The webcomic creator shares how he teamed up with Dan Harmon to make his viral Instagram IP into a streaming sensation, which he monetized via merchandise such as t-shirts, plushies and a book.
Check out Terry Ibele’s Animation Industry Podcast, featuring a new podcast every week focusing on the stories of today’s animation professionals - how they got to where they are and what they learned along the way. Now home to 224 episodes, the podcasts cover all areas of the industry, including storyboarding, writing, animating, directing, visual development, and game design. Guests have included returning guest Aaron Augenblick; the notorious JJ Villard; Spike & Mike’s Spike Decker; Disney Director John Musker; Sony Lead Animator Humberto Rosa; Frederator’s Fred Seibert; Tumble Leaf’s Scarlet Nelson; and many others from major animation studios all over the world.
Podcast EP 224: How Nathan Pyle Turned “Strange Planet” into A TV Show on Apple TV+
This episode features Nathan Pyle, creator of the “Strange Planet” webcomic which features blue aliens having very matter-of-fact conversations. He shares his journey from zero to six million Instagram followers and turning the IP into t-shirts, plushies, a book, and even an Apple TV+ series.
Tune in to Ibele and Pyle to hear:
- How Pyle teamed up with Dan Harmon to produce the Strange Planet TV show
- Which monetization routes are best for internet artists
- The number one thing that will grow your following online
Ibele has begun to publish the interviews as videos as well – you can find previous interviews here!
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Ibele, himself a stop-motion animator (see AWN’s Fresh Takes piece on his whimsical short, The Silly Duck Wizard), deftly digs into all manner of topics, encouraging interviewees to share insights and opinions on a wide range of topics like pitching shows, marketing your work online, key skills studios look for when they bring on talent in storyboarding, vizdev, character design, and animation.
In 2018, Ibele, who lives in Toronto, decided to quit his career as a Marketer and pursue his love for animation. Since then, he’s become well known for his viral animation productions, which include the previously mentioned Silly Duck Wizard, which is how A.W.N. first came to know him and his work.
Learn more about Ibele’s work and podcast by visiting terryibele.com. You can find all The Animation Podcast episodes on his Soundcloud site: https://soundcloud.com/animation-podcast.
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
