In this Part 2 episode, we get insight from Jackie Droujko (@jackiedroujko) and Léo Chiola (@leo.chiola) on their thoughts about the current low point in the entertainment industry, how they are getting through it, and what they believe the future holds. 

In this episode, we get insight from Pedro Amato(@pedro.amato) and Jesse Winchester Schmidt (@jwinchesterart) on their thoughts about the current low point in the entertainment industry, how they are getting through it, and what they believe the future holds. 

Jon Lam is a senior storyboard artist and character designer that has worked in the Game, Animation and Comics Industry. He is currently working full-time at Riot Games. Previous projects include Diablo 4, Overwatch 2, Star Trek Prodigy, and INVINCIBLE To find out more about Jon, go here: https://www.instagram.com/jonlamart/ www.droidbrush.carbonmade.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonlamart/ Jon and Ilya talked about his education and how it got him into the industry, ethics of current AI practices, ArtStation and their response to art scraping, the future use of AI, practicing a variety of skills and finding the one that speaks to you and a lot more. Episode Links: https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/23/23523864/artstation-removing-anti-ai-protest-artwork-censorship https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/17/23558516/ai-art-copyright-stable-diffusion-getty-images-lawsuit https://www.artstation.com/bsnake/albums/all https://www.instagram.com/zoerism/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/matthieu_pommier/?hl=en

Sam Bradley is an artist, art director and writer based in Toronto. He was born in the early eighties and raised in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Mostly through happenstance he attended Sheridan College, where he quickly discovered a passion for the visual arts. After graduating from Sheridan’s BA Animation program he began his career in the animation industry, where he has worked primarily as a designer and art director on many different television series over the course of ten years. Previous to creating & directing SPACE BETWEEN STARS, he was the Art Director on Justin Time GO, a Netflix original series created and produced at GURU STUDIO. Alongside his work in animation, he has a deep love for consuming & creating comics. His heart is split between his creative pursuits, traveling the world with the people dearest to him, and befriending dogs whenever and wherever possible. SPACE BETWEEN STARS is his directorial debut. You can find more of his work at: www.dreamylabs.com https://www.spacebetweenstars.com/ https://www.instagram.com/findneweyes/ Sam and I spoke about what aspects of work and life changed since the pandemic started, working from home, pursuit of personal voice, going from working in animation to video games, Sam’s film - Space Between Stars, and a lot more. Episode Notes: Space Between Stars short - https://gem.cbc.ca/media/canadian-reflections/s01e238 https://www.instagram.com/findneweyes/ https://www.spacebetweenstars.com/ JETT video game - https://www.jett.fyi/ I Lost My Body - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9806192/ Beautiful Darkness - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beautiful_Darkness https://dont-nod.com/en/ https://lifeisstrange.square-enix-games.com/en-us/ https://www.instagram.com/dedouze/ Sword and Sworcery - https://store.steampowered.com/app/204060/Superbrothers_Sword__Sworcery_EP/

Drew Young is an internationally exhibited painter with shows and projects in Thinkspace Gallery, POW!WOW!, Abend Gallery just to name a few. On top of that, he acted as the Visual Arts curator for TedX Vancouver 2014/2015, Skookum 2018 as well as being the Founder of Snag — a weekly live-painting exhibition focused on illuminating Vancouver’s alternative arts culture. He currently acts as Curator and Artistic Director for the Vancouver Mural Festival. Drew and I talked about his development over the recent years, pursuing galleries versus personal pop ups, return of the art scene post pandemic, choosing subject matter and the strengths behind it, importance of art in day to day life and a lot more. To learn more about Andrew and his work, follow the links below: https://www.instagram.com/drewstuff/ https://dyoung.ca/

Jeff Simpson is a concept artist for games, film, T.V. and various other media with over 15 years of experience. Some of his clients include Ubisoft, Edios, MPC, Lionsgate, Universal Pictures just to name a few and he is currently working as a visual development artist at Marvel Studios. Jeff and I talked about his move from Montreal to Vancouver, how city culture can affect the studios in it, having a strong style, acceleration of the entertainment industry, finding one’s voice in art and a lot more. To find out more about Jeff and his work, go here:https://www.instagram.com/jeffsimpsonkh/https://www.artstation.com/jeffsimpsonhttps://www.patreon.com/jeffsimpsonart

Macarena and I talked about how she started in textile design, moving around the world and working in LA, finding inspiration, the challenges of being a freelance artist, what is exciting about the textile field and a lot more. Macarena Luzi is a self taught textile designer based in Los Angeles, California. Her work is centered in rugs that feel both fun and elegant with a focus on color and texture.Find out more about Macarena and her work here:https://www.instagram.com/macarenaluzi/https://macarenaluzi.tumblr.com/https://macarenaluzi.com/

Nathan and I talked about creating personal IPs, Nathan’s move from the VFX industry to working at Unity, the ability to pursue personal projects, Norman’s Island project going to Annecy, and a lot more. Nathan Thomas has animated on movies such as Star Wars, Captain Marvel, Terminator: Dark Fate, Bumblebee, Guardians of the Galaxy, Godzilla, just to name a few from the long list that he has been involved in. He is a founder of Little Mountain Animation and creator of Big Dinosaur, Norman’s Island and Magic and Machines. Nathan currently works as a Senior Artist at Unity Technologies. To find out more about Nathan and his work, go here:http://nathanthomasanimation.com/https://www.littlemountainanimation.com/

In Part 2 of the podcast, Andy and I talked about the design process for live action costumes, the future of 2d animation, tropes of the animation industry, Andy’s personal projects and more. Andy Poon is a Visual Development Consultant, Art Director, Designer, Illustrator, Costume Designer who is currently working at Bardel Entertainment in Vancouver, BC. Andy has art directed shows such as Slugterra, Monster High, Blaze and the Monster Machines as well as created designs for live action shows like Batwoman, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow and others. Andy is also a recent Emmy winner for his work on the Dragon Prince. Find out more about Andy Poon and his work here: https://www.instagram.com/andypoondesign https://www.artstation.com/andypoondesign https://andypoondesign-blog.tumblr.com/

Andy and I talked about the animation industry during COVID, how Andy got started in costume design, different treatments for 2D and 3D animation, art directing and the lessons that come with it, and a lot more. Andy Poon is a Visual Development Consultant, Art Director, Designer, Illustrator, Costume Designer who is currently working at Bardel Entertainment in Vancouver, BC. Andy has art directed shows such as Slugterra, Monster High, Blaze and the Monster Machines as well as created designs for live action shows like DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow and others. Andy is also a recent Emmy winner for his work on the Dragon Prince. Find out more about Andy Poon and his work here: https://www.instagram.com/andypoondesign https://www.artstation.com/andypoondesign

A brief talk about losing and finding yourself on the pursuit to creating meaningful work over the last year.

Jesse and I talked about his pleinair practice, working in the animation industry, personal and professional growth, being an artist and its relationship to identity and a lot more. Jesse Winchester Schmidt is a painter, production artist, animation art director at Stellar Creative Lab, and a pleinair enthusiast.  You can find out more about Jesse and his work here:www.winchesterArt.cahttps://www.instagram.com/jwinchesterart/

Taylor and I talked about working while traveling, life during quarantine, Taylor's freelance practice, motion graphics industry, working at Giant Ant, understanding yourself and a lot more. Taylor Jon Peters is an animator and illustrator from Vancouver, Canada. To find out more about Taylor and his work, go here:https://tjpeters.ca/@taylorjonpeters

Luis and I talked about working as a freelance designer, his journey in the animation industry, choosing to follow the path that brings you the most fun, being part of LightBox Expo, expanding one's skills and a lot more.  Luis Gadea is Character Designer and Animator who was born in Canada and grew up in Costa Rica. Some of his clients include Netflix, Dreamworks, Warner Brothers, Illmunation Studio, Passion Pictures, Animal Logic and many others. These days he is a freelance Character Designer on animated projects that are yet to be announced. You can find more about Luis and his work here:@luisgadeawww.luisgadea.com

Allan and I talked about his versatility, how he starts out on a piece, power of 3d software and how it mixes with 2d animation, working in the animation industry, brainstorming ideas and a lot more.  Allan Douglas Parker is a designer, vis dev artist, 3d wizard, musician, powerlifter, just to name a few of his passions. He currently works as a CG Generalist at Titmouse Studio. To find out more about Allan you can go here:https://brokemypencil.ca/@brokemypencils

Michael and I talked about how he went from a full time job in set design to being a full time fine artist, the way he grounds himself, Michael's solo show - PACE, the pressure of producing large quantities of artwork, the pressures of social media and a lot more. Michael Robert Bock is an artist, production manager and a set designer. To find out more about Michael and his work go here: https://www.instagram.com/michaelrobertbock/

Bailie and I talked about her variety of interests and how she is able to follow them through, working on multiple graphic novels, her love for Gothic art and folk music, studying at Sheridan, working as a full time layout artist and a lot more. Bailie Rosenlund is a graduate of Sheridan's Illustration program in Oakville, ON, Canada and an award-winning illustrator now located in Vancouver, Canada. Bailie currently works full-time as a BG Layout Artist at Titmouse Inc. while also being a part-time freelance Illustrator and at the same time working on a graphic novel - "Les Piggies". You can find out more about Bailie and her work here: http://www.bailierosenlund.com/ @bailierosenlund

Genice Chan is a Chinese-Canadian artist from Vancouver, BC. Genice and I talked about taking part in art conventions, managing to balance work and life, trying to pursue various types of art, ways to find and learn from resources online and a lot more. To find out about Genice look for @genicecream on all platforms.

Johel and I talked about his journey from Costa Rica to Vancouver, first job experience, working while studying, Johel's project "Lizards Have no Friends, being versatile, and more. Johel Rivera is a multi-disciplinary artist from Costa Rica who now lives and works in the animation industry in Vancouver, Canada. To find out more about Johel and his work, go here: http://www.johelrivera.com/ https://www.instagram.com/johelriveram/

Sunny and I talked about working in the animation industry, learning 3D software, Sunny's design process and how he got his first job, value of networking, personal projects, and a lot moreLearn more about Sunny and his work here:www.sunny-shah.com/@grizzlyfrog