We were lucky to catch up with Katie Heady recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Growing up with two older brothers was super helpful for me. It showed me a lot about what I should avoid and what I should try. I remember when I was eight years old, I decided then on that I wanted to pursue art. Seeing my oldest brother, Chris, acting on stage, making his own plays, and creating all sorts of content in school. It was so inspiring to witness that as a kid. And my older brother, Mikey, ultimately shaped what I chose to focus on in college. My brothers showed me what could be possible and showed me the power of creativity and the art of storytelling. That’s why I pursued my career as an Animator.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been in the industry just a little over 4 years now. I remember my senior year of college, working on my thesis, it really taught me the benefits of being a generalist, but my two loves are story and animation. I feel like you need a really good story in order for the animation to sing. At the end of my senior year, a VFX company came in and I met Robb Foster and Ben Girdwood from Carbon VFX. Meeting them and the rest of the team at Carbon was the first stepping stones into my career in the animation VFX industry. Now, I’m currently working as a Junior Animator at OnChain Studios, making animations for their upcoming games.

Something that I can definitely take away from my 4 years of the industry is the importance of good organization. If you don’t have a good organization, the project can fall apart very easily. I learned very quickly on my own personal projects, but it was a big learning curve on client projects as well.

Some thing that I find unique in all my work is somehow people are able to see me through it. I feel like my coworkers come up to me and say, “This is so Katie!” It’s a funny compliment but it’s also so sweet. I really think the reason why they say it is because with my ideas, I’ve been able to translate that idea into my animation.

At the end of the day, it’s really hard to choose one project or animation I’m most proud of. I think I’m just proud of how far I have come. All just by listening to my voice and being true to myself. That has been really important to me and shaped who I am today.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In early July of last year, I was let go from a previous job due to their financial situation. It was something really unexpected for me and really heartbreaking. I had just moved to Philadelphia, wasn’t prepared. I was devastated when the news first broke to me and naturally also in shock. But this experience made me conquer a fear that I had. Freelancing.

In the past, I didn’t believe I could do it. I didn’t think I was capable of being a freelance Animator. I was completely and utterly wrong. I am capable and I am extremely grateful to everybody that reached out and was assisting me during that time… I am where I am today because of the support and the amazing advice of my peers.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think one of the most rewarding aspect about being an artist. Is seeing your animations fully rendered. There is satisfying about seeing that work turn into a beautiful polish brand.

Usually when I am doing some gaming animation, or an animation for an unboxing sequence, I’m usually seeing it in the play-blast window just through Maya. So it’s not sexy compared to having your animation with all those lights, and all the amazing effects that TA’s have put together to make it look fancy. Or the textures that the modeling team worked on.

Aside from it looking beautiful it’s a really good reflection of seeing everybody’s work from each pipe line and one image. And that’s why I love it so much.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ktheady.wixsite.com/animation
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/katie_plumcake
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieheady