My Life in the Uncanny Valley

This past week felt so surreal to me, as I was able to interview two professionals from different animation studios around Dallas, Michael Sewell from Gearbox Software and Kevin Taylor from Reel FX. As nervous as I was, especially at my first meeting, it was so exciting to get out of my comfort zone and meet with others with the same passion as me. I learned so much about how the animation process is done professionally, which included what the day-to-day schedule looked like for people working in the production pipeline. I also learned great tips for how to get into the industry as well, and the fact that four-year college is not always necessary to begin an animation career. Additionally, this week also helped me widen my network of connections and I will hopefully get to travel to more studios in the future. My nervousness during the interviews was definitely the biggest problem I need to work on for the future, and I already noticed a positive difference between my first and second interviews. I am also still searching to understand if I want to focus on animation at a game or film studio, but after visiting Reel FX that does both, it seems each one is similar enough to where it really depends on the company. I am excited to meet with others in different animation studios and to soon decide what I want to create for my original work.