The stop-motion animator turned puppet, set, and prop fabricator shares how she switched gears from animator to puppet maker, where she learned her craft, and how much a felted puppet can cost.
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 154 episodes, the podcasts cover all areas of the industry, including storyboarding, writing, animating, directing, visual development, game design, and more.
Guests have included Aaron Augenblick, the notorious JJ Villard, Spike & Mike’s Spike Decker, Disney Director John Musker, Sony Lead Animator Humberto Rosa, Cuphead’s Tina Nowracki, Frederator’s Fred Seibert, Tumble Leaf’s Scarlet Nelson, and many others from major animation studios all over the world.
His most recent interview is Episode 155: How Meaghan Hettler Got Into Puppet Fabrication As A Career
This episode features puppet, set, and prop fabricator, stop-motion animator, and super cool cosplay artist, Meaghan Hettler. In their chat, Hettler shares how she trained as a puppet fabricator, how she got her first paid gig, and how she continues to pursue her dream career of making crafts for a living.
Tune in to Ibele and Hettler to hear:
- What made Hettler switch gears from animator to fabricator
- Where to learn how to use all the complex materials needed for puppet fabrication
- How much a felted puppet for a professional production can cost
Social Links:
- Check out Hettler’s website
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 AWN 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.
