Netflix Animation Brings Together recent grads for Virtual Speaker Series

Netflix Animation Brings Together recent grads for Virtual Speaker Series

28 May 2020 – Netflix, Normally, this time of year is a busy one for graduates with finals, commencement events, and job hunting. But like so many, the class of 2020 is facing a very different reality due to the global pandemic.

With many college campuses closed, students have had to transition to studying from home and wrapping up their final coursework remotely, as well as taking part in online-only commencement ceremonies. But while these activities are easy to move online, recruiting events, job interviews, and other networking opportunities have been tougher to complete remotely.

Enter the Netflix Animation Virtual Speaker Series. Spanning five days and ten hour-long panels, we organized this free event as a way to engage with and inspire the next generation of animation talent from all over the world during a time of year when recruiters from our animation team would normally be visiting college campuses and meeting with graduates.

Designed to help guide industry hopefuls on how to break into animation, the series was intended for 2020 graduates in related areas of study such as animation, computer animation, cartooning, illustration, visual arts, design, film and television, writing, and entertainment studies. Invites for the series were sent to 300 schools all over the world, drawing participants from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Spain, South Korea, the UK, and the US (just to name a few).

Hosting these events online was fitting for our animation team, which has been able to continue with productions and other work by going virtual. Much of this work can be done remotely and separately, unlike live-action film and series productions, which have been temporarily halted in many places. (In addition to their work, many of our artists have created heartfelt cartoons in honor of those keeping us safe during the crisis as part of the #CartoonsforCaregivers initiative.)

As Animation Outreach and Engagement Manager Sherley Ibarra noted at the beginning of the event, “It’s a wonderful time to be in animation.”

The speaker series is just one example of how Netflix is continuing to engage with creative communities online during these uncertain times. In May, our Global Outreach team hosted a virtual Q&A about editing for episodic series for the editing community in India.

In April, The Willoughbys writer and director Kris Pearn hosted a virtual session on the making of the film for 200 students from the Savannah College of Art and Design and abroad. He also provided open portfolio critiques to a selected group of students to help provide insight and guidance on preparing their portfolios for job opportunities within the animation industry.

In addition to these outreach events, Netflix Animation also sponsors several scholarships for those hoping to break into the industry. The Netflix Animation Fellowship allows one graduate of Gobelins, L’École de L’Imag, the school of visual communication and arts in Paris, to work directly alongside animation experts in Japan developing Netflix original anime titles. The Character Animation Scholarship Program funds scholarships for up to ten students a year over four years from the African continent to study at Gobelins as part of their Master of Arts in Character Animation and Animated Filmmaking Program.

Kicking off April 27, the virtual speaker series included topics like visual development, animation development, how to catch a recruiter’s eye, how to pitch a storyboard, and how to write for animation. Multiple sessions were held on the same topics to make them accessible to as many time zones as possible, and each session included a Q&A session to allow attendees to ask questions. More than 25 speakers participated, including content executives, production designers, story editors, visual design artists, and recruiters.

The series also included an hour-and-a-half-long wide-ranging discussion between prolific creators such as Megan Dong (How to Train Your Dragon 2, Netflix’s upcoming Centaurworld), Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life, Netflix’s upcoming Maya and the Three), Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls, Netflix’s upcoming Inside Job), Elizabeth Ito (Adventure Time, Netflix’s upcoming City of Ghosts), Matt Layzell (Pinky Malinky, Netflix’s upcoming Battle Kitty), Sanjay Patel (The Incredibles, Netflix’s upcoming Ghee Happy) and Kataneh Vahdani (Monsters at Work, the upcoming Kat & Juju).

Moderated by industry veteran and Netflix director of character animation James Baxter, the panel touched on the creators’ early career struggles and biggest risks, the biggest changes they’ve witnessed in the animation industry, sharing work on social media and more networking advice.

“It’s fueled my fire,” Jorge said about working in quarantine. He expressed hope that the current situation will also “inspire the new generation” in animation.

Netflix Animation production designer Mike Yamada encouraged attendees to take advantage of the unusual situation millions are facing around the world in one of two panels about writing for animation. “People are looking for things that entertain them,” he said. “There’s a good opportunity to do things that are honest because right now we’re all having a collective shared experience.”

Ibarra’s closing message of the panel – the last of the series – was similarly hopeful: “Times are tough right now but please keep your head up and keep drawing.”

Attendees appeared to take that advice to heart — with many sending the Netflix Animation team illustrated thank you notes. You can see a compilation of these drawings here.

Source: Netflix

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