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Issue #75 | November 23th, 2025

Hey Reader 👋
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​I’m wrapping up this week by signing a second big client contract, which is kind of wild and honestly pretty amazing. It gives me a ton of financial breathing room to slow down that “freelance panic brain” and really double down on building more for Animator Now. Just having that space to breathe and build feels… seriously, so good. 🥳

Designing the Next Studio

And speaking of building… I’ve started designing my next studio.

If everything goes as planned, around February we’ll move into a bigger house, and for the first time in years I’ll actually be able to design the studio from scratch instead of squeezing a desk into the corner of whatever room is left.

Right now my “studio” is literally a tiny setup in the corner of our bedroom. The chair is killing my back. The desk is too small. The space is dark and cramped. It’s probably the worst setup I’ve ever had.

The next one might be the best I’ve ever had.

A real desk (maybe even a standing desk).
A proper chair.
Good lighting.
A background that’s actually designed for shooting videos.
A space that feels intentional — not accidental.

I’ve already started going full nerd mode: looking up the best chairs, lights, keyboards, acoustic panels… all those tiny details that no one really sees, but that completely change how it feels to work. 🤓

Because yes, ideas rarely come from the studio — mine usually show up when I’m outside, walking, surfing, driving, whatever.

But the studio is where ideas become real.
It’s where you sit down, shut the door, and actually make the thing.

So for me, it’s never “just a room”. It’s a very personal, almost sacred environment. I’ve always dreamed of the “super studio” — one day, maybe even a music/animation hybrid studio. That’s not for now… but this next step already feels huge.

Realizing What 25 Years of Freelancing Really Means

On top of that, this week made me realize something important about freelancing.

I’ve been a freelancer for about 25 years now. I’ve seen everything:

clients who don’t want to pay,
clients who ask for 200 revisions,
briefs that aren’t really briefs,
projects that change direction halfway through…

All the classic freelance nightmares — I’ve probably lived them.

When I sent a quote to a new client this week, I noticed something: in my folder system, every client has a number. And this new one? Client #100.

That’s 100 clients in about 15 years.

And many of them had multiple films — some 2 or 3, others 10 or 20. If I add everything up, I’ve probably produced over 500 videos/animations for clients.

And I suddenly thought:

Okay, that’s a lot of experience just sitting in my head. I should share it properly.

Building a Big Freelancing Course for Animator Now

So inside the Animator Now community, I’m building a big freelancing course. Not just “how to send invoices” but the real stuff: how to survive, how to protect yourself, how to negotiate, how to navigate messy situations and still love your job.

The courses still need to be structured and filmed.

The current setup is not ideal. The background is meh. The lights are meh.

But you know what? I’m going to wing it.

I’ll record a V1 in my current crappy corner studio, focus on the value first, and once I move into the new studio with proper lights and a better camera, I can always reshoot everything. The important thing is: everything I want to teach is already here, in my hands, and I’m ready to share it with you. ❤️
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If that course interests you, let me know!!! 😊

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Alright.

Thanks for being here, for reading, and for supporting all these experiments.

Now, let’s get into this week’s short film. 🎬
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Now let’s get into this week’s issue 👇

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The Spotlight

Some films don’t “sell” themselves to you right away.

You’re not sure you like them, you’re a bit confused, maybe even uncomfortable… but you keep watching. There’s a tone, a rhythm, a tiny disturbance under your skin that won’t let you click away. Those films, to me, are magic.

Horacio, by Caroline Cherrier, is exactly that kind of film.

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On paper, the story is brutal: Guillaume killed his friend Horacio because he was “screaming too loud”.
Years later, he’s released from prison… and someone starts screaming again.
It sounds like the premise of a thriller, but the way it’s told is the opposite of what you’d expect. The narration is calm, detached, almost casual.
The violence of what happened and the way Guillaume talks about it never quite line up — and that gap is where the film really lives.

The whole short is told from Guillaume’s point of view, in voice-over. We never leave his head. There’s no dramatic music telling us how to feel, no moral speech, no “lesson” at the end.
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Instead, Cherrier strips out all the usual narrative signposts and lets us sit with this guy who did something terrible and talks about it like he’s describing the weather. It’s deeply unsettling… but also fascinating. You’re constantly aware that what you’re hearing is wrong, and yet you can’t look away.

Visually, the film is gorgeous. Cherrier uses 2D animation over gouache-painted backgrounds, with colors that feel almost like warm childhood cartoons. That soft, handmade look completely contradicts the darkness of the story — and that contrast makes everything hit harder.
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Some of the camera angles and shot choices feel closer to live-action cinema than “classic” animation: unexpected framings, quiet holds, edits that let the unease slowly build instead of pushing for fast tension. It’s very controlled, very precise… and yet it feels effortless.

I also love how she uses the mother character and the “loud voice” as a kind of ticking sound in the background — sometimes funny, sometimes annoying, and by the end, genuinely terrifying. The pacing is calm, almost flat on purpose, like nothing really dramatic is happening… while in reality, everything is.
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Horacio runs a bit over 10 minutes, was directed by French filmmaker Caroline Cherrier and produced by Ikki Films. It’s had a solid festival life (Annecy, Clermont-Ferrand, Palm Springs ShortFest, GLAS, and more) before coming online through Short of the Week.

It’s not a film that hugs you. It stays with you because it refuses to reassure you — and that, to me, is powerful storytelling.​
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CREDITS:
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Cast: Sylvie Brucker - Hugo de Faucompret - Tristan Lepagney - Patricia Marmoras - Nicolas Mossard - Spider Zed
​Animation: Caroline Cherrier - Eva Lusbaronian - Valentin Stoll Assistant Animators: Julie Bousquet - Raphaël Lozano Character Design: Caroline Cherrier - Valentin Stoll Layouts: Caroline Cherrier - Hugo de Faucompret
​Compositing: Caroline Cherrier - Pierre Pinon
​Editing: Caroline Cherrier - Stéphanie Sicard
​Music: Marie Cherrier
​Sound Design: Mathieu Z’Graggen
​Sound Effects: Grégory Vincent Mix: Régis Diebold
​Colour grading: Yves Brua

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The Job Fair

• ​2D FX Animator - Yiasou
  ​Yiasou is looking for an experienced 2D FX animator to design and animate some 2D effects over live-action video footage in December 2025.
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• ​2D Animator - Awake Film​
  We are looking for well-rounded 2D animators. Animation will be in a realistic, gritty and grounded vein. Scheduling can be flexible and at a convenient pace.
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• ​Animator (Freelance) - Abed Tahan​
  As a Freelance Animator, you will be responsible for creating visually appealing and engaging animations for various projects. You will work closely with our design and marketing teams to bring concepts to life and enhance the overall visual appeal of our projects.
  ​
• ​Remote Animator - Enveda​
  Join Enveda as an Animator - Brand Storytelling working remotely and help us transform natural compounds into life-changing medicines. We’re a team driven by curiosity and innovation—are you ready to make a difference?

The Random Stuff

• 🎯 AnimLens – tiny Maya tool, big clarity
  ​Weirdly enough, for an animation newsletter, I rarely talk about actual Maya tools. Probably because I don’t use that many. But this one caught my eye in my inbox: AnimLens by Matt Tovar. Think of it like a Motion Trail you can fully customize — you can decide the shape, track what you want with little spheres, and simplify what’s shown in the viewport so you can really see your motion. Perfect for checking arcs, spacing, timing and overall visual flow. I haven’t used it yet, but I’m definitely planning to play with it soon. Might be a nice one to add to your toolbox too.
• 🎙️ Wispr Flow – dictation that finally feels “native”
  ​I’ve been a huge fan of SuperWhisper for a long time — dictation + AI in one go is such a powerful combo. You talk, it transcribes in any language, then runs it through an LLM with your prompt. Magic. ✨But I have to say… Wispr Flow might be even better. Especially on iPhone. Instead of being a separate app (like SuperWhisper, where you had to open it, dictate, copy, paste elsewhere), Wispr Flow is actually a keyboard. So in any app, you just switch to the Wispr Flow keyboard, tap the mic, talk, and it writes directly where you are. No app-hopping, no friction. I’m honestly blown away by how smooth it is.
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• 🖱️ MX Master 4 – the “final mouse” (again)
  ​About 20 minutes before writing this, I ordered the Logitech MX Master 4. I’ve been using the MX Master 3S for years now, and after three decades on a computer, it was the first time I felt: “Okay, this is it. This is my last mouse.” The shape, the weight, the buttons, the ergonomics — everything is just right. The only downside: that classic rubber coating that gets dirty and sticky over time, plus my left click recently started acting weird (not holding properly when I hold it down and select text), probably from overuse. I tried cleaning it, changing dongles, blowing air into it… no luck. So I finally pulled the trigger on the MX Master 4. They’ve added haptic feedback and refined the design even more. I’m getting it on Wednesday and I honestly can’t wait to see if it becomes my new “forever mouse”. I’ll report back next week.

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Philippe Duvin​
Founder, Animator NOW

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