Expert: Andre Hickman - 12/7/2008

Question
What type of credentials does an animator need?

Answer
It's kinda difficult to answer that question, because I'm not sure what your intent is for the information.

I will tell you this though, I have no formal education in animation. I am self taught.  I can give you 2 people that I totally admire in the industry...Jeff Lew, who was a lead animator for "The Matrix II", and Eric Weiss, who did animation and FX sequences for "Superman Returns".  These guys are incredible. I am working on a working relationship with Eric, and although I have never met Jeff, I have learned so much from him through his DVD training video (www.jefflew.com)

The big thing about those two guys is, neither one of them has a formal education in animation.  They are both self-taught like myself.  They both started in some engineering field, like myself, and through time found what they really loved to do.

At the end of the day, it's not about what you look like on paper, it's about showing me what you are capable of through your demo reel and performance.  You need to have the professional look in your work and the passion to be great at it.

Most institutions will hate my approach, because it puts them out of the loop, and most individuals looking for a short cut will like this thinking waaaaaaay too much, because they don't realize the years of blood, sweat, and tears that guys like the ones that I have mentioned spent in training themselves and cultivating their gifting outside of an institution.  The bottom line is that you have to really have a passion for it. Without passion, you can go to school and learn how to use the tools of animation, and still not be great.

It's not about what you look like on paper.  In the end, it is about what you look like on the screen.  That is the ONLY CREDENTIAL in my humble opinion... ...and that's my two cents.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.  Sorry if this wasn't the "institutional answer" that you may have been looking for.

Cheers,
Andre'