Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Conner.
Sean, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have been a stand-up comedian for seven years. I started on the east coast mainly New York and Philadelphia. I began gaining a local following and felt my ability as a comedian rising. I began acting more and expanding my comedy to other mediums such as music and sketch. I taught myself how to play the piano and incorporated sings into my stand up act. Five years into my comedy career I was inspired to take a leap of faith and move to LA for more exposure.
A week before I was set to move to California I broke my leg. I was set to move on New Year’s day of 2017 and on Christmas Day of 2016 I cracked my fibula. I was devastated with not only be out of work and unable to provide for myself but also physically unable to perform and practice my craft I spent the last five years dedicating myself to. After two weeks of sitting in my bed battling depression, I decided that if I couldn’t use my body to be funny I’d use my mind. I downloaded a trial version of adobe animate which allows you to control characters with the use of webcam technology. Similar to how the Nintendo Wii or X-box Kinnect works. I quickly became obsessed with the capabilities of animation and soon you never seen me without my laptop, sketch notebook, or I-pad working on new ideas. I developed a concept of clothes portraying humans very early in my dealings with cartoons. I then learned a very important lesson in creation. Just as important as a great idea is, having the means to pull it off correctly was just as imperative. During the recovery of my leg injury I decided that in order to get better at the cartoon process I needed practice and lots of it. I began the development of small shorts series that I would consider my practice shows. Shows that helped me learning story construction as well as principals of animation.
Once my leg was healed I had. Anew found skill and was ready to move to LA. Upon my arrival to LA I had no idea how I was going to get my cartoon on a network I just knew that I had ideas and the world should see them. Being a stand-up comedian gave me a huge advantage by being able to connect with other like-minded creatives out on the stand-up scene. By meeting other comics, I found out that most people had the same problem I had. They had great ideas but no real way to bring them to life from an animation standpoint. Many motivational speakers talk about following your bliss and doing what you love means you’ll never work a day in your life. I only partially agree while I do think its a privilege to do what you love for a living, I think the optimum human experiences is when you find a passion that is also a service to others. To be successful, you find a problem in the world and fix it. I decided to fix the problem that most cartoon lovers, young and old, don’t really know what it takes to make a cartoon. I used my set back as downtime to learn a skill to bridge the gap between animated entertainment and the one being entertained.
Now after living in LA for two years, I have done dozen of independent projects for establish music artist, well-known comedians, as well as commercial companies. Ive had the opportunity to meet and work with other talented individuals. My Partners and I developed the series we now call “Fitz”. We’re on the radar of some very big name networks like; Adult Swim, MGM, and Warner Bro’s, just to name a few. The experience Ive gained from trusting my intuition has taught me that things don’t always go as planned, but if you work hard and stay positive they work out the way they are supposed to.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge as a creator is balancing your passion with everyday life. It’s much easier said than done to sacrifice everything in pursuit of your dreams. You can decide in your mind that you’ll be focused on your objectives but once hunger pains or lack of sleep come into play it’s tough to see your own dreams as anything other than an obstacle.
Its a work in progress finding the balance but the turning point for me was when I truly accepted myself as an artist. I use to ask myself if there was no such thing as time or money what would I do and I learned the answer when I had neither. I had no time to make money for rent. I had no money for food. and through loneliness and feeling insecure I found that the only thing that gave me some inner peace was a hard days work. Looking back at all the moments I prayed for the exact problems I have now is what helps me keep things in perspective. Rapper Future has a song where he says “God’s blessing all the trap niggas”. To me, that means if you’re working hard God has no choice but to bless you with exactly what you need. In biblical terms. Faith without works is dead. There are still some days when I don’t know how I’ll make the ends meet but on the days I sit and pout about circumstances, nothing happens. When I put my feeling sad about myself to the side and work hard, something always works out in my favor.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Cheezy Cartoons – what should we know?
I am a stand-up comedian and animation artist. I’m starting to gain notoriety for both. My animations have been featured on High Times Magazine, Devin The Dude’s Rock Resonator have used my cartoons for commercials, and I have played some of the most well-known comedy clubs around the country.
I specialize in custom cartoons for comedians. My work first started getting noticed when I would create animated versions of the jokes my comedian friends would tell. I’d take an audio recording of them performing their best joke and turn it into a cartoon as a visual aid.
This is how I met my partner and fellow comic Aaron Monte. We created “Fitz” the animated series that portrays human archetypes as clothes. They say the clothes don’t make the man but inner world it does!
I’m proud of both my lanes. The grind of stand up is not for the faint of heart as well as pitching to networks. At 27, I have not accomplished all my goals but I have separated myself from someone with aspirations to someone taking the necessary steps to complete my objectives.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Tenacity is very important. You can have a plan but life will always be around the corner to throw you a curveball. I feel having some resolve in essential. Being able to roll with the punches and still keep a positive outlook is underrated in success talks.
Also, just enjoying the journey. If your success is predicated on someone else giving you your [ur que then you’ll always be chasing.
Pricing:
- $25 Per Character
- $20 Per Scene
- $20 Per Min
Contact Info:
- Address: 6046 Eleanor Ave Hollywood CA 90038
- Website: CheezyCartoons.Co
- Phone: 3107393531
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanymac_comedy/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sean.conner.90281
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Grand_Gouda
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