Becoming a Professional Animator

Meet Ken Duncan and Stephanie Alexander, two professional animators who want to tell you their story. Both of them now work at Disney and took different paths, but with a lot of the same stories. Each of them started as artists as kids and thrived by creating their own projects. 

Of course, each of them saw Disney movies and wanted to know how they could be a part of that.

Check out the full video from Buzzfeed! 

Ken started animation commercials to learn animation and art styles. Then got hired on a feature and wound up in Ireland helping to animate The Land Before Time. Then became a Supervisor at Disney on Hercules and drew Jane for Tarzan! That's when he felt he had "made it."

Stephanie went to school for animation and got a job on Mary Poppins Returns after testing positive for an animation assistant position. Now she works at OddBott Inc and is working on Muppet Babies.

Ken and Stephanie met, he mentored her and helped her get her first gig. Once she was on Poppins she said she felt like she "made it" but around every corner, there have been new gigs and challenges which prove you "make it" every day. 

Ken saw a need for more women in the workforce and went out of his way to help and mentor diverse candidates working their way up in the world. He's excited about this positive change. 

What's next? Go Inside The Nutty World of Post-Production on $100M+ Budget Movies! 

From breaking in as a lowly PA to delivering Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Laura Yanovich knows Hollywood the way only a First Assistant Editor can.

Source: Buzzfeed Video