Meet Sander Goldman | Storyboard Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sander Goldman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sander, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
As a kid growing up in Massachusetts, I didn’t actually watch a lot of the cartoons that people my age grew up on. I think because I had a sort of contrarian, baby hipster feeling that if everyone liked something I needed to think it was dumb. So I missed out on all the Spongebob references everyone my age shared, and didn’t see the dozens of strange and beautiful Cartoon Network shows of the early 2000s with all my friends. But I had always been an artistic kid, so as I got into my teen years, still drawing every day and taking every possible art class, I started to realize what I’d been missing, and bit by bit began to look back and catch up on the kids TV I had passed on back when I was its target audience. I think this gave me an interesting perspective on the animation landscape as I was taking in the shows of my childhood generation, the shows of the current (at the time) generation of kids, as well as a lot of adult animation, all simultaneously and with fresh eyes.

That perspective gave me a really deep appreciation for creativity, work and joy that goes into creating cartoons, as well as a very strong belief in the responsibility and power that comes with creating the art that children are surrounded by in the years when much of our understanding of the world around us is solidified. I had always known on some level that I wanted to pursue art but by the end of high school I was 100% sure that I wanted to be a storyboard artist for animated television.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Like a lot of people, I think luck and timing had a lot to do with me finding my place in the animation industry. I moved out here after graduating from RISD in 2019 with no job and no plan. I struggled to make rent and frantically applied to every animation job I could find, and I contacted everyone in the business who would have lunch with me. I got nowhere for about six months. Then out of the blue one of the people I’d had lunch with (a very cool storyboarder named Lilit Ghazarian) connected me with a chance to do an art test for Netflix’s Big Mouth. Lilit coached me through the very intense work of the test, and after months of waiting and interviews, I got the job and breathed maybe the biggest sigh of relief in my whole life. Not to say it was easy by any means but I feel extremely lucky, and that’s not even considering the fact that I got that job literally the week before COVID would have made finding a job near impossible. If not for meeting just the right people at just the right time, I probably would have had to give up and move back home, and I know many people just as talented or more who don’t get that lucky.

But thankfully it worked out! I’ve spent the past 4 years as a storyboard artist for Rick and Morty on Adult Swim. For people unfamiliar with the term, this means I sketch out the broad strokes of the animation before skilled animators closely reference my work to create the final product that gets put on TV. Its an extremely rewarding process to see my scribbly sketches get combined with the work of dozens of other artists to create a gorgeous and exciting narrative on screen in front of millions of people.

On that note, you asked what sets me apart from others and what I’m proud of, but as a working storyboard artist, honestly what makes me most proud is my ability to NOT stand out from others. Animation is an intensely collaborative art, with dozens or sometimes hundreds of workers and artists contributing to make one final product as good as it can be. I absolutely love working as part of a team to make sure that all of our work can harmonize with each other and create a cohesive whole. So while I certainly do my best to draw and animate my pieces of the show to be as cool and fun as possible, with bits of my personal flair and style, the focus is always on communicating the vision of the director and the writers while trying to make all my coworkers’ jobs as easy as I can. I think that I’m a good storyboard artist not just because of my drawing ability and eye for dynamic action and comedy, but because I know how to put my strengths toward the needs of a team with a common goal. I think really understanding this aspect of animation and film production can help anyone understand the media they watch in a new way, and enjoy it even more.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m personally someone who likes existing in my small walkable corner of Burbank, but if I want to show someone a good time I’d maybe take them on a hike through Eaton Canyon in Pasadena near my first CA apartment, then maybe I’d recommend lunch at my favorite pupusa place. I’ve tried so many of the thousands of pupuserias in LA but I do think the very popular Sarita’s in Grand Central Market is the best I’ve had. Lastly, there’s a KBBQ place in K-Town called Chuncheon Dakgalbi Donghae Makguksu Two (I have it favorited in Google maps so I don’t need to remember the name) which has an absolutely phenomenal signature chicken dish and a great karaoke spot right next door. That’s only the second best meal I’ve had in LA, but tragically the excellent hot pot place with robot waiters I ate at once in Alhambra has shut down.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve had countless teachers, mentors and peers that have and are still helping me in this industry, I don’t think I could pick out a single person. So it’s probably worth giving a shoutout to my union, The Animation Guild, and the people that put work into making it run. Their collective bargaining and negotiation is why I have healthcare and decent wages, and the negotiations they are working on now will hopefully lead to even better conditions for all of us, including protections from dishonest “AI” practices, better residuals, and inclusion for the non-artist workers in our business that make everything work. Like any democratic organization it is imperfect, messy and sometimes frustrating but I’m extremely thankful to be part of it and appreciative of all the people working to make it better. The negotiations with the studios that start very soon will probably be very tough and they need all the public support they can get.

Website: https://sandergoldmanart.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanderdoesart/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sander-goldman-747960135/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sanderdoesart

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SanderGoldman

Image Credits
Indy Dang