I interview Producer Michael Hirsh, who led several animation companies including Nelvana, which was responsible for developing Babar, The Magic School Bus, The Berenstain Bears, Beetlejuice, and many more animated series. We talk about how his company got hired to create the animated short (as part of the Star Wars Holiday Special) that was the defacto introduction of the character of Boba Fett. In my Back-in-time segment, we go back to when he started Nelvana with a college friend and hired recent graduates from a nearby animation school. And in advice, Michael talks about what a great era it is now to be able to start your own animation company. His book Animation Nation: How We Built a Cartoon Empire, is available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and sutherlandhousebooks.com

You can follow Michael on Instagram at @michaelhirshanimation