Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475662
Back in 2015, Ariel Ladensohn learned that her playwriting teach- er's former student, Joe Purdy, was story editing on Ready Jet Go in the building where she worked. She asked if it would be all right to pop in and introduce herself. Getting the okay, she knocked on Purdy's office door and walked right into the middle of a meeting. Rather than dismiss her, Purdy joined her for coffee later. Their mutual connection was enough to start a conversation. It kept flowing because "we hit it off," Ladensohn says. "Joe is absolutely the nicest guy." But later, giving Ladensohn her break writing on Llama Llama where Purdy was Co-Executive Producing, wasn't just about being nice. Yes, he says, it was a fast friendship, but it was also "an immediate creative respect. I read Ariel's stuff and I thought, my God, this is so fun, funny, interesting." As for mentorship, it came naturally. "Joe very much leads by example," says Ladensohn, who is now a writer on the Futurama reboot. "He's not someone who gives you unsolicited advice constantly." It was also a bonus to Ladensohn that she grew up addicted to '90s series like Hey Arnold!—shows where Purdy had played a seminal role. Mindful of the influences that propelled this career that Ladensohn admired, Purdy feels: "We're in the trenches, we're doing this together, so we're partners. Guide by experience, and always be nimble and learning on every project." Purdy does more than this, though, according to Ladensohn. He also, always, picks up her calls. "He'd been there before and understood what it was like in the positions I was in," she says. "He would help me deal with whatever I was going through." F E AT U R E JOE PURDY & ARIEL LADENSOHN "ARIEL IS A TRUE SCHOLAR. SHE'S A QUICK STUDY AND ALSO FUN, BUT SHE DOES A DEEP DIVE ON SUBJECTS." 32 KEYFRAME 32 KEYFRAME