Part 1: Where
I will have to honest on this subject, my ambitions and plans will be coloured by the fact that I am an international student on an education loan, in a time when the political climate in the country is not in my favour.
I had moved to the UK because of its prominent animation industry, where they actively promote the industry and nurture the growth of new artists, and where so many talented animators and agencies are based, which I didn’t see back home.
Turns out there really are tons of talented people in animation here, even just in London. And they are all looking for jobs at the same time and at the same places.
So many animators and artists I have met in the past year have to juggle day jobs to still be able to earn a livelihood alongside their practice.
As you may imagine, this is more discouraging news and also a reality marker for me. My abilities are not suited for independent film-making, and while I would like to become a director in the future, I don’t think I am there yet. Ideally I would want to get recruited at a studio here and work with them full-time, however that seems almost impossible today. My current goal is to be able to get freelance work with animation studios and keep improving my skills, hoping that I can get consistent projects and get to meet and work with more and more interesting and talented people.
I first looked at opportunities in film and television animation. From online interviews with the artists onboard, the format seems completely contract based, where you’re with the studio or the production house only for the duration of the process, and then move on to the next project. While I will be applying and aiming for these opportunities, there is again an incredible lot of competition, and consistently getting signed for projects enough to earn a living is difficult.
Coming to commercial studios, I have been a fan of The Line Animation for many years, and I find their positioning in the industry very exciting. I think it would be vey interesting to work with studios who make commercial films, music videos as well as develop original IP. I am also aiming for studios like Golden Wolf, Blink Ink, Passion who make a mix of diverse projects across subjects and mediums.
I have also been looking at how international projects work and how animators get signed by big names like Titmouse, Netflix, Passion Pictures, Sony Animation and the like on contract basis for projects remotely. Applying for and getting work visas in foreign countries is becoming increasingly expensive and harder, so being able to work in this format would mean access to a larger pool of opportunities. A lot of production work also gets outsourced to smaller studios, which would also be a way to gain experience of working on larger scale projects.
I have also been looking at game industry roles as well, and the work portfolio requirement are different. Given the softwares and formats are different I would try and give it a shot, but it will be harder competing with animators who have tailored their practice toward gaming.
I have really enjoyed the privilege of being in the thick of things here in London, being able to attend animation events, attend screenings, visiting studios and meeting people in person, after being an admirer from afar for so long. As dreary as the odds are, I still want to be based in a place that is a hub of film and animation. In the long term, I would like to feel in the thick of things without moving a continent away from home, but till then I am open to relocating to cities as long as I can adequately sustain myself.