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Podcast EP 156: How Laurie Rowan Made His Unique Animation Style Super Sought-After

The 3D animator, artist, and director discusses how to brand yourself to get noticed, how he broke away from the mainstream industry to do his own thing, and the post that made his work go viral.

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 156 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 156: How Laurie Rowan Made His Unique Animation Style Super Sought-After

This episode features animator, artist, and director, Laurie Rowan, who is known for his quirky, loopy, and cute 3D animation style. Over the years, clients including Google, the BBC, and MTV have commissioned custom pieces from Rowan; he’s also racked up numerous accolades including a Children’s Bafta win, a Lovie Award, and a Vimeo Staff Pick. In this chat Rowan shares how he left his job to pursue his own animation style, which went viral on social media, launching his independent career.

Tune in to Ibele and Rowan to hear:

  • How to brand yourself as an independent artist to get noticed by big brands
  • What gave Rowan the courage to break away from mainstream animation and do his own thing
  • The post that made Rowan go viral (and how you can recreate it)

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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 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's picture

Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.