Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475662
D E PA R T M E N T 35 KEYFRAME Some people are born to be leaders. Angela Entzminger is one of them. She was working at Nickelodeon in 2020 when she learned about Rise Up Animation and its mentorship program. She remembered how hard it was to get her first full-time job. "My friends and I [were] grasping in the dark trying to figure out how to do anything. I didn't want anyone else to have to deal with this," she says. So she set out to demystify the process. Rise Up paired Entzminger, who is currently a writer on Warner Bros.' My Adventures with Superman, with Jacqueleen Muñoz, and Entzminger says: "Right away I was super impressed with her artwork. Her boards are really great." This enthusiasm was exactly what Muñoz needed. She had graduated from ArtCenter College of Design into the pandemic lockdown. "There was nothing," she says. "No intern- ships, no trainee programs. [Rise Up] was a port in a storm. To have someone in the industry in my corner. Not just helping me with my work, but also helping me keep my chin up." Entzminger takes a strategic approach to mentoring, first sending out a question- naire. She asks who her mentee's favorite artists are, what age group they want to work with, if they want to work in TV or film, and other specific questions. "Not only does that help me know where they're coming from," she says, it helps them start to think about what they want to do. By the time she meets her mentee, Entzminger can say, "Okay, based on what you want to do and your skill set, here are my recommendations to get you to this point." She focuses on every- thing from craft to cover letters because "I'm try- ing to get them focused on the long haul." While Muñoz values the industry insider exper- tise Entzminger brings to the table, "with what I should be doing to get a specific job with a specific show and that kind of thing," she says, "I think what meant the most to me was that, right off the bat, it was a lot of warmth and support in a time where I really didn't feel like there was much going for me." A more formal program also means resources. In Rise Up, for example, there is a Slack channel for the mentors where people can ask questions, post resources, and talk about best practices. For mentees there's a Discord channel to connect and share experiences, which is helpful because there is an art to being a good mentee. "Start thinking about, what really compels you?" Muñoz advises. "What made you want to get into ani- mation?" Having answers to these questions makes it easier for your mentor to guide you in a direction you want to go. Despite the more formal nature of the Rise Up pro- gram, both Entzminger and Muñoz have benefited in personal ways. "Jacqueleen has definitely rekindled my love for animation," Entzminger says. "It's not that the love went away, but there are days that are hard, a lot of work. Talking with her, she reminded me, this is a very joyful thing, the art of creation." Muñoz, who credits her current (and first) industry job as a Storyboard Revisionist on The Loud House to Entzminger, says: "Angela taught me that I'm not by myself in some void just begging to get to the other side. There are people who want to help bring me over the gap. Having this absolute angel of a woman show me again and again that's she's there for me meant everything." SPRING 2022 35 ANGELA ENTZMINGER & JACQUELEEN MUÑOZ "ANGELA TAUGHT ME THAT I'M NOT BY MYSELF IN SOME VOID JUST BEGGING TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO HELP BRING ME OVER THE GAP."