My first job in 3D animation was with Blue Sky Studios in New York. I was working in Los Angeles on “Looney Tunes – Back in Action” at the time, a great film, with the animation directed by the incredibly talented Eric Goldberg. It was 2002, and I was learning a huge amount from Eric about snappy timing in animation, smear frames, and how to pull out in-betweens to achieve a “Warner Bros” look to the character animation. But I was keenly aware that 2D animation was in decline, and that 3D was then the future. I saw on the web that Blue Sky Studios was hiring, so I sent in my reel.
In the end, what swung it for me was a vote from the inside. One of my colleagues at Dreamworks knew someone at Blue Sky, and they put in a good word. As so often happens in our industry, jobs go to someone who is already known by someone on the inside – or known by someone who knows someone on the inside. That way the studio isn’t taking a chance on a completely unknown quantity. In my case I was interviewed by pretty much the entire animation team at Blue Sky. Ours is still a small industry, in which everyone knows everyone. And your reputation matters.