PENELOPE NEDERLANDER: Senior Freelance Animator/VFX Artist
This week’s featured artist is two-time Emmy-nominated art director, motion graphics animator and digital artist, Penelope Nederlander! Penelope’s credits include the title sequences for Birds of Prey, The Tick, Pitch Perfect, Temple Grandin, and both Kung Fu Panda films, VFX on Aviator, Iron Man, and Superman, VFX supervising music videos for Dolly Parton, Sean Lennon, and The Killers, and creating the most recent high-resolution stereoscopic version of the MGM lion logo.
In our interview, Penelope shares insights from her expansive career, highlighting the evolution of the VFX industry, the enduring principles that continue to drive her work, and the importance of maintaining a balanced life as an artist. Whether you're an aspiring animator or a seasoned professional, Penelope's experiences and advice offer valuable lessons on sustaining creativity and passion in a demanding field.
Q: How did it all start for you? What drew you toward your department? What was a major influence in your life?
A: As a teen in the 90s, I was always fascinated by various artistic programs on the computer. From drawing pixel art MS Paint to learning how to edit and composite in Adobe Premiere and make stuff in 3D in Specular Infini-D, I was ravenous to learn new stuff. A misguided HS guidance counselor sent me off to computer engineering school at RIT, but a couple Fs had me switching to graphic design and taking classes in PowerAnimator and Maya v1. After two years I transferred to SCAD and graduated in 2002 from the Motion Graphics track of the Computer Art Department.
Immediately driving across the country to Los Angeles, I freelanced around at various motion graphics studios and small vfx shops, working on commercials, broadcast, music videos, film compositing, and title design. And now, 22 years later, I'm still going strong in the same field. I'd say my passion overall is in animating title sequences for film and tv.
And it's funny, so much of what I do can be traced straight back to goofing around on 486's and PowerMacs. So much has changed, but so much is the same. And it's the same sense of figuring out puzzles that keeps me interested and passionate.
Q: What was your first professional job in your department and how did it shape your career?
A: My first real job out of SCAD was at a little shop in Santa Monica called Steam. They took a chance on me and taught me so much. The actual first project, if I remember correctly, was keying and compositing a Foo Fighters Music Video directed by Liam Lynch. Either that or it was a Barbie commercial at the same shop. They happened very close to each other. I was a little bummed I had JUUUUST missed a Tenacious D music video by about a month. Alas. I didn't get to comp the "whip crack went his whippy tail".
We were using After Effects and Primate, and a whole lot of roto for all the chrome and reflective instruments. It was a fun and educational job. It truly carried over to be a foundational experience as I still use some skills from that project today.
Q: How has the industry changed in your field since you first started, and what trends do you see shaping its future?
A: To be completely honest, less has changed in the actual meat and potatoes of the job in the last 22 years I've been working (or longer since I started playing around in the field) than you'd imagine. Sure, the computer hardware is orders of magnitude more powerful than I would have imagined possible in the late 90s, early 00s. The software has expanded in what you can accomplish, both overall, and simply as a smaller scale artist. And goodnesss the resolution has increased, thankfully and painfully. But the principles are generally the same. I find myself doing very similar types of work with very similar schedules. Clients are largely the same.
What really feels different is I do it out of my house and the equipment is much, much more affordable. That, and, to pick at the remote lifestyle, there are some differences to the marketplace. Waaaaay more people can find their way into this type of work. That side of things is very cool. But it also comes with its downfalls. Competing globally vs locally can be difficult and often psychologically painful. I really enjoyed working in LA and having a set of studios I'd hop around between. You made friends in real life and recommended each other for jobs. You really built relationships. Now it feels a lot colder and more difficult to cultivate those connections.
Me in 2002 would feel mostly right at home with a job today. I'd be blown away by the render quality and bigger-than-SD resolution, but I'd recognize the process. I think old me would feel very overwhelmed and isolated dropped into today's remote and social media landscape.
Q: What final piece of advice would you give to someone aspiring to enter your department?
A: It's easy to get hyped up in this industry. We're told how lucky we are that we're artists and get to do what we love. We're constantly seeing new breakthrough softwares and workflows. An army of social media influencer versions of us paint this picture of how hard they work and never stop learning and love every second of it. My number one piece of advice is to remember this is a career. To use an old metaphor, it's a marathon not a sprint.
It is such a gift to work in such a neat field. To be excited to learn and grow and create. And hold on to that spark. Early in your career that drive can help you succeed. But please, please, please take time for yourself. If the digital arts is both your career AND your hobby, you're nine times out of ten headed for burnout.
Take some intense jobs, pull a few all-nighters, make or help out on some personal projects. Dig in and try stuff. But make sure it's not all you do.
I consider myself very fortunate to have found a job that can bring me joy sometimes. But the best way for me to keep doing it and liking it year in and year out is remembering that it is just a job. It is no longer my hobby. It was, to an extent, in my early years. And that's why I burned out hard a few times along the way. In 2012 I left LA and almost bartended in Austin for a while, if not for a chill job offer when I moved here.
So, go out there and do awesome stuff. Be excited and run with it. But also live outside of it. Take the time for the rest of you. It'll amazing you how much it makes you a better artist anyways.
Penelope’s journey through the ever-evolving world of motion graphics and visual effects teaches us the importance of adaptability, the value of cultivating relationships in a collaborative industry, and the necessity of balancing passion with self-care to avoid burnout. Her insights serve as a reminder that while the tools and technology may change, the core principles of creativity and perseverance remain constant. To stay connected with Penelope and continue learning from her experiences, be sure to follow her through the links provided below.
WEBSITE: www.pennyzee.com
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1744265/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
INSTAGRAM: @pennyzee_mograph
LinkdIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pennyzee/
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