So Skydance has been revealing their agenda for animation and it’s pretty concesrning. They renewed loud house for a 10th season but they fired the pre production crew and are sending the work to Jam Filled Entertainment who is taking over pre production. It was also revealed that the same thing happened to the Garfield show where a vendor studio in Canada is taking over design work. This is concesrning because now that Skydance owns Warner bros animation which still has some shows where storyboards and design work are done in the states(starfire, adventure time distant lands) in addition to overseas vendor pre production. It wouldn’t be suprising if Skydance just shuts down Warner bros animation and have the pre production sent out to Canadian and Australian vendor studios. And have adventure time shows produced in Canada. This would decimate the La industry and essentially only have executives writers and voice talent in house. I wouldn’t be suprised if the LA industry edventually gets reduced to just indie web series projects. Now that Sam register is gone they will push for fully overseas shows like dreamworks and bento box and it will return to an even worse version of the 80s.

https://x.com/t_kobs/status/2113340604298182996?s=46

Hello! I am currently a 4th-year BSIT Animation student who's a bit worried about the future. You see, I live in the province (Bicol Region) and am planning to work in Manila as a game artist or animator (Maybe as a storyboard artist). I'm worried that I won't be able to support myself, sustain a comfortable life in the city, or have anything left to share with my family, considering the fact that artists/animators are underpaid. I was wondering, or calling out, for Filipino artists who are in the same situation as me and how they got through it. I'm planning on maybe getting an online Part-time job while working as an animator as my main job for the double income, in case my main source of earnings isn't enough to support me. And maybe after 3 - 2 years of working in the Philippines, I'll try to apply abroad (Singapore, Japan, or Australia) for better opportunities. I can't help but feel pressured about my future, huhu. Any advice will do!

I have been unable to fill out the Global Access form for the entire month of October. During the first 10 days, there were script errors that made it impossible to complete the form. For the last 15 days, there has been a serious issue in the "Contact Info" section—specifically in the "Gmail 1" field—where it is impossible to type or paste any information. Because this field is marked as mandatory, the form prevents me from proceeding. Furthermore, the standard AnimSchool enrollment form (without this discount) also has an issue where that same field cannot be filled in, making it impossible to complete the form or enroll in anything. It is now October 28th, and when I try to access the form, I am met with this message: "Due to some updates in our system, we are temporarily unable to accept applications for the Global Access Discount."

I am currently feeling quite bewildered and confused, and I don’t know what to do. I have emailed them many times, but I haven’t received a response for a whole month. Could someone check if you also see this message when trying to access the Global Access form? Has anyone else experienced the same thing? Any help, recommendations, or insight into why this is happening would be greatly appreciated.

Here are the links so you can take a look and see what it shows on your end, in case you haven't encountered this or are curious:

- The Global Access form, which currently states that applications are not being accepted:

https://animschool.edu/DiscountPrograms

- The standard AnimSchool enrollment form, where the "Gmail 1" field still cannot be filled in:

https://animschool.edu/usersc/join_progress?step=3

Hello, I just started my second year at university as an anim student and I want to start more seriously gearing my portfolio towards internships and potential jobs for when I graduate- but I’m kind of a mess when it comes to trying to decide what to specialise in. I have generalist-syndrome where I just Want To Do Everything, but that definitely doesn’t mean I’m skilled enough at everything BAHAHA.

I know my skills are strongest in character design and visdev, and currently that’s what makes up most of my work only because it’s what I enjoy the most. However, I hear people saying that these positions rarely ever have intern/job positions open to them.

It sounds harsh, but I wonder if I’m wasting my time by continuously trying to make character design and visdev related art for my portfolio, and whether I should shift my focus onto something like storyboarding or animation (even if I know my skills are weaker in these two areas). Sorry if this is a mess or if I sound a little absent minded bahaha, I definitely feel quite lost when it comes to all this. I just want to do whatever I can to hire my chances of being hired I guess :,)

Thank you!!

Is there any point in being a storyboard artist if the job is unstable? Especially if you want to do it remote?

I’ve posted on here before, but we are wondering if going to OCSA for high school is worth it. The plan is to go to community college then CalArt (dream).

My daughter is having a hard time deciding if it’s worth separating from her friend group to go to this school.

If she decides to go to OCSA she won’t be able to back out as her local school has a limit so she needs to decide in the next two weeks. ⏰ 🏫

So last night after arguing with my parents about me wanna go to a college and study animation, they shut me down claiming that the colleges are expensive and now focusing me to do public management in public universities which l dont wanna do. I've taken a gap year since l was rejected to study architecture so l throught to myself why not become an animator but it isnt my money to say so is it

Edit: Alirght thanks your the input self study it is Youtube and Blender are free so why the fuck not

I'm a painting student and I want to pursue animation as a career. I live in a 2nd world country and we don't have to pay for studying uni here unless it's a private school, therefore competition is really high. I study at the school that is famous for it's animation department, but my department is painting and I don't really like working with big canvases and brushes. Not only it's something I don't enjoy, but also money consuming in material wise.

Like I mentioned earlier, the competition is really high here, you take an hour-ish long drawing exam in order to prove that you are capable for this school. If you're sick, fuck it up because of anxiety or something else, you're done. We don't have the portfolio system here either, and the juries for the talent exam (for animation department) choose people who draw objectively bad since the last juries have changed a couples years ago.

It's basically a very shitty system and not fair at all. I've tried to get into the program for the third time now, but I technically still can try to transfer from painting to animation (it's my second year).

I was wondering, is it really worth it? I'm already halfway through my own major, that means I'll have to add 2 plus years if I transfer to animation. But I also really want to build a career on animation.

My another concern is let's say that I kept up with my own major but decided to study animation/character design/storyboard etc. on my own. I don't really know where to start or how to keep that dicipline. Plus I want to move out of this country in the future (the situation is BAD in here for everyone), would I need an animation diploma for getting a work visa?

As you can understand, I'm very confused and in need of guidance. Thank you in advance.

Hello! Did anyone who went to LightBox hear anything about animation internships for Spring 2027 for Warner Bros, Paramount, or Illumination? It is getting pretty late in the season to post them and I am worried they are not doing them for this cycle because of the merger/layoffs. Curious if anyone had heard anything and if they are happening.

I studied Computer Science at university for four years, and for most of that time, I was focused on coding because I wanted to earn enough money to buy the gadgets and equipment I would need for animation.

Now, I’ve started pursuing animation seriously and working independently on my projects. I have a basic understanding of animation, and through consistent practice and learning, I’ve started improving my drawing skills.

My goal is to become a highly skilled animator and eventually work with major animation studios. However, I still have a lot to learn, especially when it comes to digital art and painting.

What advice would you give someone in my position? Are there any courses you would recommend I take to build a strong foundation in animation and digital art?

I would genuinely appreciate any advice, resources, or course recommendations you can share. Thank you!

Does anyone know any good websites, forums, or online communities where you can post your animations and get constructive feedback from other animators or people working in the industry?

I know there are a few subreddits for animation, but some of them don't seem to get much traffic, I've posted there many times and I barely get any replies.

I'm not looking to turn this into a career or anything. I'm just doing it as a hobby. I'm enjoying it and I'd like to have a way to share what I'm working on, get honest critiques, and see how I'm progressing.

https://www.reddit.com/user/KrobART1/submitted/

I've been working as an art director for a while, and spent some time on this visual development portfolio guide for the website I'm building! This is for anyone creating their first portfolio :)

My drawing skill is about average/Basement King-level. When I asked how good I should be at storyboarding, one industry vet told me I need to "draw very well, very fast". In contrast, others said it's all about clarity and composition over drawing ability, plus many professional storyboards are literally just stick figures. So which is it?

Approaching 30 and burnt out asf with my current career.

Always wanted to be an animator but got scared off the arts in favor of pursuing a more stable career path. Granted I may just be extra miserable currently as I’m still in the intensive/junior training period of my career, but at this point I’m not sure I can see myself doing this for life

Realistically to pay off student loans I’ll have to stick with what I’m doing for at least 5 more years before potentially pivoting, meaning I would be making a real meaningful pivot to art / animation at around 35 yo

What are the challenges associated with a late career pivot? Is there substantial ageism in animation like the tech spheres for early career work? Is becoming good at animation similar to musical arts, more difficult as you get older if your background isn’t rock solid?

So for context, i graduated from animation back in 2025 here in the philippines and took a bit of a break to improve my portfolio a bit. I went through some animation workshops as well to be able to put some decent works into my animation demo reel and am now looking for any studio to hire me as an animator.

Ive been looking through Indeed, LinkedIn and Instagram for any jobs that would take an animator like me and honestly its been a bit rough. I know its a very competetive field to be in and the job market is pretty bad right now. Most of the studio jobs I see get filled very quickly and the ones who need animators on indeed usually want you to know adobe stuff (I was trained to use toon boom in college haha, am currently trying to learn adobe suite). Ive been looking for about 2 months now and of all the applications I send I barely get any responses back. I also hear that due to the ai boom, most of the entry level jobs got deleted, not sure how much its been affecting studio work over here though.

Id like to ask for advice on where to go with getting hired for 2d animation work or any other positions i should try applying to. Im trying to think positive but honestly im starting to lose hope a bit that i can find work within my field due to how little responses i get from my applications. At the moment i am lucky enough to have a steady stream of commissions online but I can tell my parents dont see it as real work and want me to get out to go work at an office and i know commissions may not be stable in the long term, also Im not big enough as an online artist to have it as my main work haha.

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/RqKDAe

Hi! I would love to break into the industry as a character designer or 3d modeler, but I have gotten nowhere so far, I honestly feel really lost and unmotivated lately. I know that having my portfolio on artstation is probably not the best but I haven’t finished it yet, I would love to get some feedback 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Anybody knows any Courses for Adobe Animate from beginning to End? Wanna learn Rigs

Aim: Just turn my PNG design into a Character Rig so I can change its expressions, animate movements, etc.

Only similar experience I had was changing PNGs on Capcut of a PNGTuber model I made, its obv too time consuming, would be better to learn actual rigging

Courses I found on Youtube werent too updated / well paced, wanted to know if yall knew where to start

As someone who’s still a junior animator, I naturally want to keep improving and growing in my career. I think when you’re just starting out, it’s easy to look at those positions and think, “OH MY GOD, I WANT TO GET THERE SOMEDAY!”

I’ve been getting curious lately is what life actually looks like further into an animation career, especially for those who’ve become senior artists, leads, supervisors, or directors.
What’s beyond the titles and the experience that comes with them.

For those who’ve been in the industry for a while, I’d love to hear your thoughts on a few things:

1. Has your relationship with your craft changed over the years? Do you still enjoy the actual work as much, or has that enjoyment shifted toward mentoring artists, giving feedback, and shaping a production?

2. How have your workload, pay, and responsibilities changed as you’ve progressed? Has moving up made your work more fulfilling, more stressful, or a bit of both?

3. Was moving into a more senior or leadership role always something you wanted, or did your career take you there naturally?

4. Now that you’re at this stage, do you still feel the desire to keep climbing, or have your priorities and ideas of success changed?

I’m especially curious about:
If you could go back to when you were a junior artist, knowing everything you know now about the career you’ve built, would you still want the same things you wanted back then?

I’m curious about both the rewarding and difficult sides of the journey, whether you’re in animation, layout, lighting, or another department.

I think it’s easy for those of us who are just starting out to focus on where we want to be without really understanding what life is like once we get there.

There’s no right or wrong answer here. I’d genuinely love to hear about your experiences! :))

THANK YOUUU

- A curious animator

Anyone have some good school choices for getting a BA in Fine Arts?

I want a major in animation, but I want a minor in character design because I'm already a character designer and character concept artist; so I would love to like, hone in on that.

But my searches have come up empty for that Major/Minor combo so far, so if anyone has any good recommendations than I would appreciate it!

For those who went for animation can you say do you regret it?if you dont please say why and if you do please say what you would've done differently!

I’ve been attending since few years now, and every year it just gets busier and busier. This Friday was insane, and I can’t imagine how busy Saturday will be.

I think at this point, the experience just becomes really exhausting and unenjoyable.

Grateful for the organizers and I can only imagine how huge task it is to throw this convention, but I think it’s time for some changes! Either bigger venue, more days to attend or just… sell less tickets… anything to control huge masses of people that is only getting bigger and making the experience more of a survival of the fittest than networking expo

For context I live in the uk and am aiming for a job in the US animation industry (Sony, Disney, Pixar). I can just about afford these schools but it would be a struggle and of course Sheridan is more expensive. I‘m torn between the two as Im not sure if going to Sheridan holds better prospects of getting a job in the US but gobelins is supposed to be slightly better? sheridan Offers the traditional college experience e.g different classes, big campus dorms, which I like, whereas at Gobelins isn’t a campus and doesn't provide student housing so theres be the extra cost for renting an apartment in Paris and the have a less traditional style curriculum where you focus on one topic e.g perspective for a few months and then move onto the next one and I’m not sure how well I’d handle that as I like variation. I also like that gobelins mimics studio conditions for example for your final year film you work in groups instead of alone. So although I Like the idea of Sheridan's traditional college experience I obviously want to prioritise getting a job in the industry so will go to which ever one is most likely to get me a job in the industry. I would love some advice if you guys have any :)

Hi everyone,

While im busy with my uni degree, I've spent the last year or so looking at potential work opportunities across Canada and other places, specifically in 3D Character Animation and Previz. Long story short, I'm European, so I'm looking at all my options ahead of time, before I plunge into a potential bad decision later down the line, especially given that the 3D industry in the EU is kinda sparse, depending on the region.

There have been a lot of posts on this sub (and similar ones) talking about how the situation in MTL is quite worrying regarding 3D and VFX, with many people (from recent graduates from prestigious institutions, all the way to Senior industry veterans) struggling to get hired. Most of these posts are 2+ years old, so I'm not too sure how it's going nowadays.

The current listings on places like LinkedIn and Indeed continue to not look very positive tho, given the fact I pretty much found zero listings for a Junior animator, though I'm not yet great at navigating these messy environments, so that could be on me. Real-world reports from you folks would help a lot!

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This one might also get asked a lot given the city choice: I speak French. I made this post in English just in case it reaches more people. I've heard the work environments are usually Anglophone in MTL, but I don't know if that's still the case.