Please contact us
with corrections
or breaking news
How to Draw In Hollywood by Simon Sedorenko
An second millennia animation studio. photo: courtesy NYFA
Intro
For better or worse these days, anyone can "be a filmmaker." In our unique age, barriers to entry have never been lower, especially in the creative arts.
While going to film school will accelerate learning, improve your chances of turning a passion into a career and provide provable credentials upon graduation, technically speaking, there’s nothing stopping anyone from picking up a camera, making a film and finding an audience (continual success stories on YouTube testify to this).
The same is true of writing or music making; long gone are the days when simply making one’s art available to the public was preceded by extreme (and often insurmountable) uphill struggles.
The same, however, cannot be said of animating. Although animation has never been bigger, with more features flooding the theaters and more commercial work then ever before, it’s still an art form that requires technical proficiency, a daunting amount of time, unwavering patience and—usually—a large team of people.
More often than not, pretty deep pockets are also needed, if the project is ever going to see the light of day. Sure, there are some independent (in the truest sense of the word) animators who have managed to self-train, self-fund and self-publish without going bankrupt but they’re few and far between.
An animation program's work screen. photo: courtesy NYFA
As such, we need to be realistic when talking about making strides into industry, and part of that involves admitting that it’s usually better to play the game rather than going rogue.
Here’s what you need to know to make it happen.
Training
You can be the best illustrator in the world or have a real penchant for creating compelling characters and landscapes, but you’ll need a solid level of technical prowess before these skills can be applied in the marketplace.
‘Animation’ is, of course, a broad umbrella term that covers an array of disciplines, from feature film work to advertizing and game creation. Given this is Cinesource, we’ll be focusing predominantly on the type of animation required for film work (either long form or shorts).
Typically, this can be broken down into four core disciplines:
As you’re probably aware, there are more animation software options and tools than you can shake a stick at, so listing them all here would be impossible. In addition, it all depends on which of the above disciplines you’re hoping to specialize in. But here are some of the main software proficiencies you’ll see when scouring the vacancy boards:
Adobe Suite: Virtually all vacancies assume the applicant has an in-depth knowledge of both Photoshop and Illustrator (so much so they may not even list this as a prerequisite).
Autodesk Software: Either 3ds Max or Maya, both of which are industry standard 3D animation tools. Maya is usually the more commonly used.
One of Disney's many animation buildings in Annahiem California. photo: courtesy NYFA
OpenGL: this comes up more in game design, but as a multi-platform programming platform and renderer, you may see this listed as a desirable skillset.
Flash: A vector-based multimedia platform that was once the ubiquitous software for nearly all forms of animation. While it is still a useful (and marketable) skill to possess, don’t scrabble to learn it if you haven’t already since its popularity is now declining rapidly.
Lightwave: A very dynamic platform for rendering both 3D and 2D animation. Lightwave is regularly used at a professional level, and its adaptability means it’ll probably remain popular for years to come.
Cinema 4D: Counter to its name, Cinema 4D has long been an industry standard in 3D animation and widely used in blockbuster movies (including The Golden Compass, Inception and the recent Pacific Rim).
C/C++, Perl, Python, JavaScript: All programming languages, and the more you have under your belt, the better. Naturally there are hundreds out there and you can’t learn them all, but even a base knowledge of just one can get you ahead of the competition. The ones listed are currently the most sought after, generally speaking.
If you underwent formal eduction, including a degree in animation, you’ll likely have picked up some of the skills listed above. Your time at college will have also jump started your portfolio with some polished work (which we discuss below) but if you’re just starting out, it’s crucial to examine the market, play to your strengths and interests, and invest your valuable time into skills that will actually pay back dividends.
Your Portfolio
As with most creative professions, you’ll be expected to demonstrate your proficiency with a portfolio demonstrating both your artistic and technical skills such as those listed above. It’s your main calling card, and usually the only chance you’ll get to make an impression on a prospective studio.
So, no pressure then!
In reality, it’s fairly easy to get your portfolio looking up to scratch once you get over the initial panic over what to include. There’s no right or wrong way to go about it, but if you want a strict set of guidelines to follow rather than doing it freestyle, you might as well take a cue from the big boys.
Disney has a very concise page here [http://aimeemajor.com/anim/aadisney.html] which outlines what they look for in an animator. Some of the stipulations pertain specifically to applying with Disney, but for the most part it offers some great insight into how best to present yourself in a professional manner.
The other thing you should really consider is an online portfolio. As mentioned in our previous post on LinkedIn marketing, it’s useful to have a one-stop shop for your work to give to people rather than expecting them to dig through your Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and a zillion other platforms. It’s also easier to get a URL to someone rather than having to ask for an email or physical address where you can send them your portfolio – the best thing to do is simply check out similar animator’s sites online and emulate aspects which you think work best.
Ready to Go… So Where’s the Work?
It’s a massive (and growing) industry, so the good news is that there are plenty of openings out there. The bad news is animation is as cutthroat as any other part of the industry, which is why all of the above considerations are crucial to getting yourself ahead of the competition.
You may end up spending hours daily looking for work. If you end up working freelance, which is common. you’ll have to repeat the process every time a job ends. To help alleviate that struggle, here are some pages to bookmark.
(This is by no means an exhaustive list and we’ve placed a bias on sites serving the N. Cal area, but some serve the US a whole).
Entertainment Careers the animation-specific job board. Regularly updated, mainly California listings by virtue of most animation studios being based there.
Walt Disney Studios Very best of luck. Opportunities are few and far between (and highly competitive), but this is the specific page to check regularly.
Animation Career Review Not a job board as such, but an extremely handy knowledge bank for reference.
Pixar A subset of Disney and equally elusive but better if you have an in through your school, for example California College of Art.
Dreamworks As highly sought-after as Disney openings, but they hire more regularly. Job listings primarily in Glendale.
Prana Studios A lesser-known animation company based in LA and Mumbai. Regularly co-produces with Disney. They don’t tend to post specific openings, but at the time of writing are calling for portfolios.
Animation World Network A good aggregator of industry vacancies, with the ability to set up alerts and host your resume ready to fire off in a click.
Creative Heads Another job aggregator, though mainly focusing on visual effects and game design. Regularly updated, searchable by location.
Production Hub A good database of genuine production vacancies, but you’ll have to sift through it to find the animation-specific work. Also requires signing up for a (free) account.
NYFA The Twitter account of the New York Film Academy, which regularly tweets openings and insight from animation professionals.
Titmouse Inc A small cartoon company based in NYC and LA. They don’t post individual job openings, but inquiries can be made on .
Animation Boss This page isn’t updated very often, but it’s a very neat repository of jobs from around the world.
Animation Studios Wiki Quite simply, a Wikipedia list of just about every active studio on the planet. Time spent sifting through and sending personal queries to studios in your area is never time wasted.