Meet Deborah A. Anderson | Animation Journalist & Educator – BlkWmnAnimator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Deborah A. Anderson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Deborah A., is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
BlkWmnAnimator was originally created to help kids, students, and parents learn more about animation through presentations, classes, and workshops. I traveled around New Orleans and Louisiana talking about my careers and teaching 3D animation. I eventually took my platform online and made a YouTube channel. At a time when I had a laptop that could barely run Adobe After Effects to edit some of my video ideas, I had to think of an alternative to keep my channel going. I realized that if I could interview animation professionals, I’d just have to chop the beginning and end of the videos in Windows Movie Maker and upload them. Now, four years later, it’s the main content on my channel and I have interviewed approximately 100 entertainment professionals including 80 Black animation professionals.

Not only has my YouTube channel provided documentation of the animation professionals who don’t get the recognition in the media they deserve, it has also provided a safe space for animation professionals to tell their stories and has sometimes been a catalyst for more job opportunities or the confidence boost they needed to put themselves out there more.

Some of my YouTube lives, particularly after George Floyd, were circulated around human resource departments because of my and my colleagues’ transparency about how we felt companies were responding to the incident. I’ve also gotten speaking opportunities at Bowie State University and the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI) from my platform. Young Black high schoolers have decided to go to one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that offer animation programs because of one of my Black History Month videos from a few years ago highlighting them all.

I’m striving to have an even larger impact in the coming years.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I had the unique opportunity to start my career in Seoul, South Korea. I graduated during one of our many recessions, couldn’t find a job in animation, and thus decided to teach English in Gwangju (Jeollanamdo), South Korea. I always say that I accidentally got a job at a South Korean animation company because it wasn’t my intention to work there when I first traveled to the studio. I emailed numerous Korean animation studios because I had never seen an animation studio before and a couple responded. When I went up to Seoul, at the end of my tour, they asked me if I had a demo reel (an animation portfolio) and I did not. But, I told them I would work on it. For the next, four months, in between teaching classes, after school, and on the weekends, I toiled away and at the end of it, I sent my demo reel to the studio and they offered me a job.

It was in that moment I understood the importance of proper preparation. When I was in the States trying to find a job, I was doing so without a demo reel and wondering why I wasn’t successful. As soon as I had a demo reel, preparation, and opportunity combined to present me with my lucky break.

It was a great opportunity and despite working 12-hour days, six days a week, I remember sitting at my desk working on 3D models for Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and Scooby-Doo realizing that I did not waste four years studying animation and had chosen the correct path.

After two years in South Korea, I moved back to New Orleans where I moved after college and miraculously worked in animation and animation-related jobs for the next 9 years before deciding to move, kicking and screaming, to the animation mecca that is Los Angeles.

Because I’m always striving to become a better person and professional, I had taken the time from freshman year of college and into my adulthood to step out of my quiet (not shy) shell and get better at communication, public speaking, leadership, and networking. The networking piece took a little longer than the others because I always tried to rely on my work ethic to open doors for me, but I’m glad that I started to take advantage of my network while navigating the non-profit volunteer space in New Orleans because that has been the key to me sustaining myself in Los Angeles. 3 out of the 4 jobs that I have gained while living in California have come from my network.

I think the number one thing people can learn from my professional life and career is that you don’t have to rely on your default factory settings. From K through 12, I barely spoke and struggled with confidence issues. But in college, I decided to take the reins of my life and bust the box myself and others put me in wide open. Today, with a YouTube channel and a flourishing career, you’d never guess that I am an introvert who could entertain myself for days alone in my house.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My favorite spots in the city center around culture. I suggest catching a concert at the Hollywood Bowl and a play at one of the Center Media Group theatres. Good places to eat would include Orleans & York for one of their bowls which is the closest thing I’ve had to good Creole food since leaving New Orleans. District by GS and Blaqhaus are some good restaurants with soul food options. Definitely head down to Leimert Park on Sundays for their African marketplace where you can buy unique wares and hear good music. For some fun, I’d suggest either The One Up for video games and eats or Shatto 39 Lanes for bowling, pool, and drinks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My father helped tremendously in helping guide my path. Since my dad is an adjunct professor, he facilitated me and my twin brother taking dual enrollment courses in high school. I took seven community college courses my junior and senior year of high school and the 7th class was 3D animation. Before then, I tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my future. I had already tossed aside being an architect and industrial designer and was on my way to studying electrical engineering. Being a Disney kid didn’t lead me to my future career like it did for my peers. Taking the 3D animation course allowed me to discover a topic that melded my artistic skills with my analytical brain.

My dad has always been supportive of everything I do. He’s also the reason I was able to last so long living in Louisiana and having an animation career before I decided to move to Los Angeles. He sent me the job posting for the Animation Specialist position at Louisiana Economic Development where I worked for 5.5 years. I like to highlight him and other parents because it’s important for artists to have the same support as those who want to be doctors, lawyers, and engineers. I see parents lament about how their artistic child wasn’t successful, but it’s most likely because they had to do it all alone with their parents complaining the entire way.

I have even followed in my father’s footsteps of becoming a professor.

Website: https://www.blkwmnanimator.com

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahanderson0

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/blkwmnanimator

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blkwmnanimator.com

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

Other: https://solo.to/blkwmnanimator