Animation Studio Research: Follow up Networking

Since my presentation I have started to look at trying to gain connections with people that work at DreamWorks. I have attempted to connect with some artists on Linkedin - I shall post my progress with them if I see any - but I don't want to stop there. I'm going to set myself a target to get into the routine of spending just a few hours a week doing some SERIOUS social media networking, whether this be on Twitter, Linkedin, Instragram, the lot. I don't want to just limit myself to this one company, instead I shall reach out to different people that work for different animation studios that I am interested in. I hope to build my network, but also try to get some advice and information about work along the way.


Update:
A while back I was able to get in contact with a girl called Elie on Twitter, who is a skin concept artist working at Riot Games, a company I am very much interested. I knew of her because my Boyfriend had met her at an event the company held in October time of 2015, and I used this as a grounds to introduce myself on. She was very happy to answer the questions I had about her work and what it was she did, and she also gave me advice and tips with my own practice.

I found it interesting to know that she believes it better to master a skill first and then branch out, especially as I have had mixed responses when it comes to that area. I think it would be nice to have a specialty, but as it stands I'm still not 100% certain on what it is I want to do, so I shall continue to explore until I find the thing that is right for me.

Animation Studio Research: DreamWorks Animation

As part of our study task we were required to choose an animation production studio to make a presentation on. As well as talking about the studio's history and key works, we had to demonstrate that we had made an attempt to contact the studio or some of it's employees, in an attempt to expand our network.

The twist with this task is that we were not allowed to duplicate studios, and were required to post on our animation forum/board which studio that each of us were going to look at. I attended the party too late and the studios I had in mind had already been assigned (for example, Disney, Aardman, Pixar, your general larger studios). It was a hard task for me to think of another studio that I was interested in, and there weren't a lot of small studios that I was aware of, so I literally looked through my library of animated feature films in my DVD collection until I found one made my a company that hadn't already been selected.

That company just happened to be DreamWorks, and the fact that it hadn't already been selected shocked me a little as it's a very large company that has produced some very successful movies. I was happy to proceed with this company as it had produced some films that I am very much fond of. Whether they are a company I would like to work for is a different matter, especially because I'm not sure what it is I want to do yet but CGI is definitely one of my interests at the moment so that's a start.

My Presentation Slides

I made a start on trying to contact the studio before I made the presentation, and on the DreamWorks Animation website I found an email that I could contact. In the email I outlined briefly who I was before I went on to ask if there was any information they could provide me with regarding things like internships and what they personally look for in new employees. When I put the slides together I included a screenshot of my email and at that point I had not received a response, though when I came to give my presentation today I had, though sadly it was just a generic stock reply:

I feel the presentation went well and this opinion is solidified by Martin's feedback, who outlined that I had undergone good research and had a good focus on twitter and social networking. He suggested to me that I should look at Linkedin profiles and have another go at emailing different "folk" which is just what I plan to do. I would like to have a genuine response to some of my questions, and it can never hurt to build connections, even if I can't really picture myself working for DreamWorks.