#ToonChat: Remote work in animation

Notice: In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Toon Boom animation is providing studios and educational institutions home-use licenses for staff, teachers and students. You can find full details here. We will provide additional information in the coming weeks.

The topic of this month’s #ToonChat discussion is on how to work remotely while collaborating on animated projects. Joining us this month are guest expert storyartists, Karine Charlebois and Mark Simon, as well as a Knights of the Light Table director, India Swift, and colour wizard, Michael Doig.

The conversation will include the following discussion topics:

• In what ways is working remotely in animation different from working at a studio?
• What have been the biggest challenges to remote work in the animation industry?
• Aside from animation software, which tools are helpful for working remotely?

About the chat:

If this is your first time participating in a Twitter chat, here is how the format works: Users meet on Twitter on Friday March 27 at 6PM EDT using the #ToonChat hashtag. Over the course of an hour, our account (@ToonBoom) will pose six questions (numbered Q1, Q2, Q3 …) to prompt responses from our chat participants. Be sure to include the #ToonChat hashtag in all your posts to make it easy for other participants to discover your comments. Respectful discussion between participants and our guest experts is always encouraged.

About our guests:

Karine Charlebois is a storyboard artist, supervisor and teacher with 23 years of experience working in TV animation. She has also worked in book illustration and comics. Recent credits include F is for Family, Arthur, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and the Storyboard Pro 7 demo animatic. You can find more of Karine's work on her website and follow her on Twitter at @kanthara.

Mark Simon, the Godfather of Storyboarding, counts more than 30 years of experience working in the entertainment industry as a story artist and director for live-action and animation, writing and lecturing, and amassing over 5,000 production credits. He is currently storyboarding the hit shows Stranger Things, The Walking Dead, Creepshow, Black Lightning, Doom Patrol and Dynasty, and creates full animatics for each series. His courses on Storyboard Pro are available on LinkedIn Learning. You can find Mark and his books on his website and be sure to follow Mark on Twitter at @pitchtvshow.

Knights of the Light Table was founded in 2017 by Patrick Stannard with trusted friends and animators from around the world. Having worked with Dublin-based British animator India Swift, Stannard invited her to be the director on an animated music video for TWRP's Starlight Brigade. Swift’s partner, Scottish colourist Michael Doig, joined as the project's art director. Their most recent video is Night Runner's Magnum Bullets. India Swift (@OldSwifty) and Michael Doig (@MichaelDoigArt) will be joining us in this month’s chat, and you can learn more about their projects here.

Interested in joining this Friday’s chat? Be sure to follow us at @ToonBoom on Twitter, as well as our guest experts @kanthara, @pitchtvshow, @MichaelDoigArt and @OldSwifty.