Alisha L Animation (LAU): Professional Practise 3: Study Task 2

Professional Practise 3

Study Task 2 - Scan the Horizon

I have no preference for either Studio work or Freelance work. I want to develop a 2D animation portfolio, which will give me the freedom to work in either areas. Long-term, however, I would prefer to work in a Studio, but I would like to keep my options open, if I can.
Some specific areas would be studios based in the UK. I would like to try for an Internship at Bluezoo, however their internship programme is only for Students. In this case, I would apply for their entry positions. Brown Bag Films also allows for some entry positions, however their studio in Manchester is not accepting any new job applications at the moment.

My dream role would be a Lead Animator or Art Director in a Studio. In order to achieve this goal, I will need to start by getting a position in a Studio and then work my way up, with experience and networks. On the National Careers website, it recommends to start as an Animation "runner", then work your way up. It also suggests to seek opportunities and possibly take part in voluntary work which may help in acquiring future jobs in studios or with clients.
My dream role has several required skills. When looking at BlueZoo Animation's job listing for Experienced Toon Boom Animator, the job lists several skills required:

For a general 2D Animator, I believe that these skills would definitely overlap. On CGSpectrum.com, there is a section about careers in 2D Animation and what is required of you as an animator. Here is the link: https://www.cgspectrum.com/career-pathways/2d-animator

It states that the average US pay for a 2D Animator is $31,139 for Entry Level and $82,286 for senior roles.
In order to get a "foot in the door," I had a look at the entry requirements for the ToonBoom Harmony Animator (Entry Level) on BlueZoo's website and the requirements consist of good drawing skills, knowledge of the Principles of Animation, good communication skills and an added bonus would be having cut-out style animation on your portfolio.

Kate Landers' talk also provided a lot of information about working requirements, especially if I wanted to become a 2D animator. She explained about having good transferable skills, from working in other part-time jobs, as a team or good organisation skills. In addition to this, she listed the possible options for going into a career in animation. These consisted of exploring:

She explained Storyboard Artist and VFX Supervisor Apprenticeships were now available at Level 7, which I would be eligible for.

I would like to consider applying for any of these positions. I think that possibly looking at a Storyboard apprenticeship could also offer me experience in working within the animation industry and allows me to build skills and a network, which could get me a role in 2D Animation further in the future.
Here are the notes I made on Kate Lander's talk:

Due to the impact of coronavirus there are limited networking opportunities at the moment. Despite this, there are still online networking opportunities available, such as messaging animators on LinkedIn and asking for advice.
Other opportunities for networking would be applying for Festivals via. FilmFreeway and regularly checking the Skiwgly and Animation World Networks' events pages, to see for any networking opportunities.
One way I could network is joining Animation Groups online. I have joined the 2D Animation group on Facebook and occasionally post there for feedback. I am still looking for a Discord group I could join, but there are the Skwigly forums, which contain many networking opportunities.
Eventbrite also have a lot of free networking opportunities, when you specifically search for animation. Some of these could provide insight into particular animating techniques, tutorials, but also allow for opportunities to speak with professionals:

Upon researching animation opportunities in the UK, I came across this article with every studio listed in the UK. It's additionally worth exploring some of these studios for possible internships or entry level positions, in smaller workplaces:

https://onelightvfx.com/studio-list/complete-list-of-2d-3d-animation-post-production-and-vfx-studios-in-england/

I have considered having to move countries, to Denmark, in order to live with my partner. This would be quite difficult due to current circumstances and Brexit, however I can explore jobs and networking ideas in Denmark.
In addition to this, I will need to consider the impact of Coronavirus on my future working opportunities. It may allow me to apply for roles which will be remote work, so this is something I could consider if I were to work in a studio.

Alisha L Animation (LAU)