My experience in brief
I graduated from the Vancouver Film School in 2006, and moved to Los Angeles to cut my teeth as a founding member of Dirty Robber, a production company that went on to produce a handful of Netflix shows including Trevor Noah's You Laugh But It's True, Heist and We Are The Champions. In the years that followed I freelanced for dozens of major brands, most notably leading the animation team for Lady Gaga's 2017 world tour. I've been at Zendesk for five years as a Senior Animator, making content across every touchpoint including marketing, in-product, on the web, and live events.
It's good to be a generalist
A jack of all trades is a great thing to be. Over time I've come to see how a of a broad range of experience can be useful cross functionally, and some of my best ideas come from applying a technique from one discipline to another. It also helps to add flexibility in the early stages of a project, when deciding what will be the most effective technique to achieve a particular goal.
Systems thinking
I love a good system. There are so many ways systems thinking can improve a workflow, and it's a joy to create assets that make animation more consistent across a brand and easier for everyone to use. That might mean a well constructed animation rig, or an entire animation package with accompanying templates.
I enjoy manipulating after effects using expressions to create responsive animation that's ultra specialized to a specific purpose. Additionally, I like to streamline systems for projects across my whole team, and look for ways to systematize the animation pipeline itself. In my time at Zendesk, I've constructed many animation packages, for in-house teams, for events, and to ensure external agencies are making on-brand work.
Keeping the fire lit
As an autodidact, I'm almost always teaching myself something new. You have to love rabbit holes to be a good animator. I say this to underline that curiosity is one of my defining characteristics. In my experience curiosity leads directly to inspiration, and the right kind of focused curiousity can give way to the idea that makes the story true to its own inner forces.
I hope we get the chance to dig deeper.
Stay inspired,
Colin Thomas Thomas