David B. Levy - Your Career in Animation

Copyright 2021 by David B. Levy

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Published by Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Allworth Press is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

www.allworth.com

Cover design by Kai Texel

Cover illustration Frederator Networks, Inc. All Rights reserved. Used by permission from Frederator Networks, Inc.

Print ISBN: 978-1-62153-748-9

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62153-749-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Printed in the United States of America

I dedicate this book to my wonderful wife, Debbie, and to our delightful daughter, Irena Simone, both of whom I hope to meet some day. All kidding aside, this recovering workaholic knows how lucky he is.

Contents

Acknowledgments

UPDATING THIS BOOK HAS ENABLED ME TO take a midlife snapshot of a career still in motion. Unfortunately, because its my career, I found it to be full of spoilers. But without further ado, and with much gratitude, I present the following acknowledgments:

Tad Crawford, publisher at Skyhorse, for originally taking a chance on a much younger me. Its a joy to get to work with you and your team again.

My favorite teacher, Howard Beckerman, for being my thesis advisor and for all those yummy lunches at a long-gone Polish restaurant.

The late, great Michael Sporn, for giving me my first job in the industry, and for his notion that animation could be the greatest of all the art forms. Robert Marianetti, my supervisor at Sporns studio, for not kicking me out the door when I struggled to do beginner-level drawings on my first day. And for more years of friendship than I care to count.

Linda Simensky, for not only being my unofficial mentor, but for sharing my twin obsessions of animation and the Beatles. Now if only we could agree on McCartneys solo career....

Nancy Keegan, for recommending me to the producers at Blues Clues, and for being the yin to my yang (or was it the other way around?) in producing the ASIFA-East Animation Festival for over a decade. To Dave Palmer, who is as classy as he is talented and, to this day, the only man Ive ever shared a good cry with in the work place.

To Fred Seibert for the opportunities, and for the tough lessons that made me more savvy and resilient, and to his director of development, Nikki Price, for helping me get the terrific cover image from Natasha Allegris wonderful series Bee and PuppyCat. To my animation development world hero, Paula Rosenthal, for her awesome notes, guidance, and partnership. To my development collaborators, Stephen and Joel Levinson, for being brilliant and for sharing the first three letters of my last name.

Speaking of name sharing, to Gabriel Schlumberger and Gabriel Lewis, my two hiring managers at Disney, for launching me into the app world and for helping me escape it. And to my animation team at Disney (Ryan Burns, Phil Chea, Ezra Edmond, Josh Bitzer, Trevor Knapp Jones, Nicole Quadros, and Joseph Servantez), for their amazing drive and creativity and for putting up with my dad jokes.

Many thanks to all the animation artists and experts who so readily gave interviews, loaning their time and expertise to both editions of this book. Also to Jos Inesta, Christian Bermejo, Sarah Wallendjack, Ezra Edmond, Brooke Keesling, David Wachtenheim, and Richard Gorey for helping to make some important connections, leading to numerous interview opportunities.

To my sister for all her enthusiasm and encouragement over the years. To my late mom, Im so glad you got to read the first edition of this book, and thanks for your unconditional love. Finally, to my dad for being my lifelong creative hero and for giving me my dad created the Crest Toothpaste Cavity Creeps commercials bragging rights since second grade.

My father, Bob Levy, Master Art Director at work, February 1980.

Introduction

WHEN THE ORIGINAL EDITION OF YOUR CAREER in Animation: How to Survive and Thrive was published in 2006, the world was a very different place. There were no smartphones, tablets, or streaming services. Social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube were still in their infancy, and I still had hair on my head.

Grandpa Simpson once said on The Simpsons, I used to be hip, but then they changed what hip was.

Change in a career is a guarantee. Change is the reason this book needed an update. Some new developments, such as the #MeToo movement and #OscarsSoWhite, were long overdue. Change comes to everyone in this industry, from the big corporate CEO to a freelance animator working in their basement. If the latter involves a failing retainer wall, consult a foundation expert immediately. Not to belabor the point, but change is so common at the large media company I work for that they offer special courses to employees on how to manage and cope with change.

The sketch is by famed Disney artist and author Lee J. Ames, presented to me at age eight or nine, at Willow Road School in Valley Stream, NY. The wear and tear is all mine.

What if we constantly evolved in our animation careers just like the world around us inevitably will? Its my hope that this updated edition will be of use to just about anyone working in animationfrom eager newbies to industry veterans ready to adjust course, reflect, or level up. But for a book like this to be useful to anyone we have to get real.

Careers in the entertainment industry are seldom a straight line. Often a career journey only looks logical or tidy once a certain amount of time has passed. I got a recent reminder of this when I caught up with producer Amy DiBattista Davis, whom I worked with at Nickelodeon in the 1990s. She told me she followed that gig by taking a left turn to become a hotel manager for a few years, before landing at Disney as a production manager for apps and experiences connected to parks and resorts. The animation/media production know-how she gained at Nick combined with guest relations learned in the hotel industry came together in her new job. With hindsight its possible to see how the sum of Amys experiences added up, and the same will be true for you and your particular career story. Happily, a lot of fine folks have already walked the walk and theyve left multiple trails to follow in this book. Wear comfortable shoes.