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

Jeremy, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I’ve worked on many projects and they are all meaningful in different ways, so it’s hard to just pick one. I usually pick projects where I can flex my creative muscles and those are also the most fun. That reason alone makes them meaningful as well. I love the process and the art that goes into animation. You have to love the process in order to do this type of work. Too many people focus on the end goal, and that usually causes those projects to suffer. It’s better to hone in on the process, one step at a time.

Recently I’ve worked on several projects that have been very meaningful to me so I’m going to list them to answer this question since I can’t just pick one. Last year I worked on a documentary about a band called Radioactive Chicken Heads. That was exciting because they are a wacky, fun and creative bandl; right up my alley. I grew up listening to similar bands such as Green Jelly and The Aquabats; not sure how I missed RCH as a kid (they’ve been around for about 30 years), but I’m always super excited to discover a great band that I hadn’t known of previously.

The next one is an indie feature called, An LA Christmas Story, directed by Michael Kallio. That one is a live action film with an elf on the shelf character I animated in stop motion. I grew up watching the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials and that is where the elf puppet takes inspiration from which got me very excited about the project. This one is coming out soon!

I also animated a stopmo music video for a space rock band called Pulsar Radio. That came out in July and is another project I’m very excited about. It’s on YouTube and it’s called, We Are Not Alone. It was a ton of fun fabricating asteroids, a space pyramid and a giant tentacled space head. This one was also meaningful as it was the third time I worked on a music video for a cool band.

There is another music video I’m just about to wrap up that I’ve been working on with some friends from grad school for a rock singer. Stay tuned for news of that one, I’m keeping it a secret until it’s released, but it’s going to be another big one!

I’m also gearing up for a short film, which should be another meaningful project to work on.

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.

Hi, I’m Jeremy, originally from San Diego, moved to LA in 2015 where I began attending film school. That led me to grad school where I earned an M.F.A. in Film and Television. While in grad school, I met and trained under another artist who has worked for many years in the stop motion industry, Matthew Manning. He really helped get me started, along with teaching. I’ve been at Woodbury University since 2020. I also made many good friends in film school that I still work with on freelance gigs. We’ve done short films, features, music videos and commercials. In 2017 my friend Adam Thebault and I started Sock Dolly Productions with our first short, The Last Tamale. I have since worked with Adam on many projects as well as my animator colleagues Annette Bedrossian, Tsebahat Fiseha, Raffi Antounian, my composer buddy, Aaron Cruz, and my cinematographer friends, Randy Ruiz and Lucky Atkare. It’s great to have a crew of like-minded people to work with.

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

Creating. I love making little worlds from my own imagination and/or working with creative visions of others. That is why I love the process. Creating art is very rewarding.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The best thing society can do to support artists is pay them well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sockdollyproductions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sockdollyproductions/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-mowery-3b7248123/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sockdollyproductions5226