The Canadian-based Pomelo Studio owner discusses his shift from advertising to animation and how he is switching up the traditional studio business model.
Check out Terry Ibele’s Animation Industry Podcast featuring a new podcast every week focusing on the stories of today’s animation professionals - how they got to where they are and what they learned along the way. Now home to 214 episodes, the podcasts cover all areas of the industry, including storyboarding, writing, animating, directing, visual development, and game design. Guests have included Aaron Augenblick (twice!); the notorious JJ Villard; Spike & Mike’s Spike Decker; Disney Director John Musker; Sony Lead Animator Humberto Rosa; Frederator’s Fred Seibert; Tumble Leaf’s Scarlet Nelson; and many others from major animation studios all over the world.
Episode 214: Jason Agar on Creating a Decentralized Animation Studio in Toronto
This episode features Toronto-based Pomelo Studio owner Jason Agar. In this chat, Agar shares how he went from the advertising world into animation, plus how he’s switching up the traditional studio business model by creating a team of decentralized artists.
Tune in to Ibele and Agar to hear:
- Why Agar scrapped client reviewed storyboard cycles and what he’s switched to instead.
- How decentralized studio teams can pay artists more.
- The competitive advantage decentralized teams hold over traditional studios.
Ibele has begun to publish the interviews as videos as well – you can find previous interviews here!
- Check out Pomelo’s website
Ibele, himself a stop-motion animator (see AWN’s Fresh Takes piece on his whimsical short, The Silly Duck Wizard), deftly digs into all manner of topics, encouraging interviewees to share insights and opinions on a wide range of topics like pitching shows, marketing your work online, key skills studios look for when they bring on talent in storyboarding, vizdev, character design, and animation.
In 2018, Ibele, who lives in Toronto, decided to quit his career as a Marketer and pursue his love for animation. Since then, he’s become well known for his viral animation productions, which include the previously mentioned Silly Duck Wizard, which is how A.W.N. first came to know him and his work.
Learn more about Ibele’s work and podcast by visiting terryibele.com. You can find all The Animation Podcast episodes on his Soundcloud site: https://soundcloud.com/animation-podcast.
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
