YOUR GUIDE INTO THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY
I started this blog to pass along information I wished I knew when starting in the animation industry. The Storyboard Room is filled with knowledge and first-hand experience on getting into an industry that we all love. Here, you'll find insightful information to help you get your foot in the door and thrive in animation! Join and uncover invaluable insights and guidance to enter and secure your place in this captivating world.
Having had a successful internship run at Warner Bros. Records, Nickelodeon Animation Studio, and DreamWorks Animation Studio, I get asked this question a lot. And that is, is there a best time to apply to internships and if so when is it. And to answer that question, yes there is and that best time is during the off-season.
Have you ever wanted to work on some of your favorite cartoons, but never tried because you feel like you don’t have the best drawing skills? What if I told you that you can work in the animation industry even if you can’t draw, like myself! See! look at this dog that I drew. Not very impressive.
Now you may be thinking, how can I possibly be in the animation industry if I can’t draw? What jobs can I even do? Well, there’s a lot actually! Production is the biggest and main non-artist job in animation, but there’s also development, special events, finance, marketing, executive roles and if you still want to be on the creative side, there’s also writing!
Don’t give up on your dream to work in the animation industry. It’s definitely possible and I am a testament to that.
Who does the animation start for a TV show? How many scripts are written for a single episode? What even is an animation pipeline? These are some questions one might ask wondering how a 2D animation episode is made. In this blog post, I’ll be giving a breif overview of the animation pipeline for a 2D show. The animation pipeline can have a ton of moving parts happening simultaneously. It can be confusing to understand how the pipeline works and every studio has a slightly different pipeline from one another. To make matters a bit more difficult to explain exactaly what the animation pipeline is, within each studio, every production functions differently as well. If you work on differnt shows, you’ll soon find yourself re-learning the pipeline designed for that specfic show. What I will be explaining below is a general pipeline that a 2D show roughly follows. This will give you a basic understanding of animation and how a 2D episode is created from inception to completion.
One of my personal goals for 2019 was to switch careers from being a Financial Analyst at Lionsgate, to becoming a Production Assistant at an animation studio. In the beginning, I didn't mind working at Lionsgate because my work hours were flexible, the pay was great, and my commute was half a block. I also enjoyed my team and became close friends with one of my co-workers. However, things started to change mid-year. I didn't feel happy. The work became boring and worst of all, I felt I was in a creative rut. To put it simply~ I felt like this job was draining an important part of me.
So you want to know how to get into the animation industry. Whether you’re an artist or someone who just loves cartoons and want to be apart of the industry in some way, Im going to be sharing with you 6 tips to help you get your foot in the door.
But before we start, a little bit about myself. My name is Eric Bravo and I’ve interned with Warner Bros, Nickelodeon & DreamWorks on the movie Penguins of Madagascar. I recently made a cartoon short with Nickelodeon called The Outsiders as the creator & writer as part of their shorts program. Click here if you’d like to see it! And I am currently in my dungeon (the process) of coming up with more ideas for cartoons.
Now that you know a little bit about myself and my background, let’s begin!
If you’re a student who wants a job in the animation industry, then an animation internship is the best way to improve your chances of getting into this exclusive and exciting industry! But how do you get an animation internship?
In this book, you’ll discover:
· Where to start and how to build experience
· What kind of internships there are
· How to set your application apart
· How to tailor your resume and cover letter for success
· The interview questions you could be asked
· The best way to deal with interview rejection
· What to do when you get that dream internship
· How to turn an internship into something bigger
In his super senior year, author Eric Bravo landed three studio internships—at Warner Bros. Records, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, and DreamWorks Animation Studios on the movie Penguins of Madagascar. In this book, you’ll find all of Eric’s knowledge and years of experience laid out for you to use as a blueprint.
You’ll get a “behind the scenes” look as Eric interviews industry professionals who interned at major animation studios such as Nickelodeon, DreamWorks, Walt Disney, Cartoon Network, LAIKA, and Industrial Light & Magic. The book also contains helpful tips and insightful knowledge from recruiters, including what entertainment studios look for in an intern.
About the author: Eric Bravo is a writer, photographer, traveler,
and creator who made his cartoon short The
Outsiders with Nickelodeon while simultaneously
working on Google’s Self Driving Car Project. You can find
Eric online at www.eric-bravo.com.
So you want to know how to get a Pixar Animation Internship? Well, you've come to the right place! Now, even though I've never interned at Pixar myself (I made it past the final round, but the internship program got cut for the quarter I applied - find the full story at the end of the article), I have some very close friends who have worked and are currently working there. I also know a couple of recruiters at Pixar who shared with me what type of resumes and skills they look for when considering an intern. So without further ado, I present to you how to intern at Pixar! Check out the video version of this article by clicking below.
From A Production Coordinator To A Storyboard Revisionist
Fabian Corona started off as an intern at Nickelodeon Animation Studios before becoming a Storyboard Revisionist on Wallykazam. His journey into animation begins at the University of Arizona as a Visual Communication major. After meeting a Nickelodeon recruiter at the first CTN, Fabian got offered an internship at Nickelodeon a year later.
Tyler Streuter made the move from Chicago to Hollywood to chase his love for movies. During college, Tyler scored an Internship with Universal Pictures as an Field Marketing Intern and Campus Marketing Representative. This internship helped get him to where he is now, as Assistant to the Head of Digital Marketing at DreamWorks Animation Studio in Glendale, CA.
As a college student, Nicole Rola landed several internships in the animation industry. She was a Production Assistant Intern for Nickelodeon's Legend of Korra and also for Cartoon Network's Steven Universe.
Nicole, now a Production Assistant at DreamWorks Animation, attended Woodbury University in Burbank where she got a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Animation. Find out how she got these animation internships as a college student and how to set your application apart from the rest.
Christopher John Kinyon, or "CJ," has such an interesting and amazing life. CJ has been breakdancing for over 20 years, have traveled the world, once broke his neck, and has even been on ABC's show, Wipeout and winning the first place prize of $50,000 in 2009. And to top it off, he's been working at Nickelodeon Animation Studios for over 7 years.
“People think of me as the mascot of Nickelodeon since I don’t hold back my extreme happiness for life”
Starting off as an intern at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in the Writing Fellowship department, Garrett Prince quickly transitioned into the the world of animation and has steadily climbed the production ladder. He has worked on various shows and feature films including, Nickelodeon's The Might B! and Walt Disney's Winnie the Pooh.
"I always loved cartoons growing up, specifically The Ren & Stimpy Show. I never thought I would enter this as a career."
Since graduating from Chapman University with a degree in Public Relations & Advertising, Garrett Prince has worked at three major animation studios which includes Walt Disney Animation, Nickelodeon, and DreamWorks Animation Studios.
Bettina Braganza has one of the coolest jobs in the animation industry. Besides from being the official tour guide ofNickelodeon Animation Studio, she helps plan out Nickelodeon's Kid's Choice Awards, Comic Con, and premiere parties for various Nickelodeon shows. Bettina graduated from UC Irvine with a degree in Business Economics. She always knew she wanted to be in entertainment, but had no idea what industry exactly.
"I just wanted to follow in my sister's footsteps, as she always worked in the [music] industry...[t]he animation industry was actually something I was really oblivious to. I didn’t know anything about it."
After scoring a Production internship with Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Tiffany Chiu quickly worked her way onto one of the biggest animated TV shows of 2014, The Legend of Korra, where she worked closely with none other than the creators of the show, Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino.
Before her time with The Legend of Korra, Tiffany, like many other talented students, had no idea how to break into the animation industry. She had always enjoyed watching cartoons, drawing, pretty much anything that involved creativity, but it wasn't until high school when she found out that she can do this for a living.
What Qualities Do Animation Studios Look For In An Intern Interview
How to Get an Animation Internship at a Major Studio
Non-Artist Jobs in Animation: Production & Post-Production
If you’re a student who wants a job in the animation industry, then an animation internship is the best way to improve your chances of getting into this exclusive and exciting industry! Animation internships give you vital experience and networking opportunities—and can be a stepping stone for a job in the industry.
In this book, you’ll discover:
•Where to start and how to build experience
•What kind of internships there are
•How to set your application apart
•How to tailor your resume and cover letter for success
•The interview questions you could be asked
•The best way to deal with interview rejection
•What to do when you get that dream internship
•How to turn an internship into something bigger
In his super senior year, author Eric Bravo landed three studio internships—at Warner Bros. Records, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, and DreamWorks Animation Studios.
If you're interested in becoming an animation writer, then pursuing a Script Coordinator role might be the path for you. A Script Coordinator is an entry-level position that puts you in the writer's room and depending on the show, the story editor could give you an episode to write. However, these positions come far and few as there is only one Script Coordinator per show, and everyone who wants to be a writer is gunning for the job. You have a 3x better chance of securing a Production Assistant (PA) position as there are usually three PA's to a show. This is not to discourage you, but to inform you. In this video, I will be going over what is a Script Coordinator, what do they do, and what qualities you'll need to become one. So without further ado, let's get to learning!