Australian animators Katrina Mathers, Jack Parry, Huni Bolliger, and Darren Bell, share some wisdom on breaking into the animation industry.

On the 23rd of June, I attended a Careers in Animation Forum at the Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF). These were the notes I took on the night:

What this night reinforced for me

Before the speaker notes, here are a few patterns that came through again and again:

• Momentum beats perfection: doing small real things creates the next opportunity

• Relationships matter: most doors open through people, not portals

• Skill + clarity: know what you want, and keep improving your craft toward it

• Make work: personal projects and short films are often the strongest signal

Katrina Mathers

• Volunteered time for thankless jobs

• Cold-called and eventually landed a job as a receptionist

• Kept networking until she landed a job as a Producer

• Spent a lot of her own time making films

• Did a lot of diff type of job roles (e.g. acting, writing, etc.)

• Submitted animation to St.Kilda film festival

• Got FilmVic support

• All that led to meeting some key industry people.

In closing, Katrina said, "One thing leads to another. Take opportunities and meet inspiring people."

At the time of this writing, she is touring around promoting her short film Nullarbor.

Jack Parry

What he did to make it into the industry:

• Threw away a promising career for his dream.

• Knowing what he wanted attracted him to the likes of indie animation king, Bill Plimpton, at a pub in Germany.

• Worked his way up by acquiring skills from other companies, then created his own company.

Some quotable quotes included:

Know what you want. Don't listen to other people's opinions about what you should be doing.

If you want to get somewhere, just pretend you're there already.

Don't let the machine get in the way of your aspirations. Let your creativity drive you.

A practical takeaway here: if you can clearly explain the kind of work you want to do (character? motion design? compositing? story?), people can actually help you. Vague ambition is hard for others to support.

Huni Bolliger

Huni shared similar views to the other speakers, but added:

• Make films and submit to film festivals

• Network a lot and meet other animators or film-makers

This one matters because festivals aren’t only about awards—they’re an ecosystem where you meet collaborators, mentors, and future employers.

Darren Bell

Darren is a compositor at Iloura, who's worked on feature films such as Australia and Mary & Max. Here is some of the advice he gave:

• Figure out your purpose

• It benefits to have a partner who supports your aspirations

• Teach at universities to help with your connections and network

• He taught himself how to sculpt to further his digital skills

• Networks and connections really pay off

This is a good reminder that “animation industry” is not one job—there are many tracks. Compositing, editing, lighting, modeling, story, production, sound: each track has its own ladder.

Q&A Session

Value of formal education?

Support, accountability, guidance and expertise. Good film is about story and/or writing. Meet other people. As a career, specialize in something, then develop your other skills outside of that. Where are you interested in going? What are you good at?

Find an intersection. Find a niche. After parties are usually the best part of networking. Be yourself. Get to know people. Go to festivals. Meet people. Don't be shy. Share your passion and it won't feel like networking.

Get people's cards. Have your showreel on a disc, ready to hand out. Have a card, or something tangible that a person can take away with them. Timidity is your worst enemy.

If you’re starting out: one simple next move

Pick one focus for the next 30 days:

• make a short piece

• rebuild your reel

• attend one meetup/festival event and meet 3 people

One thing leads to another.