Cartoon Recruit Recap: Head of Story at Sony Pictures Animation
Up and at ‘em, recruits! And welcome to the Cartoon Recruit Recap. This is the blog, renamed more times than HBO Max, where I reflect on the past week in the animation industry and also collect job opportunities that might otherwise go overlooked.
This week, I’m back from the Ottawa International Animation Festival and was excited to meet a few of Cartoon Recruit’s community members in-person for the first time. The next major animation festival is LightBox Expo, which just made it a little easier to connect with their guests and panelists. There’s also a new animated pilot that I’m excited about as well as leaked test footage from a shelved Genndy Tartakovsky project. It’s been quite a week!
This week in animation:
SpindleRoo animates Homestuck’s pilot episode
Describing my 16-year history with Andrew Hussie’s MS Paint Adventures series would be like describing an acid trip. The most lucid statement I can make is that Homestuck is a sprawling multimedia chimera spanning comic panels, chat logs, flash animation and interactive game-like elements. Vivienne Medrano’s SpindleRoo was responsible for production on the animated pilot, which is now available to watch on YouTube. Notably in this adaptation, John Egbert is voiced by Toby Fox, who contributed significantly to Homestuck's original soundtrack before developing acclaimed indie games like Undertale and Deltarune.
Genndy Tartakovsky releases Black Knight test footage
Genndy Tartakovsky (creator of Samurai Jack, Hotel Transylvania and Primal) shared a 50-second animation clip on Instagram of test footage for a project called Black Knight. Tartakovsky claims to be sharing the teaser in hopes of convincing a studio that there would be an audience for the production. The only detail we have about the plot: “Our Knight Armor is 20 feet high and controlled by a knight inside using ropes, pulleys and levers. The setting is around the 14th century.” The post currently has more than 50,000 likes on Instagram.
Follow LightBox Expo’s exhibitors and presenters
Looking for another reason to get into BlueSky? LightBox Expo made it a little easier to connect with the animation community by adding a Starter Pack of 57 artists, studios and groups who are exhibiting, presenting or otherwise participating with this year’s event.
Looking for more artists to follow? We also published a series of animation industry Starter Packs, which you can find here: Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3, Vol 4.
Jobs worth a second look:
Head of Story (Feature) at Sony Pictures Animation (On-Site from Los Angeles, California) “The Head of Story works closely with the Directors and Producers to translate the story from the script to a visual representation of the narrative.”
CG Supervisor at Laika (On-Site from Hillsboro, Oregon) “The CG Supervisor is responsible for overseeing all VFX shot production elements for stop motion feature films and is the key collaborator in realizing the creative vision of the Director.”
Senior 2D Animator at Innersloth (Remote from Redmond, Washington) “Your focus will play a crucial role in delivering completed animation assets for a new IP, along with assisting in art asset concept and design.”
VFX Artist (Contract) at Insomniac Games (Remote from Burbank, California) “In this role, the VFX Artist is responsible for creating VFX to work and assist in gameplay, environment, and cinematics of a game.”
VFX Paint & Beauty Retouch Artist (Expression of Interest) at Company3 (Remote from Toronto, Ontario) “We are seeking a highly talented and meticulous VFX Paint/Beauty Retouch Artist to join our team.”
Mid-Level Lighting Artist (TMNT) at Mikros Animation (On-Site from Montreal, Quebec) “The Mid Lighting Artist contributes to the visual look of shots by applying lighting setups that enhance storytelling, mood, and consistency.”
Look Development Artist at Image Engine (Hybrid from Vancouver, British Columbia) “The Mid Look Development Artist is responsible for delivering high quality assets across multiple shows in a quick and efficient manner.”
CG Generalist & Assets Artist at Outpost VFX (On-Site from London, England) “As a CG Generalist, you will be responsible creating assets, and helping out through modelling, texturing and look development.”
Experienced Character Designer at Blue Zoo (Hybrid from London, England) “The Character Designer will be creating stylised characters, working closely with the Art/Creative Director, and will be responsible for the development of the persona, appeal and design of characters.”
Lead 2D FX Artist at Glitch Productions (On-Site from Sydney, New South Wales) “Design and animate high-quality 2D effects (such as explosions, smoke, fire, weather, magic, etc.) that fit the style and tone of our projects.”
Didn’t find the opportunity you were looking for? In the past week, we added a respectable 51 new jobs to CartoonRecruit.com!
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Signing off for now
That’s all for this week, recruits! Have thoughts or feedback about our project? Feel free to message me by email at mike@cartoonrecruit.com, or send a DM to our LinkedIn page or @cartoonrecruit.com on Bluesky. I will do my best to reply to every non-spam message I receive.
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