- Bishez, welcome back to my channel, so, today I finally decided that I would discuss how
I got a job at Netflix. And, just to be clear, I am not currently working
directly at Netflix, I am currently at Tonko House, working with them for
a project, for Netflix. Before I get into this video, I still want to make a
little disclaimer and say that everything I'm about to
say does not reflect the views of Netflix, or any of my employers, these are just all purely
from my personal experience. So, for those of you wondering, I am currently an assistant
episodic director, working at Tonko House, making a project for Netflix through them, but prior to that, my first job ever at
Netflix, or "at Netflix" was through Glen Keane Productions
as a storyboard revisionist, and then storyboard artist. So, one of the things that you all might be wondering about is if all these projects that are eventually showcased on Netflix directly made at Netflix? And that's not always the case. So, just because somebody
works on a project that is actually on the
platform of Netflix doesn't mean that they were at Netflix,
directly, working there. And that's just kind
of what it's been like for a lot of the streaming
studios and animation companies, they kind of collaborate with
each other to create content, but there still are some animated projects that are still made
directly under the studio, so, ultimately it's kind of just a mix of both outsourced studios, as well as in-house projects. The way that I feel like I
personally got a job at Netflix, through Glen Keane
Productions, was kind of through my portfolio that I literally ripped apart when I first graduated from CalArts. For those of you who are familiar with my whole unemployment story between graduation and then
eventually landing my first job, I personally felt like my portfolio, when I first graduated from
art school, which was CalArts, did not really serve me the best in terms of just applying
to different studios. I feel like my time at
CalArts was better served as just a time to discover
who I was as an artist, and what it was I wanted to
say through my student films, but in terms of actually
strategically forming the portfolio itself to create something, to
showcase, to land a job, I didn't feel like I was
able to develop a portfolio that was strong enough to
during my time as a student because a lot of the work I did
was either recycled material from my student films, or it was just recycled material from my previous years at school, and I felt like it was
just time to rip that apart and create something new. And if you are interested in
seeing the two portfolios, my old one versus my new one, it is going to be in the links below because I just don't have time to fit that in a video like this. So, when I first was
applying to different jobs, I'll get straight to the point and just say that I just uploaded
my portfolio on LinkedIn, and somebody from Glen Keane
Productions slash Netflix actually found my portfolio on LinkedIn and was just like, "Hey, I guess her portfolio
kind of similarly aligns with what we're looking for in a potential storyboard
artist slash revisionist, so let's reach out to her." And the way that I know
this information was because after my job was over at "Trash Truck," I actually just sat down
with the person that hired me and asked "How did they find me?" And that was what they said was they were scrolling on LinkedIn, and they stumbled across my portfolio, and that's just what happened. And it's funny because, as an artist, I feel like LinkedIn normally
is not the first go-to place that we would showcase our work
and like, get discovered on. And when I was still a student, the way that I saw others getting hired, back in that day, was
through Blogspot or Tumblrs. People would just upload
all of their artwork on a blog site, and they would just
get hired through that. And I thought that, "Hey, maybe I should just
create a portfolio website just like that, and do
something like that," and while it is helpful to have a website that contains all of your work that you wish to show
your potential employer, I felt like the best way for me in this day and age was just
more through social media, and that does include LinkedIn, because you're kind of in a space where there are many other users who could be your potential employer, or it could be a recruiter, or you're just putting yourself in a place where there's already a
lot of preexisting people. So, when I uploaded my stuff on LinkedIn, it was already in a pool of where recruiters and
people were already looking for other artists. But nowadays, I feel like Instagram, or social media in general is where a lot of people are getting hired. So, through LinkedIn was
how I got my first job as a storyboard revisionist. And then my second job at Netflix, which was "Arlo the Alligator Boy," I remember when I first got called in for an interview on that, it was just literally
through my Instagram. I don't even remember showing
the showrunner my portfolio, or anything that was directly, like, work that was made for the
purpose of potential hiring. It was just literally through my Instagram that the showrunner just scrolled through and was just like, "Hey, I just looked at your comics. And I saw that you just
have a really great voice, your style is like very
wholesome, but also very funny, and that's just like
what we're looking for," something among the lines of that, don't quote me on that. So literally just through that is how I feel like I personally
got my second job at Netflix, and, nowadays, I see a ton
of recruiters, directors, showrunners, and artists
in the animation industry, just literally on Instagram, or different social media platforms. So I feel like people are
actually actively looking through social media for
potential people to hire. And pretty much after my
time working on "Arlo," I personally never created a
new portfolio, like, again. Like, I probably should. This is not to say that you should not make
a portfolio anymore, and just post on social media. I still highly encourage you
to create your own portfolio, and maybe just include it as your bio link on your Instagram account, or wherever you are able to
link a website to your platform. So, I think that you should
still be making a portfolio, and providing the link to
that on your social media, however, on your social media, I think you should still post
work that is personal to you, and shows who you are as a person. So, yeah, because I felt like I didn't have to make
a new portfolio again, after "Arlo," it was just, honestly, I was just consumed by work, and working on my own personal projects, I didn't have the time to really,
construct a new portfolio, but by the time it came time
to look for a new job again, I honestly just got reached
out by somebody, again, from "Trash Truck," for the current project that I am on, which is at Tonko House. I really don't even think
they asked for my portfolio. They just pretty much
asked me to take a test. So even if you can't showcase your work, you still have the
opportunity to take a test, which honestly you should make sure that your rights are respected, because there are a lot of, like, controversial things going
on with animation tests that are given out to people, because they want to see
if you can be a good fit and like do an example
of what you would do if you were on this project. However, this is kind of a thing that can still be very easily
abused in this industry, because people might
take advantage of you, and treat it as like free work, because if you take this test just to see if you can get accepted into this job, they could kind of just be
doing it to just be like, "Hey, let's just have
this person do an example, to just give us some ideas that
we could use for our show." You just want to make sure
that you are not doing that, and make sure that the test that you take is purely just a test for the sake of your application, and nowadays, I believe if they're
asking for more of you than just a simple test, you should be getting paid
or compensated for that, so make sure you ask the
person who is testing you about these things prior to that, there is definitely more information on the animation union slash
guild social media platform, and on their website, so please check that out, I'll put that in the links below, because, I don't feel
like I'm the best person to talk about this, but I just wanted to give you
a heads up regarding that. So, if you cannot get in
through like your portfolio, or through your social media account, but they still allow you to take a test, I would take that opportunity
to show your recruiter that you know what this show is about, even when you don't know what it's about. Because prior to getting
hired onto this show, when they're kind of interviewing you, and asking you about who
you are as an artist, they'll kind of show you
generally what the show is about. You'll get an idea of what the tone is, who the characters are, and usually a lot of animated
shows, and shows, and films and content, and everything
in general nowadays, let's be real, is kind of a regurgitation of things that have already
been made and existed, and now they're just
a blob of many things. So if you could think of shows or films that are very similar to the one that you're getting
interviewed for right now, I would highly encourage
you to just try to pretend as if you're on the show already. Think of the shows that
remind you of the show that you're interviewing for, and try to create work
that is similarly aligned. Try to do the style as
closely as possible, pretend as if you are
already a storyboard artist on this show, or an artist on this show and creating work in the
same tone, style, and genre, and everything, so that they can really
envision you as a person that they're gonna hire. So that's just a thing that I encourage, although it's going to,
again, be very different for every test that you take, and every project that you get on or get hired for is really
going to be different. When I say working at Netflix, I feel like it can mean many things because, there are many people right now who currently are working at Netflix, but there are also people
who are working on studios that are outside of Netflix, but they are still producing content that will be showcased
on the Netflix platform. So, from my personal
experience, I've had both, I've been at Netflix Animation directly, but I've also been on
those outsource studios that are outside of Netflix, but were still working and
collaborating with Netflix. So in a way it feels
like I never really left, I say as I am literally wearing
their sweatshirt right now. There is no one-way single
route to getting into Netflix, or in the industry, in general. But I feel like from
my personal experience, people really value your voice. They really value seeing you
for what you might have to say. And just from my experience in
general, working at Netflix, the vibe I kind of got
was that they really care about making some sort
of societal progress, and just really improving
society in a way, through making meaningful content. And again, whatever I say
does not reflect the views of Netflix, at all. I'm just saying what I
pretty much experienced through my time there, and overall, I feel like, based on how much they value this variety of different
genres and content, they really want to see
who you are as a person, and want to see where you fit in it, rather than trying to force
you to fit into something that you're not. But at the end of the day, I do feel like a job is still a job, and you still need to pay your bills, and pay for your rent, and pay for things in your life. So it's kind of unrealistic
to just be like, "Just do whatever you
want and be yourself, and hopefully a job will
fall into your hands at some point," like that is unrealistic
to say, and you know, if push comes to shove, and you really do need a job, again, when you take that storyboard test, or take that artist test to
get in, make sure, again, that your rights are being respected, but of course, also try to pretend as if you're already
an artist on this show, and try to fit to this project style. Honestly, I would encourage you
to try to stick to the style of the show, and not be
too like far off from it, because, at this point, if you just really need to get this job, you have to just at least show people that you really understand what it is that the people on this
project are looking for, and if they show you, literally, the stuff that they have already made in
development of this project, you just want to try to do
your best to fit into that. So, yeah, just as a simple recap, as to how I personally feel like I got a job at Netflix, was, I pretty much just, first, put myself on different
social media platforms, from LinkedIn, Instagram,
I even put it on my Tumblr when Tumblr was still kind of a thing. And, in addition to that, I also showcased my own personal work on my Instagram and social media accounts, and by that, I mean, I just
put my personal comics, I put my personal artwork. And then third is, when you get to the level
of taking a storyboard test, try to envision yourself to
the best of your ability, as if you're already
an artist on this show, copy the style to the
best of your ability, watch movies that kind
of remind you of the show that you're applying for, and try to really understand the tone, and what type of character acting, or what type of camera
angles would better represent this show, because again, if you are applying for a sitcom show, they're not going to want to see these super cinematic styles. And if you are applying
for a super cinematic show, they're not going to want to see these super plain basic storyboards that might better fit a TV show. So, just keep those in mind when you are applying to
all these different jobs, because, everything is really dependent on the project itself. Even though I say it like, how to get a job at Netflix Animation, Netflix Animation still
is such a huge range of different projects that are underneath
that very big umbrella, so, these are just ways that I feel like I personally have worked my way into getting different jobs while either at Netflix, or at a studio, that is still producing
something for Netflix. So yeah, I hope this video kind of helps some of you out there, especially because, back
then when I was a student, I kind of wished that there was somebody who kind of just showed me the ways of what the current climate of the animation industry
hiring process really is. Because, just like
everything else in life, things are always changing, the ways that people
process different things, and look for different artists
are going to be changing throughout time. So I was just like, why not just make a video to just discuss what the
current situation I feel like is for artists that are being discovered, and getting hired on to these projects for different streaming services. And in my case, it was just specifically Netflix. So, yeah. Thank you, again, for watching this video, and I hope to see you all in the next one. So peace out, and stay hoesome, bishez.
