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While walking around TCAF a ton of conversations I overheard involved boarding, backgrounds and other animation type gigs. One publisher even wondered aloud what would happen if Adventure Time went off the air. And this Deadline story tells the story: LA-Area Animation Jobs At All-Time High. While there’s lots of film work, it’s also in TV:

Jobs in TV animation are also on the rise. “The work has really increased on the television side,” Hulett said. “There’s more storyboard work and design work, and it’s all driven by animation’s profitability. Animated television shows have been a great cash cow and profit stream for the conglomerates. They can make them for at a competitive price, and they have a long shelf life.” New media is also creating jobs for animation workers, he said, noting that DreamWorks is producing Internet content for Netflix. Hulett noted that the good times in animation are creating many good-paying jobs for other workers in the industry as well, including voice-over actors, editors, and sound technicians. “The growth here,” Hulett said, “is coming from all the preproduction work – the storyboards, layout, animation scripts, character design and key backgrounds.”


I can’t even keep count of how many indie cartoonists make a living doing animation work, but the number of them moving to LA is an indication, as is this Tumblr post which asks: WHY IS STEVEN UNIVERSE SUCH AN AMAZING SHOW?!

mc-burnett:

BECAUSE REBECCA SUGARIAN JONES-QUARTEYKAT MORRISBEN LEVINJOE JOHNSTONJEFF LIUPAUL VILLECORAVEN MOLISEELAMAR ABRAMSALETH ROMANILLOSHELLEN JOHILARY FLORIDOKATIE MITROFFELLE MICHALKADANNY HYNESCOLIN HOWARDANGIE WANGSTEVEN SUGAREMILY WALUSJASMIN LAIAMANDA WINTERSTEINTIFFANY FORDEFRAIN FARIASKEVIN DARTSTU LIVINGSTONLAUREN ZUKE, LAUREN HECHT, MATTANIAH ADAMSNICK DEMAYOJACKIE BUSCARINO, CAROLYNA ROBEZZOLI, ALAN PASMANCHRISTY COHEN, LISA ZUNICH, CHUCK AUSTEN, CARDER SCHOLINAIVI & SURASSHU AND A BUNCH OF AMAZING FREELANCERS, OVERSEAS ANIMATORS AND POST-PRODUCTION PEOPLE AND ALSO THE WHOLE CAST HAVE WORKED REALLY HARD TO MAKE IT AMAZING!!!!!!!!

How many familiar names can YOU spot there? Chuck Austen!

3 COMMENTS

  1. …and then they do work for the comics license, which is kinda like George Lucas writing an issue of Star Wars.

  2. Here’s a corollary, for comics:
    If the comics creator has worked in animation, the comic will generally be a good read.
    Storyboards (and extremes), character design, storytelling, quick precise draftsmanship … all are refined and perfected in animation.

    Examples: Jeff Smith, Stephanie Gladden, Walt Kelly (and many other Disney alumni like Barks and Bradbury)…

  3. Seeing that a TAG graphic is used, interested non-LA people may want to check the TAG blog for current horror stories of LA based storyboarders before thinking there’s a gold rush out there. There’s lots of complaints by TAG members of unpaid tests and overtime. Lots of gigs also expect you to present your storyboards as animatics minus extra compensation.

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