How I Learnt To Draw Homer Simpson
Thank you so much for subscribing to the DFTL newsletter. This is our first newsletter and we’re thrilled that you’re reading this. If you find this email in your promotions folder, please move us to primary so you don’t miss any updates.
An Introduction
This week’s podcast features Pete Michels, a UCLA graduate and an animation director who has worked on some of the most popular adult animated shows, such as Rick and Morty, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and more. This is the first time we’ve had an international guest and we had a lot of fun shooting it. This is also the first episode post rebranding and probably the most hyped after Noah put up this tweet saying that we’ll be discontinuing the BITS & Pieces Podcast. We’re sorry if we had you worried :)
Why We Invited Pete
We found out about Pete when he was a guest on a webinar hosted by our university, and after attending the same, we knew we had to have him on the show. A few calls and emails later, he agreed to be a guest. Besides talking about the history of animation and his own story on DFTL, he speaks about creating art from a philosophical point of view, and how to find one’s style as an artist. This episode is a must-listen for anyone artistically inclined. Insightful, experienced, and eloquent, Pete Michels is the whole package!
An Insight Into the Industry
If you were reading a regular newsletter on life advice, you’d see something like “The salary of an animator is over $70,000. One of the best ways to reach there is by joining an art school or a degree program”, but we are not going to sell it to you like that. Becoming an animator is a super fun, but being a good one is super hard.
The work hours are extremely long, and the timelines too short. This also could mean that if you genuinely enjoy creating animations and being as expressive as humanly possible, this is the best profession for you. Most animators work as freelancers, and jump from project to project, sometimes handling more than one at a time. As a junior animator, you’d be taking small gigs, maybe working with some seniors, and you’d slowly up the ranks and establish a name for yourself in the industry as you start taking on projects of higher quality.
Honestly, people working in the creative industry are few of the most interesting and radiant people I have ever met, take my dear friend Noah for example. If you want to explore the field of animation, I’d suggest looking up a few basic online courses so that you get a gist of what you’ll be getting into, but whatever you decide to do, always remember, starting is the hardest part.
In case you haven’t already checked it out, our podcast is on Spotify, and if you prefer to watch over listen, it’s also on YouTube.
