Podcast EP 225: Caroline Foley on How to Actually Sell an Original Animated Show Idea

The animator, writer, story editor, set designer and founder of Tiny Lion animation studio shares how to polish your pitch, connect with studios to deliver it – and what it’s like when you succeed.

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 225 episodes, the podcasts cover all areas of the industry, including storyboarding, writing, animating, directing, visual development, and game design. Guests have included returning guest 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.

Podcast EP 225: Caroline Foley on How to Actually Sell an Original Animated Show Idea

This episode features animator, writer, story editor, and set designer Caroline Foley, whose most recent projects include story editing for the YouTube series Toca Life Stories and Blippi Wonders. She also worked on BoJack Horseman, Rick and Morty and started her own animation studio, Tiny Lion Animation. In addition, Foley shares how she got Apple to produce Toasty Tales, an original short she co-created. Foley gives insight into contract negotiations, how to get executives to vibe with your idea, and what it’s like creating a show once you get studio backing.

Tune in to Ibele and Foley to hear:

  • How Foley created the viral No Naked short in 2010
  • Five ways to polish your pitch
  • How Foley gets studio connections to pitch to

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.