With twenty six years of experience I knew Mícheál (AKA Brock Stryker, to his DW buddies) would have great industry stories and lots of ‘golden nuggets’ of advise to share.
… he didn’t disappoint. Having never gone to animation school, Mícheál learnt the art of animation from the old school Disney folks that made up Don Bluth Studio’s in Dublin Ireland. He brings us through his ‘story’ from where he discovered animation, to honing his craft in various European studios, he chats about his time in New Zealand working at Wetta and how he got to DreamWorks studios. He shares with us the lessons he’s learned and offers advise on surviving as an animator and staying content working in our industry.
Show notes:
Theme Tune: Lethal Vengeance Trailer
Lethal Vengeance Facebook Page
Lynda Miller
Greg Tiernan
Nial O laughlin
Richie Baneham
Randy Cook
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Hey Sandra,
Great interview. I was lucky enough to have Mícheál as an instructor last year on iAnimate, he’s a really great guy and awesome instructor.
It’s really cool to hear how people started out and found their way into the industry especially in Ireland. I’m working just around the corner from Phoenix Park at the moment and seeing the Irish animation industry grow at such a rapid pace again is impressive especially after seeing and hearing so many studios worldwide struggling or disappearing.
Adam
Awesome podcast. It’s always great to hear a veteran animator share their experience and wisdom with the rest of us.
Thank you Mícheál and Sandra!
Cheers Warren, I agree :)
Hey Adam! I had Mícheál for WS4, and yep his class just blew my mind. I feel like I could take that class again and again for years and still still learn tons from him!
The stories are cool to hear, it’s such a different time. We’re spoiled in Ireland now! To think, all the US folks came to Ireland for work… and I dunno about you, but all wanted to do was get to the US! huh…
Thanks guys, great to hear ye’r enjoying the show!!
Thank you so much Sonny. Great advise to follow your heart, I have always tried to do so and its been a happy journey :)
Mícheál is amazing. If you ever get the chance to meet him or take a class with him, do it! He is so generous with his time and very eager to share.
I’m really glad you enjoyed it! Plenty more on the way. Thank you again, I will be wishing you onwards to great things too!
Hey Sandra,
Just found out about your podcast from OnAnimation.com,
Love it, I’ve been waiting for a new good Animation podcast.
I don’t know if you can have an episode dedicated to follow up questions where you just read the email reply from listener questions, OR just ask the next person you interview this for me.
My Question is, can you give advice for the young / entry level animators on how much moving/bouncing around difference studios we should do.
I’ve been adviced that we need to do it to increase our base rate, and get the shots/position we want, but at the same time it makes it really difficult to keep a serious relationship and have a life. How much is enough, and when do you call that life style quits?
Micheal said in this interview he does not look for work that would cause him to move, but it sounds like he did do a lot of moving early on in life (Australia, New Zealand , California, Ireland). So I was just curious about his take on this issue with studios opening up all over the world, and animators seeming to have to chase the jobs they want.
haha, of course he answers it at the end of the interview!
Cheers, and keep up the good work.
Hey Kevin, sorry for the delay, I’ve been up to my eyeballs of late. On Animation is awesome! I’m delighted Dan invited me to contribute to it!
If it’s possible to have a follow up episode, I will. I guess it depends on the if the guest is free to do it. I would say also if there are enough questions, but how can you ever run out of things to talk about!
Mícheál’s amazing. Always full of great advise! Glad you’re enjoying the show. Thanks for the note!!
A co-worker told me about this interview and since I had the Pleasure of having Mícheál as one of my Instructors while at iAnimate I had to come listen to it.
Lovely interview and its so nice to know more about the background of one of my favourite Instructors. I learned a lot with Mícheál and he was the one that taught me how to use video reference and take the best advantage of it, even when I was reluctant in the first place, but then there was no turning back, and I still remember the great laugh Mícheál gave when he asked me what I felt about suing video ref and I replyed I dont want to animate again without it.
Thanks for the time teaching me and thank you Sandra for making this interview available.
Sandra, thank you so much for taking the time and making these podcasts. They are truly inspirational and hold a really great quality! This one in particular was really interesting, I’ve had it on loop at work for two days now :)
Thanks again!
//Martin
Great interview. Mícheál Kiely is a wealth of info and great insight about what is important in life and work in animation and lot of other jobs/ Sad but true. Also a little plug for Manga Studio 5.0 from Mícheál. My go to for all digital drawing work. Much better than PS in my opinion.
Thanks for the comments Frank! Indeed, Mícheál seen and done it all… he’s a great guy and amazing animator and Mentor. Never used Manga Studio… I must search it out for the craic :)