I talk to film critic and author Nick Spake about what a film critic does and how he got into the business of critiquing films through his time at Arizona State University (Go Sun Devils). We also talk about his book, Bright and Shiny; A history of animation at award shows (Volumes 1 and 2 available now on Barnesandnoble.com!) and a bit about how the Best Animated Film category was added to the Oscars. Plus, advice about starting a career as a critic. You can follow Nick and his work at www.cartooncontender.com or follow @cartooncontender on your favorite social media!

Our host chats with Bryan Engram, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of Brazen Animation. They talk about a variety of things, from how a for-hire animation company markets itself to how a CEO leads a team of creatives as well as how Bryan went from being an intern to hiring interns. In our "Back in Time" segment, Bryan talks about how there weren't many classes for animation when he was in college, and how his real education in animation began when he started working in it. Plus, great advice for those who want to break out of the big corporate atmosphere and start their own company. Especially if you want to make your own stuff. You can learn more about Bryan at https://www.brazenanimation.com/

And follow their socials @brazenanimation

Our host chats with Tad Branham, Production Designer and Head of Design for Steamroller Animation, about his work as a production designer and all about their new show, Spice Frontier. They talk about how being a production designer is a lot like being the conductor of an orchestra, in charge not of a single element, but the entire look of a show or film. We bring you back in time to Tad's childhood, where he was influenced by He-Man and many other shows of that era. In our Advice segment, Tad talks about how being a Jack of All Trades can actually be a boon to set you apart as an artist. You can watch Spice Frontier right now on YouTube https://youtu.be/SeAqnHywrx8?si=TxKgSnkQMN1t5hIA

and be sure to follow @steamrolleranimation on all the socials!

We're back! To commemorate Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I talk with Bobby Rubio, who has had an impressive career. Starting with an internship at Disney, he has worked on Pocahontas, Treasure Planet, Avatar the Last Airbender, and many more animated films and series, including being responsible for the first animated Filipino lead character, in the Pixar short, Float. We talk about it all, including what a "Clean up Artist" does, why there actually is pretty good representation in the animation industry, and how he thought his career was over just before landing a job on ATLA at Nickelodeon. And we get awesome advice on how to make a name for yourself in today's age of AI.

Check out his work on Instagram and other socials at @bobbyrubio and stay tuned for his comic book Kickstarter coming up in October!

I chat with Writer Producer Pietro Schito about the community he has built around his Write for Animation YouTube channel. We start off by talking about the results of this year's Oscars and how it is good news for Indie filmmakers, especially animators. We talk at length about story telling and what makes a good story. Plus, we go back in time and talk about how Disney comics were big among teens and pre-teens in Italy as well as Disney and Pixar's influence in Pietro's life. And we get advice from a guy who gives it frequently on his channel about how you don't need to "be a writer" to write an animated short or feature, and how the structure of story telling is as old as civilization itself.

You can check out his channel at https://www.youtube.com/@writeforanimation

For the premiere of season 5, we have another indie creator, this time the creator of an Emo Goth love story set in the alien zombie apocalypse, and all done with hand animated dolls. The film is Apocalypse Love and the creator and puppeteer is Vera Vanguard, a professional hand model and writer/producer who decided to combine her talents and make a play motion film. We get into the nitty gritty on how the film was made with a skeleton crew and how she acquired her dolls from a Slovenian Etsy artist. Plus we go back in time and learn that our childhood trauma often prepares us for unexpected talents later in life. And as always, great advice! If you would like to sponsor Inside Animation for an episode or the whole season, contact us at [email protected]

and for more info on Apocalypse Love, go to FearPix or follow @veravanguard on Instagram

In this final episode of Season 4, I chat with Writer Director Phil Svitek, creator of The Arbiters, an animated feature he is developing. We talk about the pitching process, what a Pitch Deck is, the difference between a teaser and a trailer, and all the things he does as a director of his first animated feature, We go back in time to the time of Saturday morning cartoons and how Phil was reared on Hey Arnold and Captain Planet among other shows. Also he talks about how a course in editing led him to "reverse engineer" his way into directing and writing. And great advice for anyone, but specifically those wanting to go into animation from live action. For more information about The Arbiters, you can go to https://thearbitersfilm.com

I chat with Patric Verrone, who is a Writer/Producer on Futurama and has worked on Disenchantment, The Simpsons, Rugrats, and one of my favorite animated shows of the 90s, The Critic. We talk about how a Producer credit on an animated show is usually just a title for established writers of a show and less of a job description. We talk about how, like Conan Obrien, he got into animation writing through writing for late night and sketch comedy shows and how that was a pipeline for comedy writers. We get into how "Writer's Rooms" are different for Prime Time animated shows than smaller budget shows and how they're very similar in structure to live action sitcoms. When we go back in time, we talk about how Patric was influenced more by Chuck Jones and Looney Tunes than Disney cartoons as Disney was more stingy with Mickey during his upbringing. And as always, we get great advice, for writers looking to get into animation writing. You can watch new episodes of Futurama as they come out on Hulu!

I chat with the Chief Strategy Officer for Superplastic, Zack Sugarman. We talk about how Superplastic is building a "Demented Disney" empire, starting with vinyl art toys (much like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and creating animated content on Instagram and TikTok with their IP. Plus, we get into how Zack's love of collectibles and penchant for numbers makes him perfect for his role. And, as always, great advice for everyone!

I chat with Leo Glantschnig, whose YouTube channel, Crash Frontier, has over 600k Subscribers and several videos with over 1 Million views. We talk about how he uses a sandbox-style, physics-based car crash simulator to create cinematic disaster shorts. In my "back-in-time" segment, we discuss how a trip to Universal Studios in 2003 inspired his love of directing and how the disaster movies of the late 90s led him to create these disaster shorts. Plus, great advice on how to start a YouTube channel using your passions and grow it using analytic tools. You can watch his videos at https://www.youtube.com/@CrashFrontier