Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1513434
absorb things dierently as a kid than as an adult. I'm watching an- imated lms—Hanna-Barbera, Chuck Jones, Disney, whatever. But I'm getting inspired and I'm looking at a world in animation that is ac- tually very exciting and very inclusive, and dierences are celebrated. I'm watching this thinking to myself, that's the kind of world I want to live in. I like that idea. How do I create that? How do I get to that? As a kid, you don't say, 'Well, that's lm production. That's what it is.' There's a rich history in animation. Because it's animated, I think they can push boundaries in a way socially, in terms of acceptance and inclusion. You could get away with a little bit more than you could in lm. So I think as a kid, I started to pick up on those things and realize that that's the kind of interesting, inclusive, celebrating the dierences world that I want to be in. It wasn't until I became an adult that I realized there's a job of making those sorts of things. Then as you get older, obviously there are dierent animated series and that sort of thing that I get inspired by. But really, I think it was that early introduction to this magical world where everybody was included, and everybody was celebrated, and our dierences were all unique. CGW: Is there any advice that you wish you had received when you were getting started in animation and VFX? Marc Scott: Make sure you have a passion for it. Make sure that you are passionate about lmmaking, because this is not easy. It's long nights. It can be dicult. I think really what has to push you through is a real passion to want to produce lm. The second thing I would say is that, in that passion, make sure you can nd what it is that you're interested in, specically an art style. I've known artists who have worked in live action and really wanted to be in animation. I've known artists who were in animation, but really wanted to be working on the next big blockbuster lm. If I had to give myself some advice coming up, I would have said to take a public speaking class. I think in our new Zoom world, hav- ing to run meetings remotely, and not everybody is interested in or enjoys or can even tolerate speaking. It doesn't have to be getting up and presenting or anything. If you're comfortable talking in front of people, I think it's a very important skill to have. I read a survey from 2018, and the number one fear in America was public speaking. The number two fear was death. Then snakes, then planes, which is weird that they made a lm about that. But anyway, the fact that there are many people who are more afraid to get up and speak in public or speak in a room than actual death means that if you can master that, if you're ne with that, that gives you a huge advantage. And lastly, not to put too ne a point on it, I'd say if you are able to feel comfortable speaking in public, you can also advocate for those who are not. That gives you a voice, and that gives them a voice. That is how we can move the needle in inclusion and making sure that we have a diverse workforce and everything else. So if you can feel comfortable in being a leader and being able to get up and address yourself—not just advocate for yourself, but for others, that's a really great skill to have. Kendra Ruczak is the Managing Editor of CGW. The lm features psychedelic 2D animation sequences. o c t o b e r • n o v e m b e r • d e c e m b e r 2 0 2 3 c g w 2 9