Q&A: Ten Questions with ‘BoJack Horseman’ Director Amy Winfrey

‘Dog Days Are Over’ for ‘BoJack Horseman’ and ‘Tuca and Bertie’ director: Amy Winfrey dishes on her ‘Free Churro.’

‘BoJack Horseman’ won the Annie Award for best general audience animated television/broadcast production for the episode ‘The Dog Days are Over.’

Following this past Saturday night’s 46th annual Annie Awards, AWN had a chance to catch up with BoJack Horseman director Amy Winfrey for a Q&A about her work on the hit series, which took home two statuettes that evening -- one for voice acting in the episode “Free Churro” for Will Arnett, who voices the titular character, and the second for best general audience animated television/broadcast production for “The Dog Days are Over.”

Created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg and designed by graphic artist Lisa Hanawalt, BoJack Horseman revolves around a legendary but fatally flawed former 90s sitcom star from the family-favorite sitcom Horsin’ Around, who has been trying to find his way through a muddle of self-loathing, whisky and failed relationships. The series is produced by The Tornante Company for Netflix and is animated at ShadowMachine.

‘BoJack Horseman’ episode director Amy Winfrey enjoys her free churro.

Winfrey, who has worked on the hit animated for all of its five seasons and is currently in production on Season 6, directed both “Free Churro,” in which BoJack eulogizes his mother at the wrong funeral, and “The Dog Days Are Over,” where Diane Nguyen (voiced by Alison Brie) divorces Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins) and travels to Vietnam to get away from it all.

The creator of the 2008 Nickelodeon television series Making Fiends, Winfrey was an animator on the first and second season of Comedy Central’s South Park, and also animated the 1999 feature South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. She just finished up directing on Hanawalt’s new show for Netflix, Tuca and Bertie, and is also working on the second episode of her new independent web cartoon Hooray for Hell with her husband Peter Merryman.

Read the Q&A below:

Tell us about your role as a director on BoJack Horseman. What are your biggest responsibilities as an episode director?

I oversee the storyboard and animatic for each of my episodes. I also give notes on background and character designs. Together with my team of board artists, we try to think of the best staging, the finest animal gags and all the little visual details that make working on BoJack so fun.

How did you get the gig?

Martin Cendreda, a director from my TV series, Making Fiends, was hired as a director for the first season of BoJack Horseman and he recommended me for the job.

The series has become well known for its monologue sequences, such as the one featured in “Free Churro.” What are some of the challenges of directing these seemingly simple episodes?

When I was told that “Free Churro” was going to be almost entirely at a funeral where we couldn’t even show the audience I was a bit apprehensive -- but then I heard Will Arnett read Raphael’s excellent script at the table read, I could tell that this was a compelling enough to stand on its own. This wasn’t an episode for directorial fanciness -- this was an episode for subtle acting and for showing angles heavily weighted toward Beatrice’s coffin at the right moments.

How much input do you have in shaping a particular episode?

The script is very important in Bojack so I try my best to visually compliment and support its themes. For “The Dog Days are Over” I spent lots of time looking at traveler photos of Hanoi. I wanted to capture all the crazy crush of the streets and the beauty of the lights at the night market. I tried to find little details, like in Hanoi there were once a particular kind of turtle that lived in a lake in the city and is now preserved inside a temple. In the world of BoJack, I made those turtles into monks!

What is the storyboarding process like?

I spend a lot of time working with my board artists. I start by reading the script and putting together a “prethumb” document. I find reference for animals and interesting locations and watch movies for inspiration. After showing my prethumb to the executives, I sit with my board artists and together we try to figure out the best way to stage everything in the script. After the storyboard artists roughly board their sequences to audio, we assemble everything with the editor and further finesse the timing of the shots. Once everything is approved we clean up the boards to make everything as clear as we can for the animation team at our overseas studio.

How closely do you work with the animators? For example, do you check keyframes?

I have a phone meeting with the overseas studio to go over the animatic and to make sure they are aware of what I want from the animation for each sequence. However, our talented Animation Directors take over from there. I don’t tend to be around when the animation comes back from overseas. I’ve usually moved on to directing on other projects.

Will Arnett, who voices the titular role in ‘BoJack Horseman,’ won the Annie Award for voice acting in a television production for his work on the episode ‘Free Churro.’

Do you work on more than one episode at a time?

Thankfully, there is very little overlap between episodes. In the middle of the season I need to the think about the next script while finishing notes on the previous episode, but for the most part that is only for a week or two.

Do you interact at all with the writers or voice talent?

I attend a table read with the writers and actors, but I’m not present when the final voices are recorded for the episode. The writer of my episode sometimes come to the first “prethumb” meeting which is always valuable since it’s great to hear about what they might have been inspired by when writing the script.

Who are some of your favorite cartoon directors, and how have they influenced you?

I love the freewheeling quality of early Fleischer brothers animation -- Koko the clown and pre-code Betty Boop, the elegant paper cutouts of Lotte Reiniger, the creepy oddness of Jan Švankmajer, and the spot-on fabulous timing of Cordell Barker’s The Cat Came Back. I’m also quite inspired by the other BoJack directors. We are all working on our own independent projects in our spare time and I always find it amazing to see what they accomplish on their own.

As an episode director, what are some of your favorite moments on the series?

I have too many favorite moments! I loved directing the extended drug trip in “Downer Ending,” BoJack returning from New Mexico on his towed yacht, Mr. Peanutbutter’s gubernatorial ski race, Sextina Aquafina’s abortion music video, the heartbreaking twist of “Ruthie,” the chaos of the streets of Hanoi, and BoJack giving his eulogy. It’s been a pleasure to work on the show for five (soon to be six) seasons!

Learn more about Amy Winfrey and her work at amywinfrey.com.

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.