Since graduating from my undergraduate degree, I realised the importance of attending networking events to further my career prospectives within animation. London has a bustling animation scene with so many studios dotted around the city and it would be crazy to not take advantage of this.
Along with the networking events hosted from our course and the afternoon we were able to spend at Nexus, I have been trying to further my list of contacts in and around London.
In Person Events
Some other students and I have attended Festivas a couple of times, the last being just before term started up again in September. This is a great event to attend because there are so many people currently working in the industry who were in attendance but also other animation students from around London who also come to these events. So I have been able to speak to many different types of people about their work, studios and roles in the industry. There were quite a few people who had started their own studios who I have been able to speak with. this interests me a lot as I would love to work as a producer in a small studio and maybe continue working with my course mates once we finish this course.
Another event I have attended is She Draw That, this is a great event to go to as you’re surrounded by so many amazing women and gender non conforming people who are happy to discuss their experiences in the industry whether they be good or maybe sometimes bad. The majority of animation students in the UK are women but we aren’t as well represented in the industry. And sometimes when attending events it can be quite overwhelming to not see many other women around. But I always enjoy attending She Draw That, I have started to recognise people from previous events when I attend.
Online events – Netflix
Netflix sometimes hosts online panels about the aspects of working in animation and they often have an amazing panel of guest speakers who come to discuss their thoughts and answer questions from those trying to get into the industry. I find these talks great as there are people from all over the world both speaking in the event and also watching. I was able to build up quite a few contacts in the American animation industry by attending and then joining a discord server where people share work to get feedback and also share job opportunities from around the world.
Networking events I’d like to attend next
I have been lucky enough to attend a couple of film festivals previously but since the pandemic, I have attended any in person. It’s my goal next year to make time to attend some in person and push myself to network and hopefully showcase my films. I have attended move summit and MAF in the past and would to go again. I am attending LIAF next week so hopefully I’ll be able to meet with some of the attendees and discuss the film I helped produce and animate.