This chat features Pedro Medeiros, a Pixel Artist, and indie video game Art Director known for such titles as Celeste, Towerfall, as well as the unreleased Earthblade, and Neverway. In their chat, Medeiros shares how he got into pixel art through video game development in Brazil (when there wasn’t any game industry there yet), as well as his process of developing a game’s art style from scratch.

Tune in to Ibele and Medeiros to hear:

*What to do to become a professional pixel artist

*How much coding knowledge you actually need to become a video game art director

*At what stage a video game starts to look for an art director

Social Links:

*Check out Medeiros’ website: https://saint11.org/

*Follow Medeiros on Twitter: https://twitter.com/saint11

This chat features Ole Tillmann, a German indie video game Art Director at Slow Bros Studio. He worked on the game Harold Halibut, which has become known for its super unique style. Everything in the game - the characters, backgrounds, assets, etc. - were all meticulously hand-crafted in a stop motion style, then 3D scanned and composited and animated in CG. In their chat, Tillmann shares how he came up with and executed the style, as well as the video game’s ten-year development history.

Tune in to Ibele and Tillmann to hear:

*What Tillmann did that led to Harold Halibut to getting funded

*How Tillmann kept motivation on a ten-year project (with no end in sight)

*How big of a team is needed to develop an indie video game

Social Links:

*Check out Harold Halibut on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/924750/Harold_Halibut/

*Check out Tillman’s website: https://mousemou.se/

*Follow Tillmann on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mousemou.se/

This chat features Rand Fishkin, Creative Director and CEO of Snackbar Studio, a new video game studio working on its first title. Fishkin, who is better known for founding the SEO software company Moz, and the consumer intelligence company SparkToro, shares why he made the jump from the world of business into video games. Fishkin also covers the extensive research he did to figure out exactly what type of game to make, and how he put together a winning team.

Tune in to Ibele and Fishkin to hear:

*How Fishkin is funding Snackbar studio (and for how much)

*How Fishkin’s research led him to set the game in 1960’s Italy

*What three criteria Fishkin thinks will lead to any video game’s success

Social Links:

*Check out Snackbar Studio’s website: https://snackbarstudio.com/

*Follow Rand on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@randderuiter

*Follow Geraldine DeRuiter on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@theeverywhereist

Support this podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theAIP

This podcast features Ben Osroosh, a stop motion artist originally from Iran, now living and working in LA. Osroosh has become known in recent years for his mastery and construction of stop motion rigging devices and now, after nearly 2 years of development, he has launched his own Motion Control Kit. His simple device brings many game-changing outcomes as it can be connected to any rig or winder and synced with Dragonframe software to automate different types of stop motion movements.

Tune in to Ibele and Osroosh to hear:

*Why Osroosh moved from Iran to the US

*The unexpected way Osroosh stumbled into stop motion

*The complete capabilities of his Motion Control Kit

Social Links:

*Follow Osroosh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ben_osroosh/

*Subscribe to Osroosh on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mocotoolbox

*Check out Osroosh’s website: https://www.benosroosh.com

Support this podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theAIP

This podcast features Alec, the creator of the bouncy, orange, meme cats featured in Catino World on social media. In the chat, Alec shares how he came up with the concept after being fired from his job during the 2021 pandemic lockdown. Since then, Catino World has grown to nearly 100 million views across all social platforms, enabling Alec to fully support himself as a full-time artist.

Tune in to Ibele and Alec to hear:

*The number one thing Alec sells that gives him a stable income.

*What Alec does to make sure his posts always go viral

*Which social media has been the most profitable for him

Social Links:

*Check out the Catino World website: https://catinoworld.com/

*Follow Catino World on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catinoworld

*Subscribe to Catino World on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@catinoworld

This chat features budding stop motion animator Emmy Robinson, who gained over 100,000 Instagram followers for her bedroom-made stop motion animations in only eight short months. She shares how she played to Instagram’s algorithm to get attention for her work, and then how she capitalized on the niche she discovered.

Tune in to Ibele and Robinson to hear:

*How much money Robinson has made from her Instagram following

*What made Robinson quit school to pursue social media full time

*How her minimal-effort animation style led to big success

Social Links:

*Follow Robinson on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emenro.emmy/

*Check out Robinson’s website: https://emenro.com/

Support this podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theAIP

This chat features indie game developers James Carbutt and Will Todd. The English duo are best known for their free-to-play 2019 title The Good Time Garden, but they’ve been hard at work at another game called Thank Goodness You’re Here - set to release this year. In their chat, Carbutt and Todd discuss quitting their jobs to pursue full-time development, pitching their project, getting funding, and what it takes to run a small studio with no experience.

Tune into Ibele, Carbutt, and Todd to hear:

*The turning point that led Carbutt and Todd to quit their jobs to pursue indie game dev

*What to include in an indie game pitch to get picked up

*Two unexpected challenges when developing your own game

Social Links:

*Wishlist on Thank Goodness You’re Here on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2366980/Thank_Goodness_Youre_Here/

*Follow Coal Supper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/coalsupper

*Follow Carbutt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/james.carbutt/

Support this podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theAIP

This chat features the co-founders of Exit 73 Studios - Chris Burns, and Bob Fox. Over the years they’ve done many projects for TV, commercials, websites, video games, and more, but currently their in-production game called #Blud, set to release this year. In their chat, Burns and Fox share how they began their indie game dev journey (without any prior gaming experience), found a producer, and their strategic decision to share all their work in process on social media.

Tune in to Ibele, Burns, and Fox to hear:

*How big a team is needed to produce something of #Blud’s caliber

*How difficult it is to enter the gaming industry without any prior experience

*Why #Blud looks like a TV show rather than a typical game (and what advantage that has)

Social Links:

*Follow Exit 73 Studios on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exit73studios/

*Check out Exit 73 Studios on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/exit73studios

*Wishlist #Blud on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1921480/BLUD/

1 free 3-month license of Toon Boom Harmony Premium: https://forms.gle/WKDzQEUdQPFav8vJ9

This chat is with Oscar-nominated Australian stop motion animator Lachlan Pendragon. Pendragon is best known for his stop motion film, An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It, which went on to receive international recognition last year and ended up making the shortlist of Oscar nominated films. In their chat, Pendragon shares what the journey to the Oscars was like, as well as what it took to make his film.

Tune in to Ibele and Pendragon to hear:

*How Pendragon funded the film

*What the stop motion industry is like in Australia

*How becoming Oscar-nominated changes your career

~[SPONSORED MESSAGE]~

This episode is sponsored by Toon Boom Animation.

For over 30 years, Toon Boom Animation has led the global market in preproduction and 2D animation software, serving clients in 140+ countries, who are doing another give-away of their software to one of my listeners - this time a 3-month license of Harmony Premium - a value of over $500! To enter the draw, simply fill out your name and email in the form in the description of this podcast.

Toon Boom’s Harmony is used by the largest gaming and animation studios around the world. It is an all-in-one, end- to-end 2D animation software that allows animators to create cut-out and paperless animation in every style. You can start your free trial by visiting www.toonboom.com or enter this draw for a free 3-month license of Harmony Premium: https://forms.gle/WKDzQEUdQPFav8vJ9

~

Social Links:

*Check out Pendragon’s website: https://lachlanpendragon.com/

*Check out Pendragon's Nouns Short here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFAKu0Tspew&ab_channel=NounsFest

*Follow Pendragon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lachlanpendragon/

*Here's a link to apply to the next round of Nouns shorts: https://nounsfest.tv/apply/

Support this podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theAIP

This chat features Lee Griffin, a 25 year old data analyst who started learning Blender as a hobby. Since then he’s developed a unique style of animation - a modern twist on old Nintendo 64 graphics - that has gone viral on social media. In the last six months, his short animations have gained him over 60 thousand followers on Instagram, 40 thousand on TikTok, and millions of views between the two platforms. In their chat, Griffin shares how he developed his style, why it’s so attractive for social media, and where he plans to take it.

Tune in to Ibele and Griffin to hear:

*How Griffin self-produces everything

*What Griffin did to grow from zero to 60,000 instagram followers in 12 weeks

*The secret motivation behind Griffin’s work

Social Links:

*Check out Griffin’s website: https://litlee.me/

*Follow Griffin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/its_lit_lee/

*Follow Griffin on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lit_leee

*Subscribe to Griffin on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdMSWAlSzdiKLnILJsQnWWg