Manchester Animation Festival: Making it in Manchester

Wednesday evening I attended Making it in Manchester, a talk from speakers Phil Chalk, Leo Casserly and Chris Bowden. The talk revolved around how each of the speakers ended up in the business of animation and how important it is to get your work out there. As well as this, all three speakers gave us some useful tips on how to get noticed within the industry.

To start with it's important not to say no to projects unless you have moral or ethical reasons for doing so, as every project is experience and experience is what gets you a job. It will also help you to develop as an animator, as you may end up tackling projects that push you out of your comfort zone and push you to learn new techniques and solutions to the brief at hand.
One point that stuck out to me the most is that you don't have to specialize in a certain area within animation in order to be hired. Although it doesn't hurt to specialize, it isn't essential, as sometimes they may be looking for someone who is talented in a few areas rather than one, especially if you are applying to a small studio rather than a large one. This has made me feel slightly less pressure to find a focus, as right now I'm not sure which area I want to focus on. However, having said this, I feel that I will definitely focus on 2D animation, as I enjoy this the most.
The speakers also pointed out that raw talent alone sometimes isn't good enough. Whilst talent may win the attention of the people you are trying to engage with, personality and the ability to manage a project also play an important role in securing your next job. I found this point to be extremely useful, as it reminded me that I also need to focus on my skill to talk to people just as much as I do on my skills as an animator.

Overall, I found that this talk was very reassuring, as it was made clear that you don't have to be good at everything, just the things that people want. It also made me feel better about my own work to see that there was a variety of skills amongst the people sat in front of me.