianco wrote, and directed from a 2D short film into a stop motion feature – over the course of 14 years. He also shares how hard it was to pitch, what it took to get it funded, and the full experience of what it was like producing the feature in such a short amount of time.

Tune in to Ibele and Capobianco to hear:

  • How Capobianco managed to get over ten million in funding
  • Why Capobianco decided to produce the film in stop motion when he had no experience in it
  • What sacrifices Capobianco had to make while filming The Inventor

Episode 229: Mindy Johnson On Women In Animation & Pencils Vs Pixels

This chat features Mindy Johnson, an award-winning author, historian, filmmaker, and educator. She is known for her books Ink & Paint, and Pencils, Pens, and Brushes and she is part of the upcoming documentary called Pencils Vs Pixels, which covers the history of Disney’s transition from hand-drawn animation into CG and the artists that helped make it happen.

Tune in to Ibele and Johnson to hear:

  • The newly discovered first woman in animation
  • What compelled Johnson to pursue a career in animation history
  • Highlights of the upcoming documentary
  • Check out Johnson’s website
  • Check out Pencils Vs Pixel’s website

Episode 228: Ben Treat’s Stop Motion Social Media Journey From 13K To 2M Followers

This chat features Ben Treat, known on social media as Frantic Frames. This is actually Treat’s second chat on the Animation Industry Podcast – the first being in 2019 when he was still in highschool, trying to figure out what to do with his career. Back then he had about 13,000 followers – whereas today he has nearly two million and makes his entire living from social media.

Tune in to Ibele and Treat to hear:

  • How Treat lands big brand clients
  • What Treat did to grow millions of followers in just four years
  • Which social platforms have the highest payoff

Episode 227: How Keika Lee Founded Greyscale Animation And Produced Odd Dog

This chat features Keika Lee, founder of Greyscale Animation, known for its viral short Odd Dog, and upcoming Oren’s Way. In their chat Lee shares how she went from the production side of things at studios like Electronic Arts and DreamWorks to founding her own animation studio, funding her own films, and building her own team of animators.

Tune in to Ibele and Lee to hear:

  • Why Odd Dog went viral on YouTube
  • Lee’s secret to a successful Kickstarter
  • How Lee connected with animators to hire for short term projects
  • Visit greyscale animation’s website
  • Follow greyscale animation on Instagram
  • Follow greyscale animation on Twitter

Episode 226: How Damien James Webb Got Into Miniature Model Making

This chat features Damien James Webb, a super talented and very cool Miniature Artist and Modelmaker who’s currently working at Little Canada in downtown Toronto. Damien got his start building sets for theater and then kept scaling down smaller and smaller until he was building tiny sets for miniature projects. In their chat Webb will share how he got into miniature model making, what opportunities exist for miniature artists, what tools you need to get started, and everything in between.

Tune in to Ibele and Webb to hear:

  • How to make connections in the miniature industry
  • What Webb charges for custom commissions
  • How Webb gained a social following for his original miniature work.

Episode 225: Caroline Foley On How To Actually Sell An Original Animated Show Idea

This chat features animator, writer, story editor, and set designer Caroline Foley whose most recent projects have included story editing for the YouTube series Toca Life Stories and Blippi Wonders. She also worked on Bojack Horseman, and Rick and Morty, and she’s started her own animation studio called Tiny Lion Animation. Besides all this, Caroline shares her journey of pitching and getting Apple to produce an original short she co-created called Toasty Tales. She’s also going to dive into what contract negotiations are like, how to get executives to vibe with your idea, and what it’s actually like creating a show once a studio is backing you.

Tune in to Ibele and Foley to hear:

  • How Foley created the viral No Naked short back in 2010
  • Five ways to polish your pitch
  • How Foley gets studio connections to pitch to

Episode 224: How Nathan Pyle Turned Strange Planet Into A TV Show On Apple TV+

This chat features Nathan Pyle, creator of the massively followed Strange Planet webcomic on Instagram, which features blue aliens having very matter-of-fact conversations. He shares his journey from zero to six million followers and turning the webcomic into t-shirts, plushies, a book, and even a TV series for Apple TV+.

Tune in to Ibele and Pyle to hear:

  • How Pyle teamed up with Dan Harmon to produce the Strange Planet TV show
  • Which monetization routes are best for internet artists
  • The number one thing that will grow your following online

Episode 223: Senior Art Manager Kaye Vassey On Coming Out Trans In The Gaming Industry

This chat is with Senior Art Manager at Firaxis Games Kaye Vassey and her journey coming out as trans in the gaming industry. She also shares how she switched from TV and Feature Film animation into CG Gaming, gives an overview of the skill level needed for technical artists, and dives into the short film she’s currently producing.

Tune in to Ibele and Vassey to hear:

  • How she moved from animation into technical animation
  • How she built the team that created Fortnite
  • How she’s funding her self-produced short film

Episode 222: 2D Animator Jon Densk And His Short Film Axolodyssey

This chat features 2D Animator Jon Densk who’s currently working on a new short film called Axolodyssey. He shares how he mentored under Tom Bancroft on Cuphead, which led to him working on Space Jam, then ultimately founding Studio Fresco with his friends. He also shares the ins and outs of producing a short film and using Kickstarter to fund it.

Tune in to Ibele and Densk to hear:

  • The eye-opening industry experience that changed how Jon views animation
  • What Densk is doing to improve his character performance
  • How Densk has been building a social media following for his short film

Episode 221: Tomas Barrenechea On Creating Stop Motion NFTs

This chat features Tomas Barrenechea, a CG animator from Argentina who is known online for nothing to do with CG animation – instead he’s known for a fun claymation character named Tomba, a red blob with two eyes and a mouth. Over the past three years, Tomas has learned to animate in stop motion, built a small studio in his home, and gained a growing online following for Tomba’s short antics.

Tune in to Ibele and Barrenechea to hear:

  • How to create and sell stop motion animations as NFTs
  • Where Barrenechea plans on taking the concept of Tomba
  • The stop motion skills that translate into CG animation and vice versa.

Episode 220: David Lauer & Ri Crawford On How They Formed Mystery Meat Media Stop Motion Studio

This chat features the duo who run the stop motion studio called Mystery Meat Media – Ri Crawford and David Lauer. Over the years they’ve produced projects like Nickelodeon’s Toymation Nation, The Moon’s Milk, and the stop motion sequence from I’m a Virgo. In their chat they share how they independently got into stop motion, met at Phil Tippet’s studio, formed their own studio, and managed to get a steady stream of stop motion work pouring in.

Tune in to Ibele, Crawford, and Lauer to hear:

  • The two types of clients who want stop motion work
  • How they trusted each other enough to start a studio together
  • The secret behind getting consistent clients

Episode 219: Stop Motion Animator Blake Derksen And His Film The Other Space

This chat features Blake Derksen, an LA-based stop motion animator who’s worked on titles like Alien Xmas, Crossing Swords, and Robot Chicken. He is going to share the process behind his independent short film called The Other Space, which is in production right now. Derksen’s film is inspired by his own journey through cancer treatment with the goal of helping other young cancer patients face their situations with courage.

Tune in to Ibele and Derksen to hear:

  • How you can support Derksen’s film right now
  • How Derksen gathered his production team
  • What it takes to entirely self-produce a stop motion short film

Episode 218: How Andrea Love Got 2 Million Followers On Instagram With Felt Animations

This chat features independent stop motion felt animator Andrea Love, who shares her journey to gaining over two million followers on Instagram, turning her love for felt into a career. She dives into all the ins and outs of running her own animation business and working with brands like Candy Crush, Hulu, and Laika.

Tune in to Ibele and Love to hear;

  • Love’s top tips to leveraging social media
  • How Love pushed through the lulls to find her success
  • Where Love’s felt career is taking her next

Episode 217: Founder Of Chatrone And Writer On O Menino Maluquinho, Carina Schulze

This chat features Carina Schulze, co-founder of Los Angeles and São Paulo based studio Chatrone. She shares what it took to build Chatrone from scratch and work with Guillermo del Toro and Joge Gutierrez to produce the book of life as well as other projects like Ba Da Bean and O Menino Maluquinho. She also shares what the animation market is like in Latin America and how to get back in touch with your passion when you’re going through a rough patch.

Tune in to Ibele and Schulze to hear:

  • How to get your start as a producer
  • What’s involved in selling an animated TV show pitch
  • Expert networking tips

Episode 216: How Catya Plate Produced Her Stop Motion Film Las Nogas in NYC

This chat is with NYC stop motion animator Catya Plate and how she produced her 19-minute, award-winning film Las Nogas. She also shares her journey from Spain to Germany to the US in pursuit of an art career and how wanting her gallery pieces to come to life led her on the path to animation.

Tune in to Ibele and Plate to hear:

  • The biggest challenge when self-producing a stop motion film full time
  • Where Plate finds motivation to continue her artistic career when things aren’t going as planned.
  • What a Clothespin Freak is and how it’s the star of her latest film

Episode 215: How Maraike Krämer Went From Business To Working On Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget

This chat features stop motion animator Maraike Krämer who shares her path from quitting business school in Germany to getting picked up by Aardman to work on Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget in just a few short years. This is a very interesting listen for any stop motion beginners who are looking for ways to increase their skillset and get noticed by industry professionals.

Tune in to Ibele and Krämer to hear:

  • What anyone in any situation can do to pursue their dream career
  • How to fast-track your stop motion skills as a beginne
  • Why Aadrman hired Krämer after she completed their academy course

Episode 214: Jason Agar On Creating A Decentralized Animation Studio In Toronto

This chat features Jason Agar, owner of Pomelo Studio in Toronto. He shares how he went from the advertising world into animation, plus how he’s switching up the traditional studio business model by creating a team of decentralized artists.

Tune in to Ibele and Agar to hear:

  • Why Agar scrapped client reviewed storyboard cycles and what he’s switched to instead
  • How decentralized studio teams can pay artists more
  • The competitive advantage decentralized teams hold over traditional studios

Community Highlight:

Episode 213: Aaron Augenblick And His Pitch For PBS Show City Island

This chat features animator, director, producer, and founder of Brooklyn-based Augenblick Studios – Aaron Augenblick. He shares his journey from producing mainly adult-oriented animation like Super Jail and Teenage Euthenasia to switching into educational kids content with his new show City Island. He also shares the four year process it took to turn City Island from a lofty idea into a fully-realized show (that PBS picked up).

Tune in to Ibele and Augenblick to hear:

  • Augenblick’s secret sauce to the perfect pitch package
  • The various stages of treatment a pitch needs to go through before it airs
  • All the influences that went into making City Island super unique

Episode 212: How Spencer Moreland Quit Studio Life To Become A Full Time Freelance Animator

This chat features Spencer Moreland, an independent animator, filmmaker, freelance storyboard artists, and the director of programming for TAAFI. Over the years Moreland has worked on projects like Loud House, Pinky Malinky, Miss Persona, DC Superheroes, and a number of independent films. He shares how he pursued, worked his way up, then quit studio life to pursue a freelance career, and how that changed everything for him.

Tune in to Ibele and Moreland to hear:

  • The first step in switching from studio life to full-time freelance
  • Moreland’s number one piece of advice for tackling a new animation skill
  • The best pitching advice you’ve ever heard
  • Follow Moreland on Instagram
  • Check out Moreland’s short film “Lastkinders” on YouTube
  • Follow Moreland on Twitter

Community Highlight

  • Check out Aron Steinke’s work

Episode 211: Colin Giles Head Of The School For Animation & VFX At Vancouver Film School

This chat features Colin Giles, the Head of the School for Animation & VFX at Vancouver Film School. Over his career Giles has worked on many animation projects as an animator, timer, and an animation lead including Sausage Party, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, and Ren and Stimpy ‘Adult Party Cartoon’. Now at Vancouver Film School, Giles shares where the industry is heading and what the school is doing to stay current to today’s animation students.

Tune in to Ibele and Giles to hear:

  • The ins and outs of student life at VFS
  • The big investment VFS just made in their animation studio
  • How students have changed over the last 10 years

Episode 210: Shape Island Stop Motion Animator Brett Long

This chat features veteran stop motion animator, Brett Long. During his career, he’s worked on quite a few shows including M.O.D.O.K., Robot Chicken, Crossing Swords, Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, and most recently, Shape Island. In their talk, Long shares how he transitioned from Canada to the USA in pursuit of a stop motion career and everything he’s learned along the way.

Tune in to Ibele and Long to hear:

  • How Long got a visa to work in the USA
  • Long’s number one tip for excelling at stop motion animation
  • How much school helped (or didn’t help) with Long’s stop motion career

Community Highlight:

  • Check out Aalasteir’s royalty free music
  • Check out Aalasteir’s podcast

Episode 209: Adam Fuchs And His New Animation App Called PX12

This chat features Adam Fuchs, an Animation Director at Adult Swim & Cartoon Network, who shares how his love for animating indie music videos led to developing an animation app called PX12. If you’re wondering what it takes to develop your own app, Fuchs dives into how he found and teamed up with a developer, the type of investment it took to build, and what he’s learned about marketing it on the App Store.

Tune in to Ibele and Fuchs to hear:

  • Two need-to-know animation tips Fuchs learned from Richard Williams himself
  • What makes PX12 different from other animation apps
  • How to get indie music video clients for your animations

Episode 208: How Jake Friedman Became Friends With Art Babbitt’s Wife When Writing The Disney Revolt

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This chat features a special guest who gives a little bit of a history lesson behind Disney’s unionization. He is a New York-based writer, artist, and current animation history professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. His name is Jake Friedman and he’s lately added published novelist to his resume with his book, The Disney Revolt: The Great Labor War of Animation’s Golden Age. In the chat he shares how he ended up befriending Art Babbitt’s late wife who gave him access to the animator’s personal files, diary, original animations, court cases, and everything else he had kept.

Tune in to Ibele and Friedman to hear:

  • Why an old professor inspired him to write The Disney Revolt
  • Exclusive tidbits from the NLRB vs. Disney court case
  • Why Babbitt decided to quit Disney after forcing them to rehire him

Episode 207: How Tina Nawrocki Is Helping Keep Hand-Drawn Animation Alive With a Film About Mermaids

This chat features 2D animator, Tina Nawrocki, who shares how she’s helping keep hand-drawn animation alive with her short film in production, Syrenka: Legend of the Warsaw Mermaid. This is actually the second time Nawrocki has been on this podcast, first appearing in episode 27 where she shared how she became one of the original animators on the Cuphead video game. Now she’s back to share some behind-the-scenes of her production and the wonderful team of women she’s built to work on it.

Tune in to Ibele and Nawrocki to hear:

  • Nawrocki’s entire process of creating a hand-drawn film from scratch
  • What finally made Nawrocki ready to create her own work after 16 years in the industry.
  • How a simple call from Nawrocki’s mother landed her the vocalist of her dreams

Episode 206: Art Director Matt Haworth And The Animation Industry In New Zealand

This chat is with Matt Haworth, an Art Director and Background Supervisor at Mukpuddy, an animation studio based in Auckland New Zealand. In our chat he’s going to share how difficult it was to build an animation career in New Zealand when there weren’t any steady long-term gigs going around. He’s also going to dive into what it was like helping build MukPuddy from a super tight-knit team into a growing studio of over 50 – and what kind of projects led to that growth.

Tune in to Ibele and Haworth to hear:

  • The animation day-job Haworth invented for himself when there wasn’t any work
  • The crazy coincidence that led to Mukpuddy optioning an exclusive IP from Ireland
  • How many of Haworth’s graduating class still work in animation in New Zealand

Episode 205: How Anik Rosenblum Started Dancing Line Productions In Vancouver

This chat features Vancouver-based 2D Animation Director, Anik Rosenblum. Over the years Rosenblum has won many awards for his commercial work with brands like General Motors, Tim Hortons, Pfizer, and more. In their chat, Rosenblum shares his journey from Lithuania to Israel and finally Vancouver in pursuit of an artistic career.

Tune in to Ibele and Rosenblum to hear: 

  • How Rosenblum founded his own animation studio
  • Rosenblum’s number one piece of advice for clients looking for commercial animation
  • What 10 years’ experience working on TV shows taught Rosenblum before starting his studio
  • Check out Dancing Line Productions’ website
  • Follow Dancing Line Productions on Instagram

Episode 204: How Margherita Premuroso Became A Creative Director in Italy

This chat features Italian Creative Director, and Animator, Margherita Premuroso, who’s worked in nearly every animation medium – CG, stop motion, 2D, rotoscope, hand-drawn, and more. She shares how she started her own animation studio in Italy before becoming a creative director for Elastic in the United States. Her work has included the title sequence for Amend, animation for NARAKA: BLADE POINT, as well as a number of short films including Ecce, and Four. She also dives into the kind of lifestyle it takes to be a freelance animator in Italy working for companies in the United States while also producing her own work.

Tune in to Ibele and Premuroso to hear:

  • How Premuroso entered the US industry without knowing a word of English
  • What the animation industry is like in Italy
  • How Premuroso has made so many animated personal projects

Episode 203: How David Daniels Created Strata Cut Stop Motion Animation

This chat features the creator of strata cut stop motion animation, David Daniels, who shares everything you ever wanted to know about the art form. Daniels is also a director, filmmaker, and the co-founder of Portland-based Bent Image Lab studio. Over the years Daniels has made strata cut animations for clients like Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Sesame Street, and MTV.

Tune in to Ibele and Daniels to hear:

  • How to make your own strata cut animations
  • Who’s willing to pay for strata cut animations
  • How strata cut will live on as a unique animation form into the future.

Episode 202: Cameron Sladyen Explains How To Get Into MOA & Scientific Animation

This chat features Cameron Slayden, the CEO at Microverse Studios, a mechanism of action (MOA) animation producer, and Clinical Assistant Professor at UIC. What makes this chat interesting is that Slayden is in the field of medical and scientific animation – a very niche field that you need a degree in scientific illustration for. In their chat, Slayden shares how he got into this field, started his own company, and even how he’s using AI tools to help create visuals for microscopic function animations.

Tune in to Ibele and Slayden to hear:

  • How to gain animation work in the scientific field
  • Why companies actually seek to pay top dollar for scientific animation
  • How competitive the marketplace is for scientific animation studios

Episode 201: Annie Wong’s Freelance Stop Motion Career

This chat features freelance stop motion artist, sculptor, and educator, Annie Wong who goes by the online persona of Headexplodie. She shares how she’s developed her unique style which brands absolutely love – that’s why she’s been able to work with clients like Vans, Giphy, and Adult Swim. She was also a contestant on the HBO reality show Craftopia.

Tune in to Ibele and Wong to hear:

  • The activity Wong does during downtimes that gets her future work
  • How teaching animation changed her career goals
  • What it’s like running your own art business

Want More Episodes?

Check out the First 200 Episodes of the Animation Industry Podcast here.

Looking for More Great Animation Podcasts?

If you’re looking for other great animation podcasts, I also compiled a list of every animation podcast that exists! The list contains over 50 current and discontinued animation podcasts filled with TV show reviews, news, interviews, and software tips.

Here it is: Every Animation Podcast in One Big List (50+)

Happy listening!

Interested in What the Industry is Like in Toronto? Check Out These Great Resources: