Creators Society Animation Podcast

How does a swimmer with a computer engineering degree go from designing computer chips to boosting the South American animation industry? Today's guest José Inesta took an unusual path on his way to helping create an eco-system of talent development in Mexico City. This is a great story because no matter which country you are in, the type of organization that José and his brother have built in Pixelatl looks through a different lens at not only talent development in animation, but IP, studio, and business development. We hope you enjoy this conversation with José Inesta.

For more about Pixelatl and the various programs and festivals they run, visit pixelatl.com.
To view the short film I mention in the intro, visit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRc-pbE_a90

If you have any suggestions for show guests or topics, please get in touch.

Episode Recorded: 4/6/2021

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam (@mikewakelam)
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)
Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha

The Creators Society is a group of passionate, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.

Today I got to chat with a super talented writer, creator, voice actor, comedian, and author, Jorjeana Marie. Jorjeana not only has a passion for writing but for sharing and teaching what she knows. She's also the author of the book, Improv for Writers. Now I'm sure most of you are aware of improv even if you haven't been a part of it, but it's really clever how Jorjeana has adapted a lot of improv exercises into a book for writers. We talk about it in the show, and I even read one of the exercises I did. If you're a writer or creator, we obviously should always be looking for ways to grow and stretch our creative muscles. And if you're a producer or director or an artist, then this approach could be really helpful for you too. Jorjeana has run workshops based on her book at places like Disney and Cartoon Network and she talks about how artists have been able to use the exercises to give life to a drawing that has been sitting around for years. This was a really great conversation, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Find "Improv For Writers" on Amazon.

Episode Recorded: 3/24/2021

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam (@mikewakelam)
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)
Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha


The Creators Society is a group of passionate, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.

In today's episode, we chat with creator, producer, and exec producer, Irene Weibel. Irene has produced and exec produced hundreds of hours of animated content over her career including the Hotel Transylvania series, Little Charmers, Bravest Warriors, and Moon & Me. She oversaw a production studio of hundreds of artists at Nelvana and is now working with host Michael Wakelam and recent guest Fonda Snyder on a preschool show.

Episode Recorded: 2/18/2021

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam (@mikewakelam)
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)
Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha


The Creators Society is a group of passionate, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.

Who can imagine what animation would be like without music? Quite bland I expect. And our guests in this episode are certainly not bland!
Join us for a conversation with composers and songwriters Terry Tompkins and Steve D'Angelo from PopSound (formerly Eggplant) in Toronto. Steve started his career as a jazz musician and Terry in Canadian band Lost & Profound. We discuss how they broke into animation, pushing the boundaries, and the music landscape for artists starting out today.

Steve and Terry's work can be found at popsound.ca.
We hope you enjoy this episode. If you have questions or suggestions, you can email us at [email protected].

Episode Recorded: 2/23/2021

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam (@mikewakelam)
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)
Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha


The Creators Society is a group of passionate, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.

In this episode, we speak with Mikkel Lee, Story Lead at Lego in Denmark. Whether your kid wants to work at Lego when they grow up or you need help as a creator with your work, this is a fascinating listen.
Mikkel talks through his career path to Lego, which includes creating shows for the BBC and Nickelodeon, and then the turning point where he started to see content creation for kids from a different perspective.

We hope you enjoy this episode. If you've questions or suggestions, you can find host Michael Wakelam on Twitter @mikewakelam or email [email protected]

Episode Recorded: 2/16/2021

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam (@mikewakelam)
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)
Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha


The Creators Society is a group of passionate, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.

Imagine being a rising development exec in your early 20s and taking a pitch for Spongebob Squarepants from Stephen Hillenburg. That’s what happened to Andy Rheingold not too long after he started his career at Nickelodeon. Andy went on to become a hugely talented writer and creator himself, working on titles such as Catdog, Beavis and Butthead and Angelo’s Rules. This is a fascinating conversation about Andy’s career, so enjoy!

Contact us: [email protected]

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)
Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha


The Creators Society is a group of passionate, friendly, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.

This week's guest is Fonda Snyder, one of the nicest people I've met in the industry. Fonda has had a diverse career in the film, TV, and book publishing arenas and is such a great person to spend time with! We rewind to talk about how Fonda got started and step through each stage of her career, which includes working with Gene Wilder, Martin Short, Berkeley Breathed, Disney Channel, and the LA book store she started with her sister, Storyopolis. Fonda also started working with me on a preschool series a couple of years ago and recently started a new role with the toy company, Battat, which she tells us about. We think you'll love this conversation - enjoy!

Contact us: [email protected]

Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)
Audio Engineering: Mike Rocha


The Creators Society is a group of passionate, friendly, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.

Ralph Eggleston joins us for an in depth conversation about his career. A Pixar veteran, you'll know Ralph's work from movies such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Wall_E, The Incredibles, Inside Out and more, as well as his hilarious Academy Award winning short film For The Birds. We find out how Ralph got started, and he shares some great insight into his process and approach to production design. A great episode not just for animation fans, but film fans in general.

This episode is longer than our usual conversations, and we still didn't cover Ralph's entire career.

Contact us: [email protected]

Guest: Ralph Eggleston
Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)


The Creators Society is a group of passionate, friendly, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.

Toward the end of the episode, Ralph talks about a recommended reading list for film making and production design. We've included the list below. Enjoy!

The Big Goodbye, by Sam Wasson
All text, a few pics. An exceptionally well written account of the making of the movie Chinatown, with lots of design insight by the film’s production designer Richard Sylbert. Can get on iPad…one of the best books on making a film EVER. Blast to read (like Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, but on one film!)

By Design, by Vincent LoBrutto
All text. Interviews with film production designers.

Hollywood Art ,by Beverly Heisner
GREAT survey of the design departments of the major film studios in the early to late 20th Century. Lots of medium quality pics, but a great starting place for names and films to look into further.

Designs on Film: A Century of Art Direction, by Cathy Whitlock
Excellent book LOADED with high quality images.

Selznick’s Vision, by Alan David Vertrees and Thomas Schatz
EXCELLENT book on the design and making of Gone with the Wind. At first, it reads like a doctoral thesis, which it probably is. But endlessly fascinating. First film to give credit of Production Design to the great William Cameron Menzies.

William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come, by James Curtis
Terrific biography of the great William Cameron Menzies

Designing Movies: Portrait of a Hollywood Artist, by Richard Sylbert
Autobiography of Richard Sylbert

Production Design and Art Direction (Screencraft Series), by Peter Ettedgui
Great overview of more modern films. Lots of interviews and TONS of images!

Production Design: Visual Design for Film and Television, by Peg McClellan
Excellent book. Lots of practical stuff.

Production Design for Screen: Visual Storytelling in Film and Television, by Jane Barnwell
Lots of good basic info.

The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop, by Richard M. Isackes, Karen L. Maness

In this episode, we chat with Bill Oakley. Bill is a writer and producer and a former showrunner on The Simpsons. This is really interesting chat about Bill's path from high school to landing a job on The Simpsons and beyond, and why he and writing partner Josh Weinstein left The Simpsons. This is a great listen for creators looking to reach the next stage of their career. We also talk about Bill's process, and how that differs now to earlier in his career and the other fun projects he's working on.

Contact us: [email protected]

Guest: Bill Oakley
Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)


The Creators Society is a group of passionate, friendly, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.

In this episode, we chat with Cinzia Angelini. Cinzia is an industry veteran, has worked as an animator and story artist across multiple studios, and has recently taken the reins on her first animated feature at Cinesite. Michael rewinds to the start of Cinzia’s career to talk about her education in Italy, to find out how she got started, and goes in-depth on Cinzia’s ten year plus passion project which she’s now putting the final touches on, her short film Mila.

Guest: Cinzia Angelini
Host & Producer: Michael Wakelam
Executive Producer: Eric M. Miller
Music by: Rich Dickerson (www.richdickerson.com)


The Creators Society is a group of passionate, friendly, and respectable creators working in different areas of animation from development through distribution. We work to bring these members of the animation community together through education and networking.
Learn more about the Creators Society, and how to become a member at thecreatorssociety.org.