The independent animator, filmmaker, and freelance storyboard artist shares his journey from studio life to freelance life – and what it took to get there.
Check out Terry Ibele’s Animation Industry Podcast featuring a new podcast every week focusing on the stories of today’s animation professionals - how they got to where they are and what they learned along the way. Now home to 212 episodes, the podcasts cover all areas of the industry, including storyboarding, writing, animating, directing, visual development, and game design. Guests have included Aaron Augenblick, the notorious JJ Villard, Spike & Mike’s Spike Decker, Disney Director John Musker, Sony Lead Animator Humberto Rosa, Frederator’s Fred Seibert, Tumble Leaf’s Scarlet Nelson, and many others from major animation studios all over the world.
Episode 212: How Spencer Moreland Quit Studio Life to Become a Full-Time Freelance Animator
This chat features independent animator, filmmaker, freelance storyboard artist, and TAAFU director of programming Spencer Moreland. Moreland, who has worked on projects including Loud House, Pinky Malinky, Miss Persona, DC Superheroes, and several independent films, shares how he pursued, worked his way up, then quit studio life to pursue a freelance career - and how that changed everything for him.
Tune in to Ibele and Moreland to hear:
- The first step in switching from studio life to life as a full-time freelancer
- Moreland’s number one piece of advice for tackling a new animation skill
- The best pitching advice you’ve ever heard!
Ibele has begun to publish the interviews as videos as well – you can find previous interviews here!
Check out Moreland’s Social Links:
- Follow Moreland on Instagram
- Check out Moreland’s short film Lastkinders on YouTube
- Follow Moreland on Twitter
Ibele, himself a stop-motion animator (see AWN’s Fresh Takes piece on his whimsical short, The Silly Duck Wizard), deftly digs into all manner of topics, encouraging interviewees to share insights and opinions on a wide range of topics like pitching shows, marketing your work online, key skills studios look for when they bring on talent in storyboarding, vizdev, character design, and animation.
In 2018, Ibele, who lives in Toronto, decided to quit his career as a Marketer and pursue his love for animation. Since then, he’s become well known for his viral animation productions, which include the previously mentioned Silly Duck Wizard, which is how A.W.N. first came to know him and his work.
Learn more about Ibele’s work and podcast by visiting terryibele.com. You can find all The Animation Podcast episodes on his Soundcloud site: https://soundcloud.com/animation-podcast.
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
