Meet Justin Horn of Los Angeles, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Horn

Hi Justin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in Bessemer, Alabama. Living in a small neighborhood, I grew up pretty shy and had no friends. All I knew was that I loved drawing and watching cartoons. Little did I knew that people actually made cartoons for a living, so from a young age, I decided that I wanted to work in animation. Unfortunately, for me, Alabama had pretty much no creative opportunities. I did attend a summer film camp there when I was 14, but that was it. Once I graduated high school, I attended Savannah College of Art and Design, where I studied animation for 4 years. It was a great experience where I finally got to fit in, even though it put me in a bunch of student loan debt. (lol)

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?
Far from it. Again, grew up in the South which had no opportunities for creatives like myself. Even my family, though supportive, didn’t even understand my needs to pursue my animation career, so I did it all myself. Even after graduating college, I would soon regret that decision as it doesn’t really guarantee you a job. At the end of the day, it’s basically you and your work that gets your foot in the door. I threw away my old portfolio, made a new one, and after attending CTNx, getting feedback from animation professionals, it took me over a year and a half to get my first gig. During my career, there’s been gaps here and there between gigs, even now as the animation industry is kind of a dumpster fire right now. In the meantime, I just write and make my own comics and just continue to put my work out there.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I enjoy making storyboards and comics mainly focused on comedy and adventure. I don’t consider myself really known for anything, let alone being known at all. I believe what sets me apart is making more more mature stories and challenging my skills. I’m making a big comic right now, and while I can’t say much, it does cover some serious topics in a way I hope many others will enjoy and learn from. I’m a huge advocate for fresh and original ideas. I really what indie animation is doing lately as they’re breaking the norm and doing stuff that these big studios wouldn’t even dare to do.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I’ve mostly been unlucky most of my life, Once you have an extremely long history of getting rejected for jobs and by society itself, you start to grab a dark, grim perspective on things, but I would say don’t give up, keep going and eventually things will work out. That’s how I got gigs from Cartoon Network and many other places, because I was just on social media, connecting with people and other art communities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hottyroddy.wixsite.com/mysite
• Instagram: @ItsHottyRoddy
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-horn-567a1199/
• Twitter: @ItsHottyRoddy