We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sam Kessler. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sam below.

Sam , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I did what I wanted, the way I wanted to do it. I still am.

While this sentiment might come across as lacking substance on the surface level, it embodies a deeply vital core message I’d love to expound upon. As a small preface, I’ll ask this to you, the reader; are you actually doing what you enjoy, the way you enjoy doing it? And what’s motivating your approach to that? Are you having fun?

Because truthfully, I don’t do anything with “learning” in mind; I by far value more the process of creation itself. From my experience, the most essential skill any creative can have is to follow that base motivation and no other. In my eyes, the greatest obstacle to creativity is TRYING to learn more.

We unfortunately live in a society that tries to convince us otherwise. From the moment we’re born, we’re told that what we would do and the way we would do it isn’t sufficient; it needs to be more, better, faster, done right. We’re told that the way we would approach a passion, a project, a problem, is incorrect. We’re told we need to fear any form of mistake and that any we make is a reflection upon the quality of our character. We’re told we need to prove ourselves, to please people. We’re told we need the next thing we put out to be even bigger, more perfect. We’re told we need to wear more hats, and have the fully realized talents of every single peer. We’re told that we need prestige, accolades, wealth, and perfected skill sets. We’re told that the only path to security is to sacrifice our physical and emotional wellbeing in a constant, unending grind towards unrealistic goals.
And at a certain point, we might start believing that stuff. After enough time, a creative person can become so blinded by these unhealthy motivators thrust upon them, they lose sight of what was really important. But we’re not born believing these things.

When I was three years old, I picked up chalk and drew on the sidewalk, and it just felt right. There was no other motivator in my mind. That’s what I value most, and what I believe facilitates the greatest artistic growth, because you’re staying true to your interests and nurturing them.

To wrap this up, my approach to not just creativity but to living my life is shaped by the fact that our time on this earth is finite. Life is short. And when we gotta move on, do we take anything with us? Nope. At the end, it won’t matter how much you learned or how fast you learned it. What matters is if you did something you liked, the way you liked to do it.

Sam , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Sam, an Animation Lead and Storyboard Artist in the Los Angeles animation industry. Getting to that was a bit of a nebulous journey, but I wouldn’t say it was difficult. I always knew I wanted my career to be a creative role, and largely it was just a matter of investing in what I enjoyed, and having fun.

I find an enormous satisfaction in laying out strong compositions, finding the flow between scenes, to breathe movement into a project and see it fully formed. It’s an incredibly gratifying position to be in, to be able to bring something that interests me to life. Doubly so when I’ve worked with friends I love. With full honesty, I’m proud of all of it equally, because it’s all been part of a constant experience.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Getting to where I am fully self-taught. While I wouldn’t consider it in and of itself an achievement, I do consider it indicative of what can be accomplished purely from peace of mind. Everyone jumps through a different set of hoops, so look inwards and see which hoops you WANT to jump through. Trust yourself unconditionally to set your own goals, and walk your own path.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Be aware of how creatives are taken advantage of. Art isn’t made by CEOs; it’s made by artists. We’re in a collective struggle against a system that would gladly use our skills and passions to generate record-breaking profits, only to be told we’re not worth being shown a penny of it. While this system is being dismantled bit by bit, there’s still a long way to go before we’re out of the woods. Cherish our work, be vocal alongside us as we advocate for better. There’s strength in solidarity, even from outside a community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theprojectendo.wixsite.com/mysite
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-kessler-39b76826b/
• Twitter: https://x.com/ProjectENDO

Image Credits

Animation by Sam Kessler