What do you do if your career goals as an animator aren't aligning with your supervisors?

Often, when we are hired, and we have ambition, we are anxious to move up the chain. A promotion is an increase in responsibility more than an increase in authority. You become responsible not only for the work assigned to you, your skills, and your efforts but also for the efforts of your team and their skills. However, your authority may remain limited in that you must meet the expectations of your assignments. When you understand this, a path of advancement becomes clearer. Be responsible for your work, and solve problems within your sphere of influence before they become the problem for your supervisor. Become an invaluable resource for solutions, not a value problem.

As an aspiring animator/artist, my goal is to create multiple everlasting animations that will stand the test of time like Studio Ghibli and classic Disney. I specialize in low-fidelity (lo-fi) 3D animations that reminisce the times of vhs's, cassette tapes, and vinyl records. I plan on becoming a director to create an animated series of my own.

Goals are great, but you're not going to achieve them all at every job. Patience and perseverance will get you in the right direction. It's just fine to work on something that doesn't get your motor running. That's life, that's the industry. Work hard, learn from everything, good and bad, and the chance to move the needle will come in time. Pushing supervisors too much will get you squeezed out of the industry.

?? Aim high ?? Work hard ?? Ask questions ?? Evaluate tools ?? Think of alternatives ?? Experiment & compare different techniques

Steps to approach the conversation: Prepare Points: Before the meeting, outline your goals and how they are different. Express Your Perspective: Start the conversation by expressing your respect for your supervisor's goals and vision. Then, calmly explain your perspective and why you believe your goals may lead to better outcomes. Listen Actively: Allow your supervisor to share their perspective. Find Common Ground: Look for areas of overlap or compromise where your and supervisor’s goals can be accommodated. Propose Solutions: Offer potential solutions or alternatives. Maintain Professionalism: Keep the conversation focused on the goals. Follow Up: Follow up with your supervisor to confirm any agreements reached or next steps.

The best part of an aspiring animator/artist is the research, communication, and collaborations with other people. Once a vision comes to mind, I start my research looking for images and sounds for the project. The best part is collaborating with other artist and producers with the same vision to create magic on the screen. One day, I hope to gain enough capital to build my own animation team and studio.

Growth as an artist is what I like to do the most. I enjoy learning new programs and devices to improve my already expansive skillset. I get excited when new courses are released because they improve major deficiencies. I have enrolled in accredited and non-accredited courses and they both add value, and I plan to continue my education as time goes on.

If there's anything I learned over the years, is that you are not going to automatically jump into your dream career. Sometimes you'll have to do projects or take jobs you may not like to build up to where you want to be.

This is a very odd question as it posits that your life/career is in your control. It's NOT. Of course, it is in your control if you acknowledge that LUCK has a big say in the matter, such as the luck of landing at a job with great supervisors... So, the only real answer is focus on your reel and personal work and constantly put that up front. Also, seek opportunities, with your supervisors, that align with your aspirations. Talent is valued as #1 for your first job, but Willingness to do whatever is valued as #1 for all subsequent gigs. So, be a good soldier. But it doesn't hurt to show off what else you want to do/are good at. Lastly, assuming you're not a hotshot, ask your supervisors where you stand in the industry. LEARN.