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

Davey, 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’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to have made a full-time living working in animation for the past six years. The work has been pretty consistent up until this year, but now we’re kind of at a weird transition point in our industry. It’s harder than ever to make something that a lot of people will watch because people’s attention is divided across so many different platforms. When I was a kid, everyone watched “SpongeBob”, everyone watched “Seinfeld”, but there are really no modern equivalents. People spend more time on TikTok and YouTube than anything else, so most shows don’t get a fraction as many viewers as they used to. Streaming looked like a viable option for a while but now that business model is imploding. This is an issue facing the entire entertainment industry, not just animation. No one really knows the best way to make money off of distributing content now. Luckily for us, people will always have an appetite for new shows. Whether that will be for TV or streaming or social media is up in the air, but one thing that will never change is my love for making cartoons, and I will find a way to keep doing it for as long as possible.

But the entertainment landscape is weird right now. I spent 20 minutes making a TikTok last year that got more views than anything else I have ever worked on combined. I’ve gotten little to no notoriety for all the hours of hard work I put into art and animation and comedy, but I got famous for trying drinks on the internet. I guess that’s why they say work smart, not hard.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I work primarily as a storyboard artist in TV animation. I’ve done storyboards for shows at Nickelodeon, Warner Brothers, PBS, Bento Box, and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. “Teen Titans Go!”, “The Patrick Star Show”, “Baby Shark’s Big Show!”, and a new show that’s set to premiere any month on Nickelodeon called “Rock, Paper, Scissors” have been some of my favorites. I also loved working on “Let’s Go Luna!” for PBS Kids. That show had a small crew so I got to wear many hats. I helped write several episodes on that show in addition to storyboard. I also did voices for miscellaneous characters in various episodes. I recommend that show to anyone who has young kids. It’s funny and educational, what’s not to love!

I also do live comedy, both as a standup and in a sketch comedy troupe called “Trifecta Comedy”, and I serve on the board of an educational non-profit called “Animation Resources”, which provides reference materials and mentorship for students and people trying to break into the animation industry.

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

There are two aspects of the creative process that excite me endlessly. One is coming up with a new idea, and the other is when people respond well to that idea. I don’t know if other artists or creative people feel the same way, but for me, every time I’m starting something new, I feel like I’m doing it for the first time. Whether I’m writing something new, starting a new storyboard, or drawing new characters, I’m struck with this almost overwhelming sensation of “I have no idea what I’m doing.” But eventually, ideas come. It may not be that day, or week, or month, but eventually you’ll have ideas. They might not be good ideas, but they’re ideas none the less! Maybe it’s because I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing that I get so excited when I get an idea. So that’s rewarding, but like I mentioned, you don’t know if it’s a good idea until you share it with other people. And that’s the other part I love, when your idea resonates with another person. When I think of something funny for a scene of an episode I’m storyboarding and then it makes my director laugh, that’s also incredibly rewarding.

Also, to me there’s nothing more rewarding than live comedy. The immediate feedback from the audience is unbeatable; it’s the best feeling in the world when your joke lands. But the stakes also feel much higher when you’re live as opposed to when you’re making a film. When a joke doesn’t land in a live show, not only does it not feel great to know your idea wasn’t good, but you’re failing publicly. Your co-worker or boss telling you your idea isn’t funny doesn’t quite have the same sting as a room full of 50 people telling you. But that’s the risk you’re taking every time you’re on stage, which is all part of what makes it so exciting and so rewarding. It’s the safe person’s adrenaline rush. No way I’m jumping out of airplanes, so I’ll do this instead.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I want to work with a team to make funny cartoons for as large an audience as possible. It’s been my goal ever since I was a kid, but since the market has changed so much in the last decade, I’m not sure what form that would take. But that is still my overarching goal. I specify “work with a team” because not all artists prefer to do that. In times of uncertainty like this in our industry, I see more and more people doing their own independent projects. And I think that’s great, but it isn’t something that I’d want to pursue long-term. Not just because of the smaller audience reach that’s inherent to indie animation, but I also don’t like working independently. One of the most fun aspects of working in the studio system is collaborating with other artists. Anything that I’ve made that I’ve been happy with has been a team effort. I don’t like any of my ideas until I’ve bounced them off of other people and refined them. I’ve written so many stupid sketches that my teammates in Trifecta have helped me shape into something that’s actually funny and accessible. Even standup, which people think of as a solitary act, is extremely collaborative. The audience literally tells you what’s good and what’s not. It’s the opposite of creating in a vacuum. Likewise in animation and in all of my creative endeavors, I rely heavily on my friends and colleagues (and audience) to help me do the best job I can.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://daveyjarrell.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doodledoodledavey/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daveyilltake.jarrell
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davey-jarrell-16649962/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DaveyJarrell
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeJoMsgpb884sFmxAkL5Buw
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@doodledoodledavey