The studios aren't hiring.
Your clients are.
I've freelanced as an animator for 25 years. Health-tech companies, medical device makers, brands you've never heard of. Deals that paid more than any studio ever did, and deals that went wrong. Every week, one story from the inside, so you can build a freelance career that doesn't depend on who's hiring.
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The anxiety is real.
You're staring at your phone, waiting for a studio to call. Refreshing your inbox. Hoping work lands in your lap.
Paying the rent, covering the bills, supporting your family, all riding on an industry that's contracting fast.
There are more animators than ever and fewer positions. The old studio path isn't the safety net it used to be.
You know you need to take control. But starting to freelance feels overwhelming. Where do you even begin?
Real clients. Real stories. No theory.
Most freelancing advice comes from people who stopped freelancing. I'm still in the water. Here's the kind of thing I write about.
Written for animators ready to move.
- You're an animator who has never freelanced and wants to start
- You've tried freelancing but struggle to get clients consistently
- You want income that doesn't depend on the industry's condition
- You'd rather learn from scar tissue than from a guidebook
- You want to build toward 5–10K/month and know that takes real effort
- You want a passive shortcut. There is not one
- You're not willing to step outside your comfort zone
- You expect clients to come to you without outreach
- You'd rather wait and see what happens with the industry
The Film Vault. 25 shorts, zero algorithm.
The other side of Animator Now! is the craft. I watch hundreds of shorts a year for The Animation Sunday. These are the 25 I couldn't stop thinking about, with my notes on every one. Free.
Open the vault, get The Animation Sunday.
Drop your email. The vault opens on the next screen. Then one short film a week lands in your inbox every Sunday, with 900+ animators already reading.
- 25 hand-picked shorts, 5+ Oscar nominees
- Philippe's review alongside every film
- Zero ads, zero paywall. Unsubscribe in one click
A course on freelancing, for animators only.
So I'm turning it into a self-paced course, in the order a real freelance career unfolds. One-time purchase when it ships.
- Finding clients outside the animation industry
- Pricing and quoting with a number you can defend
- Contracts, scope, revisions and kill fees
- Money: invoices, deposits, late payers, the reserve
No date yet. The Freelancing for Animators newsletter is where you'll read it.
I've been freelancing as an animator and director for 25 years. I know what it's like when the work dries up. I also know how to make sure it doesn't stay that way. I'm not writing from the other side of the river. I'm still in the water, and I write down what I learn.
Animator Now! started with a simple observation. Animators have schools to learn the craft. Studios to practice it. But no home that helps them live from it.
So I'm building one.
Animator Now! is a platform for animators. Tools that speed up your work, like Citron for After Effects. Scripts for Maya. Rigs to animate. Two letters: Freelancing for Animators about the business, The Animation Sunday about the craft. A course and a podcast on the way.
One place. Everything an animator needs to work, grow, and get paid.
One story a week. From the inside. Free.
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