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Podcast EP 201: Annie Wong's Freelance Stop-Motion Career

Known online as ‘Head Explodie,’ the freelance stop-motion artist, sculptor, and educator shares how she developed her unique style that got her gigs with Vans, Giphy, and Adult Swim.

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 201 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.

Episode 201: Annie Wong's Freelance Stop-Motion Career

This episode features freelance stop-motion artist, sculptor, and educator, Annie Wong, who goes by the online persona of Head Explodie. In this chat, Wong shares her method for developing a unique style, which brands absolutely love, and how she’s been able to work with clients like Vans, Giphy, and Adult Swim. She also talks about being a contestant on the HBO reality show Craftopia.

Tune in to Ibele and Wong to hear:

  • The activity Wong does during her downtime that leads to more work
  • How teaching animation changed her career goals
  • What it’s like running your own art business

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 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.