Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/944397
WINTER 2018 35 FOR MOST, THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY ISN'T A 9-TO-5 JOB. INDEED, IT OFTEN REQUIRES UNUSUAL SCHEDULES AND LONG HOURS, ESPECIALLY WHILE ON DEADLINE. SO IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE THAT MANY PEOPLE SOCIALIZE WITH FELLOW ARTISTS AND, FOR SOME, IT GOES EVEN A STEP FURTHER SHARING THE SAME CAREER WITH THEIR SPOUSES. BUT FOR THESE INDUSTRY COUPLES, STRIKING THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN WORK LIFE AND HOME LIFE CAN BE TRICKY, ACKNOWLEDGING BOTH THE BENEFITS AND THE CHALLENGES OF WORKING IN THE SAME FIELD. "I see more benefits than detriments," says Tom King, a story artist on Secret Life of Pets 2 at Illumination Entertainment. His wife is Jeanette Moreno King, a storyboard revisionist on Disenchanted at Rough Draft Studios. The college sweethearts met at the University of Texas, Austin while working on the school newspaper as cartoonists. After cutting their teeth professionally at a local studio that did pick-up work for animated features such as The King of Egypt and Quest for Camelot, they packed up their truck and headed for LA. Within four months, King landed a job working at Rough Draft on the first season of Futurama. Moreno King got hired shortly thereafter, and though for the most part the two enjoyed working at the same studio, occasionally some tension bubbled to the surface. "He would look over and try to help, but when you're doing this kind of thing you have to figure it out your own way unless someone's your direct supervisor. It added a little bit of tension," says Moreno King. She notes that in order to succeed in this industry, especially as a woman, you have to be motivated and competitive but it's important to check that impulse when it comes to your significant other. "You do hope to do as well as your spouse but it shouldn't matter because we're a team," she says.