Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Snow.
Hi Alex, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Absolutely. So I have been in the animation industry for over a decade now but my life hasn’t always revolved around animation. Unlike many of my peers, I strangely didn’t grow up with the dream of becoming a Disney Animator, or any kind of artist for that matter. Instead, I grew up with the intense desire to become a veterinarian.
The idea of becoming an animator, or even just an artist, for a living wasn’t a dream of mine, partially because it never even crossed my mind as an option. I had seen the Disney Animators working at Disney World and I knew people made them, but for some reason it never sank in that I could be one of those people. I have always been a fan of animation, vfx, and comic books for as long as I can remember, but my mind didn’t really start its artistic engine until I saw Jurassic Park. That was a big eye opener for me. Another big moment was during a quick break from a Nerf gun fight at my friend’s birthday party, someone turned on the tv and Toy Story was playing. I’d never seen anything like it. It was so impactful and kept us all glued to the screen until it finished. Even still, I was hard set on the path of veterinary work. The moment it all changed for me was when I saw the behind the scenes clip from Sam Raimi’s Spiderman showing just a small insight on how Sony Imageworks created the Green Goblin and Spiderman VFX. It was then where it all clicked that these were just regular people making this through passion and dedication. There was now a job that would potentially allow me to study and create all my favorite things, Animals, Movies, SPIDERMAN!!!.
Shortly after, an “animation” class was offered in high school. I thought it would be fun and interesting. We didn’t end up getting to the 3d software that I was most interested in since my drawing skills are lacking, but even just animating in MS Paint, yes I said MS Paint, was so thrilling and exciting. It was taking the magic of a flipbook and combining it with technology and I was instantly in love.
I still was focused on becoming a Vet though. I even applied, was accepted, and was about to go to a College that specializes in it, when at the last minute I changed my mind. Thankfully my Mom believed in me and worked hard to find me options quickly. I looked at a few animation schools but none had a computer animation program that wasn’t just a generalist mindset, until I saw SCAD. As someone who has never been the biggest fan of school, I decided that I needed to go for it fully or not at all. I made my choice and applied to SCAD, was accepted and started the first step on my animation journey.
SCAD was great for so many reasons and I owe so much of my life and career to the opportunities and connections I made there. Plus, I met my amazing wife while in Savannah, so it was definitely worth it.
It was an awesome experience but also one that felt frustrating, to be honest. It is a full-fledged Degree earning program. That is great and worth it for so many reasons, but going into day one knowing what I wanted, it became hard to just be waiting and waiting as the years passed and I hadn’t set a single animation key. Even after starting to animate something just wasn’t clicking. I was going through a hard time and I was about to drop out when my parents told me that I should finish out the year and give it my all so I wouldn’t have any regrets. If I still wanted to leave or reassess my path then I shouldn’t do so until I had done all I could to take hold of my own destiny. I can’t thank them enough for this great advice and try to instill the same lesson and mindset in my own boys to this day.
From that point onward I was super laser-focused. I did all the work to my best ability and then continued to do more outside of class. CG characters were hard to come by back then so I became friends with all the vfx kids who knew how to render and had made some of their own rigs but didn’t know how to animate. I took on a ton of work and was improving, specifically with my speed, at a new accelerated pace while also networking and meeting tons of new talented friends (and future coworkers). I remember trying to make my own demo reel, having read in a 3d magazine that it was something you needed (google wasn’t around back then), and having trouble finding a character with facial controls. I ended up buying a 300 page book purely because it came with a cd with a head model that was rigged. I did a test and finished just in time to look for an internship. I knew my skills weren’t what they needed to be for the top studios but I still wanted to learn from someone who had experience and knowledge that I couldn’t get anywhere else. I ended up sending and landing an internship at Crew 972. It was an animation studio in Tel Aviv, Israel owned by Pixar animator Alex Orelle.
I really attribute all my success to Alex. He gave me a chance when I wasn’t fully worthy of the opportunity. In the day to day, I learned so much amazing information from Alex and the talented crew he had assembled. During those two months abroad, I also learned how to truly live on my own. With very little money, not speaking the language, and being the absolutely least talented person in the room, I learned how to utilize and be empowered by those difficulties instead of allowing them to hold me back.
I came back to SCAD with a new passion and drive that I so desperately needed. Other than hanging out with my wife, then girlfriend, I was in the computer lab 24/7.
From SCAD, I got my first opportunity with Rhythm and Hues and have been continuing the journey since. I’ve gotten to work on dream projects and characters that had inspired me to get into the field like Amazing Spiderman and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, while also getting to create new and fresh original films like Zootopia, Hotel Transylvania, Bad Guys and more.
In my spare time, I created the property “Koji” which now has two animated proof of concepts you can see online, and should have some exciting news coming soon.
I’ve even started my own studio with some incredible partners, specializing in high-quality 2d animation, called Double Plus Productions. It’s still in its infancy but already doing amazing things. There I have been able to flex my muscles as a Director, Animation Director, Producer and more, but the absolute best aspect is the opportunity to work and befriend so many amazing, kind, and talented people all around the world.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In all honesty, this is a tough industry. Art is unlike any other profession. It is filled with short gigs, lots of moving, competitive attitudes, high stakes, long hours, lots of sacrifices, and tons of personal and creative investment that often needs to be shattered in order for the project to succeed. It sometimes feels like an addiction that I can’t break no matter how hard I try. The thrill of creating and collaborating is something that I truly can’t imagine forfeiting. Even if you put all the work and creativity aside, at the end of the day when someone asks what I remember from productions, or why a certain film was a better or worse experience, I always come back to the same thing. The reason this industry is so magical is not the films or the animation or the characters, it’s the people. I have met some of the best, most kind, most funny, and most strange people on this career path and the memories I have and hope to continue to create with all of them are why I am most excited about the future of this industry.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Double Plus Productions is a production studio that specializes in both producing and investing in animated content. We currently work primarily in the commercial space but have plans to grow into the series and feature space soon. Having launched at the very end of 2020, this year has already been a whirlwind of positivity as we grow at lightning speed. Although things are expanding quickly, we are continuing to keep a close eye on prioritizing our main goal of creating a safe, fair, and inspiring environment for our talented crew. We fully believe that true collaboration, trusting your team to do what you hire them for, and attempting to push everyone creatively mixes together perfectly to get results few studios can achieve. We are currently fully remote which allows us to connect to the best talent around the world, and has personally been my favorite aspect of the studio. Working with so many different people all with different personal experiences, perspectives and expertise has been so enlightening and wonderful. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for ++.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking.
As far as risk, I think choosing this line of work is already such a huge risk. Just getting in is challenging enough, but staying in is a whole other ball game. Weighing pros and cons of making this a lifelong career is what seems like a daily occurrence sometimes. The gigs are often short and require moving around the world and it can get increasingly difficult as you try to navigate it while attempting to have a “normal” life. I’ve often left a secure job or a job that was going great in order to prioritize another aspect of life. For a long time, I took risks in order to chase a project, director or studio. Then my priorities shifted to finding where I wanted to try and plant some roots so my sons could have a more sturdy childhood and make lasting friends, relationships and memories. Now I am constantly taking huge risks with creating original projects with my partners like Koji and Cody ++ as well as investing into Double Plus Productions as a whole. With all of these, I try to think everything through as clearly as possible and make a decision that I can be proud of. I’d always rather try and fail than live a life where I say “what if” or “if I had only tried a little harder”. I often make mistakes, and have all my life, but I really truly try to learn from them and move forward. I also wouldn’t be able to do half of what I’ve done, or what I hope to achieve, if it weren’t for the support I get from my wife, family, and friends. It’s important to surround yourself with people who can be honest with you, while still supporting you wholeheartedly. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by a bunch of these types of people both in the workplace and at home.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.doubleplusproductions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snowmation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doubleplusproductions
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/doubleplusprod
Image Credits:
Rights of all images belong to Double Plus Productions llc Koji images belong to Studio Mir
