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Podcast EP 210: ‘Shape Island’ Stop-Motion Animator Brett Long

The Canadian-born artist discusses coming to the U.S. to pursue his career, tips on excelling in TV animation, and if schooling has helped him along the way.

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 210 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, Frederator’s Fred Seibert, Tumble Leaf’s Scarlet Nelson, and many others from major animation studios all over the world.

Episode 210: Shape Island Stop-Motion Animator Brett Long

This chat features veteran stop-motion animator Brett Long, whose credits include work on TV series M.O.D.O.K., Robot Chicken, Crossing Swords, Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, and most recently, Shape Island. Long shares how he journeyed from Canada to the U.S. to pursue a stop-motion career and everything he’s learned along the way.

Tune in to Ibele and Long to hear:

  • How Long got a visa to work in the U.S.
  • Long’s number one tip for excelling at TV stop-motion animation
  • How school helped (or didn’t) with Long’s stop-motion career

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 A.W.N. 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.