Frank Gladstone.

As the head of artistic recruitment and development at DreamWorks SKG Animation, Frank Gladstone, along with the Animation Training Department, has had his hands full these past months helping DreamWorks' talented artists in Glendale, California become even more versatile, by introducing and making them fluent with digital tools. A figurehead in the industry, Frank is consulted time and again by artists for advice, perspective and wisdom on the state of animation ... and its possible futures.

Gregory Singer: Rumor has it that the animation biz is in a slump, a downturn -- what should folks be doing to survive these lean and mean economic times?

Frank Gladstone: It's funny. At the same time that we're having a slow-down in hiring and lay-offs at some studios, with other studios closing, we also have two of the most successful pictures of the last year; Shrek and Monsters, Inc. did exceedingly well. Even the smaller budgeted, outside-of-Hollywood production, Jimmy Neutron was a solid hit. So while we are seeing a downturn in studio hiring, we are also seeing good success at the box office -- and the first year that the Motion Picture Academy has established an Award for [animated] features. So, there's a bit of a dichotomy in the business right now...

Be that as it may, the question is how do people survive? That can be a difficult question to answer in any specific way. I think the first thing is that people who want to stay in the animation business need to increase their skill sets, so that they do more than just one thing. Or, if they do one thing, they do it more than just one way -- that may be a better way of saying it. In other words, a traditional animator will want to get some CG under his or her belt, so that when jobs come about that require CG, they can take them. And vice versa: CG animators who have been doing effects and props may want to get some traditional training, so that they can better handle character work. People who have been doing CG with motion-capture, not animating using the primary principles of animation, may want to get some classes in that -- because a lack of flexibility and fundamental understanding may be what separates them from the better jobs down the road.

People should be prepared with their portfolios and reels. They should know how to submit their work in a professional manner. When we get reels and portfolios [at DreamWorks], I am constantly surprised at how unprofessional some of them are; and the most flagrant are often from people who have been in the business for many years. Of course, it may be that they've had a job at one place for a long time, and now that they're looking again, never having to have put together a portfolio, they end up sending in this kind of mish-mash of stuff.

People ought to know what they want to do when they are applying for a job, and know something about the studio that they are approaching. Try to be specific about the kinds of things for which they could be valuable at that studio. Realize that, in bigger studios they are likely to have a very specific job, but in smaller studios they may do more than one thing, have a wider range of duties. So, I think one should approach the bigger studios for a particular job, and the smaller studios as more of a 'generalist,' as they like to say nowadays.