My time on MACA has flown by and it’s almost time for me to move on and try my best to make a career from the skills I’ve learnt in the last two years – it’s gone so quick, particularly the last year! Just to quickly reflect on the course, I’ve had a great time and despite some of the lows and personal challenges I’ve faced I am so grateful that I had this opportunity at all, all the work I’ve been able to produce, friends I’ve made, and all the fun and highs along the way. I’ve had the chance to work with some really talented people and I hope I get to work with them again at some point after the course is over.
In looking to the future I’ve been trying to decide on career paths, primarily where I’d like to start and what I’d like to get out of animation. I’ve tried not to put too much stake in my first steps as right now I’d just like to get my foot on the ladder. It’s not that I feel like I’m running out of time but I’ve spent many years in another job that I wasn’t content in and would like to be in the industry sooner rather than later!
Right now I’m primarily looking for studio work; clean-up, assistant jobs, things that hopefully would be easier to start in from the ground up. I’ve had conversations with lecturers that have said it’s usually easier to get jobs in clean-up but this is anecdotal and can vary from workplace to workplace.
There are plenty of studios in London that I’m looking at applying to soon, including places like Studio AKA, The Line, Golden Wolf, Moth, Blue Zoo, Animade, etc. We’ve had so many guest lecturers in from so many studios that have just been so interesting and kind, gracious enough to spend a little time with us to help us build an understanding of what it’s like in the industry.
Realistically I’m not expectant on anything from these places – most of them are quite high profile and my style is often not particularly commercial (aka incredibly cartoony), but I’d like to think that with my portfolio of work I could probably get a job as a junior in clean-up or assistant animator.
I frequently keep an eye out for work on animatedjobs, and have been subscribed to their socials for a few years now which has been great for seeing what kind of work is available and when. Some of the guest lecturers have described up and down periods of work, primarily in film and TV production, but they say that there’s usually work available elsewhere during these times, or they work elsewhere to fill the time, or they take a couple months vacation with the money they’ve earnt until there is work.
I’ll write another post soon more specifically on individual studios and the what else I’d like to do outside of studio jobs but my immediate focus outside of graduation is to just take what I can get!