Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Miller.
Hi Eric, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I graduated from college in 2005 from the University of Toledo. Shortly after graduation, I moved across the country to Los Angeles to follow my dream of getting into the animation business. Luck was not on my side, and I was not able to get a job in animation and ended up working a retail job at an Apple Store. In 2007 I started working at a temp agency and was placed at different entertainment companies for a few weeks at a time. I eventually landed at DreamWorks Studios which was on the Universal Studio Lot as a production assistant in the facilities department. I loved it there and was able to get hired on full time. This was around the time they were getting ready to shoot the 4th Indiana Jones movie. In Steven Spielberg’s office, he had an office PA, but when he went on set he took the PA with him. So they needed a PA to backfill in the office while they were on set. I was told they always interviewed all the PAs even though they usually promoted the head PA for this position.
Since it was a temporary position, they asked everyone where they wanted to head in their career since they would try and help you move along in your career after the position ended. I mentioned I wanted to get into animation, and they smiled and said they knew some people at DreamWorks Animation. While I did not get the promotion to the Spielberg’s Office PA I did get promoted to the lead PA position to fill the vacancy. I decided I wanted to continue my journey to get into animation, so I started reaching out to DreamWorks Animation. There was a production coordinator position on the upcoming feature film “Monsters vs Aliens”, so I reached out to DWA recruiting department. I remember the day I got the email from the recruiter, and she said the producers on “Monsters vs Aliens” wanted someone with more experience. This was hard to hear, but the disappointment did not last long. 12 minutes after the first email, I got a second email from the same recruiter saying Spielberg’s office called the producers on my behalf, and they now wanted to meet me.
Earlier, I mentioned to the assistants in Speilberg’s office that I was trying to get the position on the animated film, and they said they would put in a good word for me. I honestly forgot about it and was not even sure if they would follow through with their offer. It turns out the timing could not have been more perfect. I was able to interview and ended up getting the position. I spent over two years working on “Monsters vs Aliens”, and I absolutely loved animation and working at DWA. I would end up working there for almost seven years on different feature films like “Kung Fu Panda 2” and Madagascar 3 among others.
I also worked on several of their short films. While I loved working there, I knew I wanted to continue following my dream of starting my own animation company. When I started working as the Production Supervisor for the modeling and surfacing departments on the movie “Home” I made the decision it would be my last film at DWA. I ended up being on the film for over two years, and at the end of the production, they asked me to work on another film in production but I declined. My last day at DreamWorks Animation was July 3, 2014. While it was sad to leave such an amazing place to work with so many talented friends I was also very excited to take this next step in my life. I founded Eric Miller Animation Studios and started to try and figure out how to run my own company. I got lucky right from the start, and thanks to a good friend I was able to land my first client. I was working with him on the 2014 Toys R Us Holiday Campaign.
Over the years, I’ve had other large clients like Honda, but also a lot of smaller clients. As with any business, there have been ups and downs, but I’ve loved the journey. In 2015, I founded an animation group called The Creators Society. It started out as just a group of animation people getting together each month to hang out and make friends. As the group continued to grow, I eventually started offering a paid membership to expanded what the group could do. Our goal now is to bring the animation community together through our events and programs. Currently, I spend my days running my animation business working with clients and developing my own animation projects as well as working to grow The Creators Society. They both keep me very busy, but I love being able to work on these two passions of mine.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting an animation service business in Los Angeles was a big undertaking. While I had years of experience managing animation production, I did not have a lot of experience in finding and winning clients. Also, I found myself competing against production companies outside of the United States who had tax credits or less expensive labor costs. I found it very difficult to convince potential clients our work was worth the extra money when often they were looking for the least expensive options. 2020 has proven to be the most challenging year so far, and it’s not even because of the pandemic. The main challenge has been due to the new California law which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. Since most of our work is on smaller projects, we would often hire independent contractors for a few weeks to a few months at most. AB-5 made it impossible for us to hire CA independent contractors since it requires us to hire them as employees even if it’s for only a few days. This would add additional payroll fees and other challenges which made it extremely challenging to operate. We were already competing against production companies with less expensive labor costs, and now we had to add additional fees to our labor costs. The pandemic also did not help with all of this, so I’m still working to recover from this challenging year like so many others.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Since starting my company in 2014, we’ve worked on many different types of animation and VFX projects, but we specialize in 3D Animation. Around 2015 I split the company into two brands, Eric Miller Animation and Moonward Studios. Eric Miller Animation is where I do most of our internal projects we are developing. For example, our animated project “Bink” which we have a 30 sec animated teaser and are working to develop it into an animated series. We are developing other IP to pitch to streaming platforms and broadcasters. Moonward Studios is where we do all our work-for-hire animation services. We work with different clients to create animation or visual effects for shorts, web-series, commercials, product videos, and stand-alone animation services like character design, storyboarding, asset building, rigging, and more.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
I feel networking is a huge part of any industry, but it’s especially true in the animation industry. This is one of the reasons I founded The Creators Society since I know the importance of building strong professional relationships.
Be nice to people, and treat everyone with respect. Not only is it the right thing to do anyway it will also help you in your career. The animation industry is small, and you don’t want to get a reputation for not treating others kindly. Plus it’s a lot more fun to be friends with your co-workers.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.milleranimation.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milleranimation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MillerAnimation/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MillerAnimation
- Other: www.thecreatorssociety.org
Image Credits
Still frame from “Bink” animated short. © Eric Miller Animation Studios 2020
