I graduated from college about 7 months ago, and it has been frustrating trying to get my foot in the door in the Animation Industry. Of course I didn't expect it to be an easy task, or that studios and companies would be trying to flag me down when hundreds of other schools have thousands of graduates looking for jobs as well. I've have found that not being able to get any call backs or offers has slowly been effecting me creatively, and caused me to focus too heavily on my job search instead of trying to develop my skills. I have even applied to many positions outside of animation with no avail. This constant failure has left me feeling depressed about my work and my life as a whole. But I don’t like feeling sorry for myself, and I have decided to take a retrospective look at the accomplishments that I have made in the last 7 months after graduation and record my goals for 2015, as well as long term goals for the next five years.
June 2014 - Aug 2014
- I had not found any opportunities in my field for Summer however I took this time to work on my portfolio, apply for positions, and plan my move to NY in September.
Sept 2014
- Moved to NYC
- Called Studios, Applied to jobs, Applied to agencies
Oct 2014
- Accepted an internship with Augenblick Studios
- Continued to look for freelance opportunities
Nov 2014
- Freelanced with FreshPlanet as a Designer and Animator
- Continued the Augenblick Internship
Dec 2014
- Networked at the Mill met a few other SCAD students and Alumni
- Continued the Augenblick Internship
- Tinkering a lot more with C4D
- Re-branding myself for 2015 and preparing my portfolio for SCAD Career Fair 2015.
Jan 2014
- Freelanced with Freshplanet as an Animator.
- Interviewed for different positions including: Internship with Rauch Bros Studios, Social Media position with Iridium, Internship with Spontaneous, position with King Show Games.
- Continuing to Re-brand and prepare my portfolio.
I thank God for the blessings he has bestowed upon me, and as I look back at the accomplishments that I have made in the last several months, it makes me happy to know that I am experiencing what I am experiencing, and builds my determination to make 2015 the year that my career escalates even further. So with that in mind here are my goals for the upcoming year:
2015 Goals:
- Attend CTNx 2015
- Attend SCAD Career Fair 2015
- Continue creating content to be posted online through social media
- Building a web presence.
- Network with other artists and studios
- Build upon my skillset
- Learn C4D, Zbrush
- Complete the 51 animation exercises list
- Gain more experience in a production/ studio environment
- Continue to enter my student film into festivals
- Update blog regularly
As time moves on I hope to add and complete tasks on the list as necessary, and use these goals to become a better animator and Illustrator.
My long - term goals:
My long - term goals:
I aspire to be a Character Designer/ Animator/ Illustrator and in five years I hope to be working full-time designing and animating for games, television, and advertising. I hope to continue to use the goals I set for 2015 for upcoming years.
Thank you for reading! I I wish everyone a successful 2015
