Animation U

Are you, or do you know anyone interested in breaking into the animation, game or entertainment industries? Securing an internship may well be the single most important link that can connect you to, and launch you into a lifelong career in animation... or any industry. They're really just that critical.Come listen to this recent podcast Internships in Animation on AnimationU and become better informed on what an internship is, why you need to land one, and learn about valuable tips and tricks...

In this weeks episode of Prop Design for 2D Animated Television Shows, Kyle Bowman will help to clarify what a Prop Artist is and what contributions they bring to a pre-production animation pipeline. Kyle will share what you need to do to find a rewarding career in animation as a Prop Designer.Kyle graduated from College for Creative Studies with a bachelors in Fine Arts. His professional experience is in prop design as well as character design and background design, having worked for numerou...

Have you ever been mesmerized by the background paintings that provide a stage for your favorite animation to come to life? Check out this engaging AnimationU episode that focuses on Background Painting with Andy Clark as he shares his thoughts and provides valuable insight and tips for anyone who has ever dared to imagine having a career as a background painter in the 2D animation industry.Andy is a graduate of the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California majoring in ...

The right preparation when looking for your next job can make or break the deal. Camille Eden, Vice President of Recruitment, Talent Development and Outreach at Nickelodeon Animation Studio offers her expertise and insight into how you can best prepare for landing your next job. Her advice applies to all jobs and all disciplines.In this episode of AnimationU's "Career Preparedness", you'll learn how to make yourself more attractive to potential employers and gain tips that can help increase y...

In this episode of AnimationU we'll explore an informative and interesting conversation with animation veteran Vic Cook as he shares his experience and provides advice for anyone interested in Directing 2D animated films. Vic has been nominated for multiple Emmy’s including 2 Emmy Nominations for 101 Dalmatians the series, 1 Emmy Nomination for Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and an Emmy Nomination for The Legend of Tarzan. Vic has worked for some of the most prestigious animation studio...

Iconic and memorable cartoon characters have touched most of us at some point in our lives. Adam Dix specializes in creating engaging and iconic characters that many of you are likely familiar with. This weeks episode of AnimationU explores the role of a character designer. In addition to educating us on what a character designers role is, Adam dives deep into the psychology that goes into creating iconic and beautifully designed characters for film.Adam studied at the Academy of Art San Fran...

Spider-Man: No Way Home, Black Adam, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania are just a few of the mega films that our special guest Noah Amrani has worked on. In this episode of Pre and Post Visualization for live action, animation and VFX, you'll learn what a career path in this direction entails. Noah will help clarify what these artists do and what skill-sets you would need to learn in order to get your foot in the door, working on these colossal films. Noah is a...

How does a student, or artist, successfully make the transition to work in one of animation's most world-renowned studios? It's the one question that's at the top of every student's or artist's mind when they're looking to find employment in animation. Jiyoung Choi, a recent CSUN graduate who successfully made the transition to work for DreamWorks studios, shares her journey and experience with you and offers tips that you can consider getting your own foot in the door.Jiyoung is a visual dev...

If you've ever had a wondering about what it would be like to work on feature films as an film editor Lisa Linder Silver is here to provide a glimpse into this exciting career. She has worked on award winning projects for iconic studios such as Disney, DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Netflix, Hasbro and Apple TV, on beloved films including Emperor’s New Groove, Mulan II, Cinderella 3: A twist In Time, Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue, Winnie the Pooh, Paperman and the Tangled Ever After s...

Have you ever had an idea for a show that you wanted to pitch to an animation studio? Come take a listen to Rudi Bloss share tips and advice on how to pitch a show to studio development teams. Rudi is an experienced industry artist who has pitched multiple shows to the studios. In addition to a show pitcher, Rudi is a show-runner, content creator, writer, supervisor, director, storyboard artist, Feature 2D and 3D animator, character designer and a lay-out artist.He has worked internationally ...

This episode spotlights Game Design and VFX with our special guest Caleb Owens. Learn about these unique and dynamic roles and get some tips that can help guide you down a path to an exciting career in this amazing industryCaleb is an accomplished Visual Effects artist, Post-Vis animator, Compositor, Modeler, Lead digital artist and supervisor on film, television and video game projects. His impressive studio list includes Sony Imageworks, Digital Domain, Disney’s Dream Quest Images, an...

Nancy Ulene is an accomplished industry veteran in the filed of animation. She has served in the industry in positions as an Art Director, Co-Art Director, Lead Color Designer, Visual Color Artist, Lecturer and Adjunct University Professor. Nancy is also a Life Coach and a two-time Cancer survivor.Her experience in the industry is impressive having worked for world renowned studios including Walt Disney TV Animation, Disney Toon Studios, Netflix Animation, Warner Bros. TV Animation, Car...

Christophe Vacher is a two-time Emmy Award winning artist for his work on Transformers. He is a highly accomplished Art Director, Background Painter, Layout Artist, and Visual Development Artist having worked for mega studios including Walt Disney, DreamWorks, Illumination Animation, Focus Features and more. Some of his film projects include Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Transformers Prime, Enchanted, Treasure Planet, Fantasia 2000, Dinosaur, Tarzan, and The Hunchback Of Notre-Dame.You can...

Nancy Beiman is a career animator, professor and published author with an incredibly rich animation background. She has worked domestically and internationally for some of the worlds most recognized and iconic animation studios. Throughout her impressive career experience she's worked beside animation giants and on many of the animated films you've all come to know and love. Please join us as you listen to Nancy share her experiences, her observations about the industry and the helpful tips s...

This episode will explore what a background designer is in the field of animation. In addition to learning what they do, we'll teach you about the kind of drawing and design skills that you'll need to be a professional artist designing backgrounds for animation studios, we'll touch on education, and we'll also share with you the salaries and benefits you can expect to receive as a studio artist.

AnimationU is a weekly podcast where we talk about the exciting animation industry. Each episode will address a variety of topics including detailed analysis of the different jobs and responsibilities of those employed in the studios, and we’ll share insider information on the steps you should take to help start your own career in this highly rewarding, fascinating field. If you’re curious about animation and the people who create your favorite shows or if you’ve often wondered what it would ...