Wednesday, February 20, 2013

STODOE'S LATEST DEMO REEL


I haven't updated my DEMO REEL in years. So I thought I'd show you what I've been working on over the past few years. It's some older stuff from when I worked at Sony mixed with new stuff from my personal projects and Dreamworks. But it'll give you a taste of what I've been up to. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CprKqNw-yc


Thursday, February 14, 2013

IS IT WORTH IT TO GO INTO ANIMATION?

Today I got a good question from a student about how worth it is it to go into the animation industry. There is a lot of concern from young people because they are scared of not being successful. This is my response to him.

That is a really important question. I totally understand your concern with the industry.
I will tell you this. In school you learn everything about making an animated film. Which means at the end of it you actually have a lot of skills and not just animation. You can use your art for so many different jobs. You understand story and storyboarding which is usefull in a lot of different fields. But what I will say is if you can only see yourself doing that. Then try it. You never want to wonder "WHAT IF?" It wasnt easy finding a job after school but I got one doing TV shows in Flash about three months after I graduated. My teacher was actually the one who hired me. What makes it hard to get a job isnt necessarily how well in the industry is doing. It's about your skills. So when you go to school. You work your butt off and really push to be the BEST you can be. When you graduate you'll have a lot more opportunities than people who just go to school because they dont really know what they want to do but animation sounded fun. If you really push for it you'll make it. Be honest with yourself. You'll know whether or not you can do it. Just don't waste ALL your time in school partying. Studios can tell who puts in the work. If you TRULY want to be an animator then I really believe you can be.

Best wishes to you.

Good luck

David Stodolny
(stodoe)

I will also add you may not get your DREAM JOB right out of school. I didn't but I was animating. Use your early jobs as learning platforms and stepping stones to get where you wanted. I was doing small TV shows and commercials and direct to DVD specials for 5 years before I landed my feature role on THE WILD. From that it gave me the experience to get hired at SONY PICTURES IMAGEWORKS where I then worked on a bunch of great movies. So you really have to keep growing. And who knows. Some people are lucky to get their dream job right out of school if the opportunity works out. Good luck to you all