About

Blog

Products

Subscribe

Contact

Career Evolution > Blog > Freelance Animator Interview

An Interview with Freelance Animator Geoff Ind of Graphite Productions

Freelance animator and former Disney artist, Geoff Ind of Graphite Productions, shares his experiences of going self-employed.

March 7th, 2011 by Becky Turner

Geoff Ind is a freelance animator and the face behind Auckland-based Graphite Productions.

I first met Geoff in Sydney where he had been working for Disney doing hand drawn classical animation for movies like Mickey Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers, Tarzan 2, Lilo and Stitch 2, Bambi 2, Brother Bear 2 and Cinderella 3.

I am in total awe of people with artistic talent and it's really cool to see Geoff going self-employed doing what he loves. I wanted to probe his world further and find out more about freelance animation - and he kindly agreed to be interviewed about his Disney days, going freelance, and what skills you really need to pursue this line of career...

When did you first know you wanted to pursue a career in animation?

I got my first taste of the hidden animation world when I was 12. My Mum and Dad had taken my two sisters and I on a holiday to New Zealand. On the way we had a short stop over in Los Angeles where we did the usual tourist thing and visited Disneyland. At the time Disney had a small showcase animation studio in the park which you could walk around (behind glass of course) and watch the animators and artists at work. They where working on Aladdin at the time and I remember thinking that's what I want to do when I leave school! Up until that point I had never joined the dots and realized that the cartoons I watched on TV like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Tom and Jerry all had to be made by animators and other artists involved in making a cartoon. I guess I must have thought they just magically materialized at the TV station for my entertainment!

What qualifications did you need to work for Disney? How did that role come about?

At Disney they don't have a specific academic requirement in the conventional sense, Disney is far more interested in drawing and creative talent as they insist on giving every new employee 6 months of intensive training when they start working for Disney.

I got my start at Disney after working in the animation industry in New Zealand for just over three years. I had been made redundant from one animation studio when it collapsed and the animation studio I was now working at was starting to look like it was heading in the same direction. I knew that Disney Australia was making a lot of animation for television and feature animation for Video and DVD release. Ever since visiting the Disney animation studio in LA I had wanted to work at Disney so I decided to try my luck and send off a sample of my work.

It took about 2 months for a reply to arrive after my initial contact. Disney liked the sample I had sent and were asking for more samples of my work.

This time they wanted me to draw some of their characters in more specific situations. To give you an example, one of the drawings asked for was of Tigger climbing over a barbed wire fence or Mickey holding an umbrella and checking to see if it was raining still. Things of that sort. Basically Disney was seeing if I could draw in their style and to a particular brief, something that a lot of artists find difficult. I remember shutting myself away in my room for a weekend and drawing like mad to try and get all of the drawings they wanted complete.

After sending the second test back to Australia I had to wait for another few months for the reply. When it came back they said they had again really liked my drawings and wanted me to come over the Sydney to sit an in-house test and have an interview.

The test I had to sit was of an animation scene of a really shaggy dog, which I had to draw the in-between drawings for (Disney gave me 3 or 4 drawings of a movement and I had to fill in all of the required images in-between). My test and interview must have been of the required standard because another few months later they offered me a position in the studio.

What were the best - and worst - things about working there?

The best thing about working at Disney is the unlimited supply of free stationary. I used to love going the supply room and asking for more paper, pencils, erasers, etc it was awesome!

Seriously now, the real best thing about working there was working with the over 300 strong team of animators and artists who were from all over the world. Everyone who was there was there because they loved everything to do with animation in comics, games, films, TV and the Web. It was fantastic to be working amongst so many like-minded people.

Definitely the worst thing about working for Disney was the unrelenting need to make quota. Disney is a business after all and we had very tight deadlines to meet with each of the films being made, as a result each artist working at Disney needs to complete a set amount of work each week. I found this very challenging at first (many late nights and weekends were spent getting my quota completed) but eventually I got more and more used to it and started to be able to make quota comfortably each week.

Why did you decide to set up your own animation studio?

One of my goals ever since being made redundant has been to become the master of my own destiny, and not be reliant on my employer to keep the bills paid! I love making animation and working for myself allows me to inject my own ideas and style into the animations I make.

How do you find new clients and what sort of projects do you do now?

The web is an invaluable tool as it give me exposure to markets I am otherwise not able to access. I also rely on referrals from clients and my colleagues in animation.

At Graphite we can take on projects both large and small, from an animated banner for a website - or maybe you want to add more interest to your company logo with some animation.

We also provide longer animated infomercials that can be put into a website to help inform clients about your business. On the entertainment side we can produce animated shorts for TV or, increasingly, webisodes for online viewing.

Primarily we make animation for the web, TV commercials, audio visual presentations, motion graphics, and E-cards for company events and holidays. However we also supply still images too like print adverts, posters and full blown illustrations.

Can you share any tips for aspiring animators in terms of setting up their own business? What kind of work experience will they need?

My main tip for the aspiring animator wanting to set up a business would be to jump in and do it. Many animators procrastinate about setting up their own business and ultimately end up continuing to work for other people working on other peoples ideas for their whole career. I'm not saying that's a bad thing but if you do want to work for yourself then just take that plunge - after all, time waits for no man!

Obviously it helps to have a few years' work experience in a studio under your belt, assuming by then you know how animation is made from concept to completion. All you need from that point on is the drive and imagination to make a career in freelance animation under your own steam.

What's in store for the future as a freelance animator?

The future will be to continue to grow my animation business by finding new clients and also to work further with my existing client base. Above all I want to keep animating long into the future, as making animation is what I love doing.

Animation is an unlimited medium; anything that can be imagined is possible within the bounds of time and current technology... Technology which is constantly having the boundaries pushed further and further by the collective talents of people working in animation all over the world. You only have to look at the recent release of movies like Avatar to marvel at what is now achievable and also to wonder what is coming next in our wonderful world of animation.

Thank you Geoff for sharing your experiences and shining a light on freelance animation as an exciting and highly rewarding career option! To hire Geoff for your next project or just to find out more about his company, visit the Graphite Productions website.

If you found this free article helpful please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you so much for your kind support.

Latest Articles

How to Get an ITIN (Apple Publishers)

How to Deal with Content Thieves

How to Write Killer AdWords Ads

How to Make Money by Blogging

>> Career Blog Archives