We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joey Paone a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joey , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I’ve been very lucky to have been employed consistently for most of my career. I graduated during an upswing in the animation industry when streaming companies started investing in more animated content for their platforms. That has kept me fed for some time now, even though the work seems to be slowing down. Back in college, I tried my best to develop the skills needed to be a valuable animation asset by regularly attending life drawing sessions and asking peers and professors to critique my work. I would also work on as many films as I could, be it my own or other classmates’. One of the first films I made, Scary Story, was a monumental milestone in terms of learning “less is more.” It was done with just a small crew; my friend Midrell Fitzgerald and I did all the animation, and my niece, Jolene, narrated the whole thing. I’ve grown a lot since then, but it never fails to get a great reaction. Because of that, it’s one of my favorite projects I’ve made.
As far as ways I would have sped up the process of getting a full-time job, I’m not too sure what to say. Getting your first gig is probably one of the hardest things to accomplish when starting out. I spent years working on my portfolio and applying to internships with no results. I was lucky enough to land one during my senior year though, and I doubt it was only because of my portfolio. You need to accept help from others. One thing I’ve noticed is that the people you sit next to in class on your first day are often the people you’ll be working with in the industry for the rest of your career, so be nice. Don’t be fake. Just treat people with basic respect. I’ve gotten jobs because of friends, and I’ve helped get other people jobs just because I’d spent time with them and they were nice to be around.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hey everyone, my name is Joey Paone and I’m an artist who specializes in 2D Animation. I like to work on projects that have some sort of story, be it TV shows or movies, and I’ve been lucky enough to have been paid to do so for the past five years. I started out as an animation intern at a little studio called Primal Screen. I mostly did commercial work and eventually moved up as a freelance animator. Over the years, I’ve worked at a few other places which eventually led me to a job at Warner Bros. The work I do includes animating things from scratch as well as tweaking and improving some of the work that WB receives from other studios. I really enjoy work like this because it not only allows me to animate but also to actively problem solve which is something that a lot of jobs don’t let you do.
Even though I love my job, the things that I’m most proud of tend to be more of my personal work. I just can’t help but try and start new projects, be they small or grandiose. I’ve had the opportunity to make a couple of short films, but the ones I’m most proud of are Scary Story (which I’ve mentioned before) and my latest short film currently in production (name to come!). The former is located on my Vimeo for free. (https://vimeo.com/169570697)

I suppose what I want for my work is for it to contribute to the animation artform in a positive way. People seem to expect certain things when they watch an animated movie and that’s because for the most part only the same types of movies get made. Or at least the ones that the public are aware of. I want to help create films that aren’t what people expect from animation, but still addictively engaging and meaningful. I love watching live action films from various time periods and I really admire the flexibility they have in telling whatever types of stories they want. I’d love to see that for animation as well. There has been an upswing for sure in the past decade or so when it comes to the different kinds of animation being made. Arcane is so different from Pocoyo which is so different from Family Guy. However, I think there is still unexplored territory and I’d love to help discover what’s missing.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I love it when creative work fully immerses audiences in the story. It’s the best feeling when people totally forget that whatever they’re watching is just a bunch of drawings or a bunch of 0s and 1s and flashing pixels moving on a screen. Often times, animated movies and shows call attention to themselves in a way that sabotages genuine, emotional moments and ultimately prevents audiences from connecting to the scene or feeling anything at all. Whether it’s comedy or drama, I think we should totally commit ourselves to the task of telling a good story and do what it takes to fully serve that story.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think I’m in the middle of one of the most important “pivot” moments of my life right now. Recently, I’ve been nurturing an interest in a deeper storytelling aspect of animation and trying to understand the process of film making in general. When I was first starting out, I only focused on the craft of animation and drawing—I didn’t have any interest in any other aspect of the process. Lately however, I’ve been finding animation difficult to enjoy, which is sad for someone who has dedicated so much time to the craft. Instead of complaining though, I want to try and challenge myself to learn new skills and create work that I know I would want to see. I feel very strongly that in order to get better at any art form, you need to build a large inventory of work. The short film I’m creating right now is an attempt at that. It’s not very long, but it’s a love letter to all the 1940s Disney and Looney Tunes animation that I grew up with. Check out my Instagram if you’re interested in seeing it develop as time goes on (@jojoemmet). My plan is to keep creating projects that will push me to learn new skills and to become a better storyteller.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joeypaone.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jojoemmet/
• Other: https://vimeo.com/user47405040

Image Credits
Kire Torres