Creators Society Animation Podcast

Join me for this in depth conversation with Linda Simensky, discussing her incredible career, including adventures as an exec at Nick, Cartoon Network, PBS and her new gig at Duolingo as Head of Animation and Scripted Content at Duolingo.

One of the many things Linda and I touched on was the lack of books about becoming a producer or an executive. If you want to become an artist or an animator, there are a lot out there. But books on other jobs in the industry are few and far between, and that's now. There certainly wasn't when Linda was starting out.

Obviously now, even without books, there are a lot more ways to learn about these other roles in the industry, including podcasts like this. I feel like hearing Linda talk about how she approached being a development exec with a heart for creators is something we rarely get to hear, so whether you're an artist or an aspiring exec or just a fan of Linda's work, I know you'll get a lot out of this as we walk through her career and talk about what she's doing in her new role at Duolingo.

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Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam (@mikewakelam)

Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller

Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)

Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha
Edited by: Zoe Wakelam

The Creators Society is a professional society for all disciplines of the animation industry. Our mission is to bring the animation community together to build strong relationships, provide education, and form a better understanding of the different roles we all play in creating animated stories. We celebrate and promote the love of animation, and all the talented Creators who breathe life and imagination into their work.

Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at creatorssociety.net

Send us a text

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish is fresh off a Golden Globes nomination and being widely praised - along with a 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes as I write this.
Join us as we jump into a nearly hour-long chat with Director Joel Crawford and Co-Director Januel Mercado.
These guys were so fun to chat with and they were very generous with their time in a week where they probably did a hundred interviews. What's cool is that Joel and Januel are really close friends, and got to work side by side on a movie which is really a fun ride. And you can tell they have loved making this - it comes through in every frame. It doesn't matter if you've seen the previous Puss In Boots or not, or any of the Shrek films, this one stands alone. It's fresh in style, darker in tone in places with a real depth. We get to chat about a lot of that, but somehow I felt like we were just scratching the surface. And we stayed pretty much out of spoiler territory I think so that you can listen to this before or after you see it - or both.
Show notes:

• If you want to check out Joel's student film, you can find it here. Well worth the watch.

Please remember to like, rate, and comment on your favorite podcasting platform and share the episode on social media.

If you have any comments or suggestions please get in touch.

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam

Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller

Music by: Rich Dickerson

Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha

The Creators Society is a professional society for all disciplines of the animation industry. Our mission is to bring the animation community together to build strong relationships, provide education, and form a better understanding of the different roles we all play in creating animated stories. We celebrate and promote the love of animation, and all the talented Creators who breathe life and imagination into their work.

Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at creatorssociety.plus

Send us a text

How low can you go with a CG feature budget to create a very entertaining, high-quality-looking animated film? Listen in to this one to find out as I dive into the deal-making and production of The Amazing Maurice with Producer Andrew Baker.
Based on a Terry Pratchett book, The Amazing Maurice looks like it came out of a much bigger studio environment. It has a great voice cast, quality effects, and animation and is a great case study.
Andrew was very generous not only with his time, but the detail he delved into, and he has some great insight into the industry from his work as a lawyer before his role as a producer.
Hope you enjoy it!
And if you do, please like, rate, and comment on your favorite podcasting platform and share the episode on social media.
If you have any comments or suggestions please get in touch.
If you'd like to hear about new episodes in your inbox, please subscribe here.

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson
Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha
Edited by: Jonathan Wakelam
The Creators Society is a professional society for all disciplines of the animation industry. Our mission is to bring the animation community together to build strong relationships, provide education, and form a better understanding of the different roles we all play in creating animated stories. We celebrate and promote the love of animation and all the talented Creators who breathe life and imagination into their work.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at creatorssociety.net

Send us a text

This episode is a must-listen for anyone developing an original series and wondering how they'll get it off the ground. A combination of passion, perseverance, and a great partnership of the right people made the special sauce to get Stan & Gran into production. Based on an idea Jon Mason had a whopping 12 years ago, perseverance looms large here. His partnership with Natalie Llewellyn was pivotal as you'll hear in this conversation.
This is the third in a sporadic series looking at the anatomy of a project and rounds out the trio looking at an original series.
I hope you find it as informative as I did. Super interesting.
Enjoy!
Please like, rate, and comment on your favorite podcasting platform and share the episode on social media.
If you have any comments or suggestions please get in touch.
If you'd like to hear about new episodes in your inbox, please subscribe here.

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson
Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha
The Creators Society is a professional society for all disciplines of the animation industry. Our mission is to bring the animation community together to build strong relationships, provide education, and form a better understanding of the different roles we all play in creating animated stories. We celebrate and promote the love of animation and all the talented Creators who breathe life and imagination into their work.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at creatorssociety.net

Send us a text

If you've been taking in all the animated features this year, you no doubt have The Bad Guys as one of your favorites. For me, it's one of my favorite films of the year, animated or not.

And it certainly has its own flavor, a flavor which is really fresh, reminiscent of great heist films, and infused with a lot of today's guest, director Pierre Perifel.
We chat about Pierre's career journey from studying in France to DreamWorks, and we touch on a few projects, including canceled while in production projects - which may speak to many people affected this year - to his feature directorial debut.
Pierre clearly had a great time making this film.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
A few notes from the show:

• Highly recommend you watch the teaser animatic that Pierre put together to sell the project internally can be found here. A great example of how to sell a concept.
• Pierre's short film from Goblins can be seen here - Super fun!

Please remember to like, rate, and comment on your favorite podcasting platform and share the episode on social media.

If you have any comments or suggestions please get in touch.

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam

Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller

Music by: Rich Dickerson

Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha

The Creators Society is a professional society for all disciplines of the animation industry. Our mission is to bring the animation community together to build strong relationships, provide education, and form a better understanding of the different roles we all play in creating animated stories. We celebrate and promote the love of animation, and all the talented Creators who breathe life and imagination into their work.

Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at creatorssociety.plus

Send us a text