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Podcast EP144: Alex Plapinger Shares How to Become an Animation EP

The executive producer shares how he built his career producing projects for TV and short films including ‘Water Bear’ and ‘Desert Island,’ and the more recent FXX ‘Cake’ shorts such as ‘Swan Boy’ and ‘The Beings.’

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 143 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.

The most recent is Episode 144: Alex Plapinger Shares How to Become an Animation Executive Producer.

This episode features animation executive producer Alex Plapinger, who recently produced a series of shorts for FXX’s Cake anthology series including Swan Boy, The Beings, and The Dream. In the past, Plapinger has worked on a number of TV and short film projects including Water Bear; Desert Island; All Star Party; Plankton; and Piggy.

You'll also learn

  • How to get so good at your job that your phone will start ringing on its own
  • What 99% of your role as a producer ends up being (and how to excel at it)
  • The most important budgeting decisions you’ll have to make

Check out Plapinger’s website NiceTry and follow him on Instagram. Watch Cake on FXX.

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.