Amanda Donahue

Describe what you do for work and how your experience with it has been.

I'm currently a Plussing Board Artist on The Patrick Star Show at Nickelodeon. In our production we have the Rough Board Artists/Board Directors, and then the Plussing Board Artists follow up; we're tasked with figuring out the layout, putting characters on model/proportional, adding in new gags, essentially key-framing animation at times, and sometimes re-boarding if necessary. It's a lot! Overall I greatly have been enjoying my time on The Patrick Star Show and have learned a lot, but its been a big crash-course example into how productions expect a lot out of one artist.

How did you get your job?

A good friend in Artist Management at Nick recommended me when they saw an opening come up.

Where are you originally from and how did you hear about MCAD?

I grew up in Michigan and heard about MCAD when I was looking for art schools in the Midwest.

What was your major and how did you choose it?

I majored in Animation, which was an easy choice as I've wanted to be an artist since I was a kid and decided on animation in high school.

Describe your internship(s).

My internship was over my first summer attending MCAD, working on an animated short for the United Nations Women's Group. It was sort of thrown in my lap; I was asked by a fellow animation student who would be acting as "director" if I wanted to join. It was unfortunately unpaid, an honestly big detriment when compared to the amount of work that ended up needing to go into it. It was very much a learning experience in both technique as well as working with a group and addressing internal conflicts with team members.

Did MCAD prepare you for life after graduation? In what way?

I feel strongly that MCAD could have done more to prepare myself and all students for life after graduation. While there was some lessons in how to take care of things on the financial side, it was a hard ask to focus on that while also being tasked with lessons and projects and most of all finishing senior projects. One thing that I did take away from MCAD that has helped the most has been my relationships I made with fellow students. We all went through a "forged in fire" situation, and have tried to have each others backs as we can out in the professional world. And to look at the Animation Program specifically, it was really lacking during my time there. I'm very happy to hear that there have been improvements, including even just having more up to date technology, but at the time Animation felt like a second thought and because we did not have all the tools needed it really affected my graduating class in their chances out in the real world when applying to jobs.

Your biggest takeaway from MCAD?

My biggest takeaway from MCAD would be the importance of finding your own way of achieving that big goal, even when the means and tools aren't laid out for you. I worked very hard during my time at MCAD and made a lot of sacrifices that helped me to actually end up with a career in Animation, but looking back I wish that there had been more support from the school in uplifting the Animation majors with more up-to-date tools and classes that students were asking for that reflected the industry standards.

What inspires you/your work?

Working on a comedy show that's part of the legacy of SpongeBob SquarePants, I'm really inspired to make it as funny as I still find the early seasons of SpongeBob to be. On top of that, I want what I add to the show via key-animation to be inspiring beyond what may be expected in a kids comedy animated show. I pull from a lot of animation inspiration to give The Patrick Star Show a special flair wherever I can. And for my personal work, when I can get to it, I try to keep practicing figure drawing and more illustrative work.

How do you network yourself and your art?

A lot for me has been word of mouth, but also randomly reaching out to people has worked in my case when it came to my graphic novel "The Margins"; I reached out to one of my authors David Accampo to share fanart I had done for his older podcast series "Woormwood: A Serialized Mystery ", and he liked it so much we started the discussion that led to me doing the artwork for his and Paul Montgomery's graphic novel "The Margins".

What was your experience living in the Twin Cities? Any hidden treasures?

Sadly, most of my experience in the Twin Cities was spent in the animation studio working (laughs) but when I could get out, I really loved being outside at the parks. I miss how green Minnesota is compared to out here in L.A.

Any advice for current students wanting to work in your field?

I would say if you're looking to work as a storyboard artist, having experience as an animator is a huge help. As I mentioned earlier, in my role I tend to a lot of times almost key-frame out animation, especially when there's a really specific action called for. I get a lot of compliments for having an understanding of animation that I can bring to my boards, and having this skill is also becoming more and more necessary in the storyboard field.