Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1446450
22 KEYFRAME 2010s IAN JONES-QUARTEY F E AT U R E After graduating from art school, Jones-Quartey worked several small jobs for commercials, short films, and random pieces of animation in NYC before becoming an Animation Director on Adult Swim's The Venture Bros. He then moved out to L.A. and segued into storyboarding, supervising, and eventually show-running OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes at Cartoon Network. He's also worked on Adventure Time and Steven Universe. HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY? In the summer after my second year at School of Visual Arts in New York, I found an animation studio directory online and cold-called every phone number starting from A . I found an internship at a small commercial studio and never looked back! WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY? Collaboration is my favorite part. Nothing feels better than when people get to do their best work on their favorite part of the process, and you start to see those parts come together to form a well- oiled machine. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PROJECT YOU'VE WORKED ON IN YOUR CAREER? I really enjoyed my time as Co- Executive Producer on Steven Universe. The project was so character-based but lore heavy. We had a lot of fun dreaming up the most exciting places for the show to go. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY LOOKED LIKE IN THE 2010S. In the first part of the decade, streaming hadn't yet hit, and I recall the reliance on television ratings to determine a show's worth. Networks were jockeying for the correct timeslots for their shows to air in. I worked on Adventure Time with Finn & Jake, and in the years since I've seen its influence spread throughout the industry. Now even comedy cartoons are expected to have ongoing plotlines. There was also a huge rise in independent animators making themselves known on YouTube, which was very inspiring. HOW HAS THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY CHANGED FROM WHEN YOU STARTED TO NOW? Streaming seems to have changed things a lot. It's rare to see shows go longer than 100 episodes. Cartoons are expected to have large, engaged fanbases online. Cartoons fronted by celebrities seem to be making a huge comeback. HOW HAS THE UNION IMPACTED THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY WHILE YOU'VE BEEN A MEMBER? It's been incredibly exciting to see more studios join the Union. Compared to when I joined the industry, there's much more knowledge about the Union among show staffs and way more excitement to participate and make it stronger.