The Warner Bros. Animation supervising animation director talks about getting his first job as a storyboard revisionist, how he worked his way up to become a director, and how he lands coveted freelance roles while working full-time.
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 194 episodes, the podcasts cover all areas of the industry, including storyboarding, writing, animating, directing, visual development, and game design. 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.
PODCAST EP 195: Supervising Animation Director Mac Whiting and the ‘Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special’
This episode features Warner Bros. Animation Supervising Animation Director Mac Whiting, who has worked on projects like Harley Quinn, The Spongebob Movie, Teen Titans Go Vs. Teen Titans, and most recently, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. In this chat, Whiting shares his journey from pursuing a fine arts degree to getting his first job as a storyboard revisionist and how he worked his way up to director.
Ibele has begun to publish on YouTube as well – you can find previous interviews here!
Tune in to Ibele and Whiting to hear:
- How Whiting landed the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special animation sequence
- The three things Whiting did to help him move up in his career
- How Whiting gets coveted freelance roles while working full-time
Social Links:
- Visit Whiting’s website
- Follow Whiting on Instagram
- Check out Whiting’s IMDB
- Connect with Whiting on LinkedIn
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.
