What I do for a living, exactly.

I keep having to explain to people what I do for a living. I mean, I'll say I work on this cartoon show, but then I have to follow that up, because I'm not an animator. All the actual animation is done in Korea. I wish I could give people a two word response like "Storyboard Artist" and be done with it, but it's not that simple. Even "Production Assistant" might be easier to explain. Heck, I'd have an easier time describing what the "Design Coordinator" does than what I do.

Since I work in animation it's sort of an interesting thing, so people aren't really satisfied with as vague of a response they might be if I worked in, say, HR or something.

I am the "Production Coordinator" which means absolutely nothing in laymen's terms. In the animation industry "production" means a very specific part of the animation production process. "Coordinator" also implies certain things about my position that don't really make sense out of context. Worse still, I suspect that on different shows what a "Production Coordinator" does could be a very different set of tasks than what I do. I think the universal task of production coordinators might be delegating tasks to interns. I was relieved in a recent conversation when a friend of John Z.'s reported that they have Production Coordinators in live-action Hollywood, so she knew what I meant right away.

Anyway, here's a fairly comprehensive list of my tasks. I usually miss some when I list them verbally, so here's your chance to read about 90% of my job:

• I make changes to the opening titles and end credits.
• I build the little 3-D models. (In order to see an example go here then click on "3-D" and click forward a few times. I didn't make those, but I'll be making stuff like those.)
• I write tiny, tiny ID numbers on the characters, props, backgrounds and effects on the storyboard.
• I work on the timing board. (It's complicated.)
• I ship tapes to CN's many, many offices. And also to Canada.


• I bully interns. Well, I delegate work to interns although I am not directly in charge of them.
• I shoot retakes and new panels for the animatic (board-a-matic, whatever you call it).
• I train the interns how to shoot the animatic.
• I digitize the designs for new/customized logo wipes. Logo wipes get used a lot on this show, but I only make the new ones.
• I do whatever random After Effects and/or Photoshop stuff they ask me to.
• I send a list, to Canada, of digital effects so when they put the show on film for archival purposes those effects can be reproduced.
• I make a zillion labels for the zillion copies of every episode of the show that we make here.
• I ask the dubbing guy to dub a zillion tapes.
• Sometimes I throw together random documents - like blank Exposure sheets and storyboard cover pages.
• I make a list of what takes we used in the final cut and fax that list to Korea and L.A.

In the end, my tasks are varied and cross-departmental. I work in pre-production, production and post-production, which is unusual. I do more than just a Production Assistant would, but less than say, a Production Manager. There's not a lot of scope for creativity in my job, but there is SOME room for creative stuff. It is full time, and I've worked in this position since late October/early November.

You'll notice none of the tasks above are working in the color department - that's because that was my old intern/P.A. gig on the same show. Now that I'm the production coordinator I don't work in the color department anymore.

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