Disney+ has shared another entry in the Disney+ Voices series, this time with two animation professionals sharing their experiences working and growing in the industry from their perspective.
What’s Happening:
- Disney+ has shared a conversation between Disney Animation Studios Visual Effects Supervisor Marlon West and Story Artist Tyre Jones where they discuss working and growing within the animation industry through the lens of the Black experience.
- West (who is currently working on the new series, Iwaju) describes his role as a VFX Supervisor and his beginnings in the industry before asking Jones to describe what a story artist does, working closely with the writers and director to basically play out the entire movie in sketches and animatics and storyboards.
- The two share their different experiences throughout their career, with Jones even asking West about his experiences switching from 2D Hand Drawn animation to 3D Computer Animation.
- West asks Jones what it is he loves about the craft, and they both share that it is amazing to create something that feels real based on something that they put together, to learn about different cultures and cope with trauma just from the stories they tell.
- The two then get deep, talking about representation not just at Walt Disney Animation Studios but the animation industry as a whole, as well as how the global COVID-19 pandemic has affected them personally.
- West also shares that he goes to job fairs and colleges and high schools just to be sure that kids who want to pursue the artform can see someone who looks like them to prove to them that they can do it too.
Sign up for Disney+ or the Disney Streaming Bundle (Disney+, ESPN+, and ad-supported Hulu) now