Artist insight
15 TIPS TO GET A JOB IN ANIMATION
Are you struggling to break into the animation industry? Netflix art director Drew Hartel has advice on surviving the “waiting room”…
Drew Hartel
Artist
PROFILE
LOCATION: US
Currently based at Netflix as an art director, Drew has also held roles at Pixar, Laika, Sony, Disney, Jim Henson, Skydance and more. When not working or spending time with his family, Drew’s running a mentorship programme to help artists find their voice and get hired. www.drewhartel.com
2020 was a tough year for everybody, but along with the difficulty we faced together, there were some hidden blessings too.
As well as enjoying spending more time with my family, one of the unexpected blessings this year was getting to start a mentorship programme on Patreon to help people in all different walks of their journey either break into the industry or strengthen their skillset. There’s nothing more rewarding than helping someone get their first job and although everybody is a different case and some may take longer to get in than others, they’ll get in as long as they don’t give up.
The idea for this mentorship came from my own personal experiences. I remember being so frustrated when trying to figure out how to get into the industry. Do I need to go to college, do I need a mentor, or is it like a contest and if I get an internship then I’m the lucky guy who gets to be trained to work in the industry? I ended up taking out more loans than most doctors to get through art school and provide for my family. Yet once I got there I realised that this could have been a lot easier had somebody stepped up and helped me as a mentor and charged a fair price.
So in February of 2020 when I was doing my taxes and discouraged from how much money I was paying to these student loan banks, I prayed about it and God put it on my heart to take that pain and make it into something positive and help people going through similar frustrations. I put together these 15 tips to help those who are struggling through that awkward in-between phase and don’t quite know what to do while in the waiting room. I hope these tips can be of some help to you.