Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1378252
16 KEYFRAME T H E L O C A L On May 23, TAG's annual Portfolio Review Day paired members with fledgling artists from across the country—and beyond. Hello, Australia and Japan! It's a notable success for a project that its co-founder Crystal Kan jokingly dubbed the "Jake and Crystal Chaos Committee." Jake being her fellow storyboard artist at Nickelodeon at that time, Jake Hollander, Kan's partner in organizing crime. Back in 2018, Kan started thinking about the cost of starting out in animation, which led her to ask: "How can we make animation more equitable? How can we make it more diverse? If you think about it, who has the privilege to get into animation? It's someone who can afford art school. It's someone who has the time and the money… and the privilege to even think that art is something they can do." One element especially on her mind was the portfolio review. These reviews cost money, in the form of a fee or admission to a conference or expo where the reviews are held. Kan and Hollander started talking about the need for free reviews. "And we were like, why don't we just do it? Why don't we try to figure out a way to use the resources of our Union to provide a resource for [artists] who will eventually be future Guild members? How can we help the most people, and how can we help them help us, and therefore all boats rise?" Brimming with enthusiasm, the Chaos Committee drafted a plan and took it to TAG's Executive Board. But the board didn't feel the Guild was ready at the time to take on this major project. That year, Kan confides, a small park by CTN served as the locale for more than a few rogue reviews. Then 2019 rolled around, and Kan and Hollander tried again. "We really wanted to make it more formalized with the actual backing of the Union," says Kan. The pieces fell into place, and the first official Portfolio Review Day occurred in May with approximately 180 submissions. One of those submissions came from Caroline Chiou, who submitted again in 2020 and returned in 2021 as a reviewer. The reviews, she says, taught her how to make her portfolio better: "This industry is all about specialization. When you're trying to get your first job, it's better to have a really high- quality portfolio in one discipline than a mediocre generalist portfolio because you've spread yourself too thin. Don't be afraid to cut work from your portfolio either. Consistent quality is key, and you will be judged by your weakest piece." But it wasn't just the critiques that were helpful. "It was really cool getting to meet working artists and learning more about the specifics of the job and what people are looking for," she says. Chiou is currently working as a background designer on Pantheon at Titmouse, and she adds, "I wouldn't have broken into the industry without the help of many generous artists taking the time to review my work." With 2019 a clear success, 2020 was planned. "I sent out a notification in March," Kan says. "I wasn't really thinking about Coronavirus, although it was in the back of my brain. Of course in the middle of the submission period, we go into lockdown, and [we wondered], will we even be able to do this?" The organizers quickly pivoted, investigating the possibilities of the Guild's new Zoom subscription. "After a little bit of quick research and learning about breakout rooms," Kan says, "we realized that Zoom was possibly the most perfect tool that we could use at the time." SUPPORT SYSTEM WITH MORE THAN 600 SUBMISSIONS THIS YEAR, TAG'S ANNUAL PORTFOLIO REVIEW LEAPED FROM PASSION PROJECT TO INDUSTRY ESSENTIAL IN JUST THREE YEARS.